The filmвЂ™s biggest crimes, however, sit with how Cheang and writer Elvis Man drop the ball on the preceptorвЂ™s failed romance and Womanland itself. In itself thatвЂ™s not a terrible story, but Feng and Zhao are a less than riveting couple, making their dilemmas leaden soap opera instead of compelling crises of conscience or identity, even if that unfolds within the parameters of a fantasy romp. Once it becomes clear Xuanzang et alвЂ™s escape from Womanland hinges on love as the key to locating the gate, the film settles into long stretches of insipid romantic philosophizing, with Xuanzang wrestling with his budding romantic feelings and devotion to his Tang vows and the Queen pondering her duty, the wider world she may now be able to see and a doomsday prophecy.

The Monkey King 3 didnвЂ™t need to be 3D, and it could have trimmed its romance - or refocused it. Shaun SmithвЂ™s makeup effects are strong, and it would have been nice to see them, and Cho Hwa SungвЂ™s bright, popping production design, clearly rather than have them muddled by dark 3D glasses. Not so much the precocious child of a scrap of scroll (seriously, itвЂ™s a piece of paper as a kindergarten brat). But the film does have its moments: Xuanzang and the QueenвЂ™s journey across the misty, eerie sea the possibility the residents of Womanland turning to stone where they stand and the climactic sequence where the angry River God nearly lays waste to Womanland boast some stellar visuals. There are more than a few moments where dodgy CG reveals itself, and in late-2000s fashion, the action is so kinetic as to be nearly unfathomable. Make no mistake, The Monkey King 3 is bonkers, but in a charming, delirious sort of way, with energy to spare and another strong performance by Kwok thatвЂ™s far more nuanced than it needs to be. Pivoting this time on pious monk XuanzangвЂ™s sputtering romance with the emergent queen of a kingdom populated solely by women, Cheang does his able best to balance a love story with the heightened fantasy action expected of the previous two films, and after a rocky start he largely succeeds. In director Soi CheangвЂ™s final (based on the closing shots, perhaps) installment of his three-part spin on the legend, The Monkey King 3 ventures into the bookвЂ™s later chapters that are less familiar to Western audiences for a delicately cheeky and timely missed opportunity. Wu ChengenвЂ™s 100-part literary classic Journey to the West could be seen as the Iliad or the Shakespeare of China, in that itвЂ™s the literary classic that always seems ripe for reimagining. Along the way he acquires incredible powers, battling the armies of the gods and the armies of the demons to find his.

The first movie is the origins story - beginning with the birth of Sun Wukong and ending with his imprisonment for his crimes under the Five-Peaked Mountain. The Monkey King: Havoc In The Heavenly Palace will be released in the U.S. This first installment in a trilogy of live action 3-D movies is actually a prequel to The Journey To The West, the much told story of the Monkey King's adventures on the road to India. This much beloved story, is as much a part of Asian culture as The Iliad and The Odyssey or The Wizard of Oz are to the West. Thus, according to legend, Buddhism is brought to ancient China. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years, he later accompanies the monk Xuanzang on a journey to India. Sun Wukong, (The Monkey King) is a monkey born from a heavenly stone who acquires supernatural powers.

The Monkey King (2014) Full movie with English subtitles

The monkey king full movie youtube