What Is the Story About?
The Monkey King is an American adaptation of the classic Ming dynasty novel ‘Journey to the West’ that follows the rise and fall and redemption of the eponymous figure ‘The Monkey King’, who gains the Dragon King’s power by outwitting him, grows power-lusty and ends up being imprisoned by the Buddha only to be freed years later. The film is an adventurous journey of the Monkey King.
Performances?
The leading performance of the film is obviously the voice-acting from Jimmy O Yang as the Monkey King. The Monkey King can be annoying and unlikeable, so is Yang’s performance. Inconsistent and sometimes annoying. But, He’s still fun.
Jolie Hoang-Rappaport’s Lin is the film’s heart. Even when she swings from feeling for the Monkey King or goes back-door conspiring with the you know who, she swings the middle of nowhere so well.
Analysis
An American adaptation of the Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West, The Monkey King is a computer animated fantasy action comedy that follows the adventures of the Monkey King. From his origin, to rise to further rise to fall to redemption, the film covers it all.
The eponymous Mandarin Chinese character known as Sun Wukong, or the Monkey King is a part of Chinese pop culture like no other. Executive produced by Stephen Chow, the helmer of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, & directed by Anthony Stacchi, The Monkey King brings a lot of outrageously fantastic fantasy action set-pieces to the Monkey King as well.
The film centers around the Monkey becoming the Monkey King and his strife to become immortal, leading him to fighting gods and further, the Buddha himself. What could serve as a moral science lesson on why one should never be power Hungry, the Monkey King as a character is what they wrote legends about.
Coming to the film, the tone of the film is annoyingly in-consistent. Sometimes, the leading actor too. But what serves best for the film is that its target audience would mostly be unaware of the legend of The Monkey King and would buy the Cultural crossover the film offers like Disney’s Raya and the last Dragon.
There’s a lot happening, there’s a lot more of adventure in the Monkey King and apart from when he breaks out into musicals, the film is mostly fun. Although Netflix has churned out animation finesse in the form of Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’ recently, The Monkey King does fairly good. atleast on par with the Pixar-Disney content we get these days.
In short, The Monkey King is a fun watch. The kids would have a gala time watching this one. If not that definitive animation film of the year, The Monkey King re-introduces the Chinese legend to pop-culture although the legend deserved a lot better.
Other Artists?
Mathagam has a good supporting cast. Nikhila Vimal plays Ashwath’s wife. She doesn’t get much scope to perform, but however makes her presence felt in whatever little she gets especially as a woman going through PPD. Gautham Vasudev Menon and Ilavarasu are particularly so good, and Dilnaz Iraani is such a star. She commands every scene she is in, effortlessly.
Music and Other Departments?
Toby Chu’s music is probably the film’s weakest link after its americanisation aftermath. When the Monkey King breaks into musical numbers, you really don’t enjoy them. Pam Ziegenhagen’s editing is adequate from a run-time point of view, but some of the animation is too much for the eyes that you cannot appreciate the brilliance of too-much-ness, (akin to Chinese fantasy blockbusters).
Highlights?
Story
Animation
Voice acting of Jimmy O Yang
Drawbacks?
Too Much animation (akin to Chinese fantasy blockbusters)
Too much eccentricity & energy
not very likeable Protagonist
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes.
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, a quirky watch for children if they’re not familiar with the source material.
The Monkey King Movie Review by Binged Bureau
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