The Monkey King (2001– ) User Reviews

Three days to save the world.

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 13 April 2008]

This movie is a contemporary take on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," which is a fictionalized account of the legends around the Buddhist monk Xuánzàng's pilgrimage to India during the Táng dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist religious texts called sutras.

The ministers have imprisoned the writer of the book, and are attempting to destroy it to reverse time back to traditional Chinese life, i.e. before any modernization. The modern world will be destroyed unless The Scholar From Above (Thomas Gibson) can enter the underworld and save it.

Don't make any mistake. Gibson would not have taken one step except for the fact that he was following the luscious Bai Ling, who anyone would follow to the gates of Hell.

He rescues Sun Wukong the Monkey King (Russell Wong - Romeo Must Die), and is joined by Zhu Bajie(Pigsy)(Eddie Marsan - 21 Grams, Vera Drake) and Sha Wujing (Friar Sand) (Kabir Bedi - Octopussy) to save the book and save the world. It is almost a Wizard of Oz adventure, as they all have personal issues to resolve in addition to the mission.

Of course, Kuan Yin (Bai Ling) appears any time he utters a prayer. Thankfully, for the many appearance of Bai Ling make this film worth watching. She is usually in another spectacular costume each time she appears.

Besides spectacular costumes, the sets were lavishly decorated. The special effects were magnificent, and the martial arts displays exciting.

It was overly long, but most great adventures are. Anyway. that is more time to watch Bai Ling.

Lessons Unheeded

[Mark-129 · 5/10 · 7 May 2002]

Well, this mini-series was the straw that broke the back for producer Robert Halmi with NBC. The faults of his previous rating disaster, "The 10th Kingdom" have not been heeded in this production. The screenplay is overloaded with over the top characters and situations that never let up. But, to me, the failure of "The Lost Empire" falls in three categories. The total miscasting of Thomas Gibson, who gives a tired and stiff performance. Gibson seems to barely be able to walk, much less perform martial arts, and his delivery is unbelievably stilted. The music score is among the worst I've heard in a production like this. There is little thematic melody and even less of the score reflects the rich culture depicted in the story. Third, the director chose to shoot most of the frequent martial arts action from the waist up, so much of the visual impact of those scenes is lost. Indeed, only Bai Ling retains her dignity in the production. The only other redeeming feature is, that the film did cause me to look into the classic book, "Journey to the West."

Not accurate at all

[moviewiz-4 · 5/10 · 9 December 2001]

This movie has a mediocre plot. It doesn't reflect the real story of the real chinese's Journey to the West story. A bit disappointment.

The chinese's God is not accurate at all, most deities are not allowed to fall in love at all and in this story we can see not the fact but more on fiction.

Maybe the script writer should plan this story earlier and have a total research before producing so that everybody will enjoy this one as its original.

Wonderful modern play off the legend of the Monkey King

[mscorrinet · 17 November 2001]

The Lost Empire is a excellent updating and play off a an ancient Chinese novel entitled "Journey to the West".

For viewers who have some knowledge of Chinese myths and stories this movie is a real treat. It brings back all the wonderful characters of one of the most beloved novels of childhood.

On the other hand if you don't have a clue who the Monkey King was, let alone the celestial Kingdom and the Jade Emperor, than you might not get the underlying story elements, but the movie should still be a great deal of fun simply as a great adventure story with wonderful special effects and some very amusing characters.

This movie can be enjoyed by young and old. Think of it as an Asian version of Wizard of Oz, Ben Hur and Indiana Jones all rolled into one.

Enjoyable despite numerous weaknesses

[bobgreenwade · 7/10 · 23 February 2005]

Yes, the weaknesses of this movie are numerous. The acting is, for the most part, horribly wooden, particularly with the lesser supporting characters. The real-world history is way off (among other flaws already pointed out in other reviews, "Journey to the West" is, according to what I've read at least, closer to 400 years old than 500, and the official objection to the manuscript was its nontraditional form rather than its content). Some of the characters, particularly four of the Five Traditional Masters, are way underdeveloped. Portraying Confucius as a self-serving sycophant is just *wrong.*

If you're already familiar with the original story of "Journey to the West" and can't bear to see it butchered -- which is exactly what happens here -- then follow the one-star ratings given here and avoid this movie like the plague.

For anyone else, this is a fun piece of work. It was hardly Emmy-worthy in any category (with the possible exception of Bai Ling's impassioned performance as the Goddess of Mercy) and has numerous plot holes not worthy of David Huang, but the story travels on well with only a couple of relatively minor diversions (well, I guess NBC wanted to make sure they had a good two-part miniseries), one can really care about those characters that do receive proper development, and can wonder and worry about the story's outcome.

A mixed bag, weak in many key areas

[cglassey · 3/10 · 14 March 2001]

Lost Empire, a VERY strange title for a retelling of the old Chinese classic adventure "Journey to the West", is a mixed bag of a film. David Hwang's screenplay is in many respects a sequel to the original story, as opposed to being a modern rendition of the original story. I regard this as a mistake as I believe Mr. Hwang lost more by giving up on the original characters than he gained by having a modern setting.

Good points: The lovely Ling Bai did a good job as the Bodhisattva of Compassion (Kwan Yin). Some scenes with Monkey and the "Scholar from Above" went well (mainly the scenes when Monkey rescues his subjects on Flower Fruit Island). Some interplay between "Sandy" and the "Scholar from Above" was funny. Some of the art design for the palace of the Jade Emperor was good (but NOT the throne room, yuk!).

Bad points: Too many explosions. A really ugly and totally wrong portrait of Confucius (I could go on for some time but I'll stick with this key point: Confucius was a materialist. He had no interest in religion and spirits. He was only interested in how a good state was run. The depiction of Confucius in this movie is totally at odds with EVERYTHING that Confucius stood for.) The last half-hour of the movie was anti-climactic, over-wrought, and uninteresting.

Deeper problems: Journey to the West is, at its core, at Buddhist story about the quest to attain enlightenment (along with the fun stuff about beating demons). This story (Lost Empire) takes place AFTER Monkey and Sandy have achieved their ultimate state. They are both "supposed" to be enlightened beings. The problem with this is that a) they don't act like enlightened beings, and b) there isn't much drama possible when you are enlightened. You can really tell the weakness in the writing when Kwan Yin has to tell Monkey's old teacher that "Monkey HAS been blessed by the Buddha". If you need a 3rd party (a goddess no less) to convince other people that you have become enlightened and have been blessed by the Buddha, well, its clear to me that the story is saying one thing, but doing another.

In fact, none of the characters behaves "in character". At least not like the characters that you enjoyed when reading "Journey to the West".

Deepest problem: the story (Lost Empire) is trying to both be and not be "Journey to the West" at the same time. Its trying to both be true to original ideas and be "modern" and up-to-date at the same time. Its trying to be a sequel that retells the original story. It is, in short, a total mess at a very deep level. -- Colin Glassey

a humorous political allegory

[avt2 · 7/10 · 5 May 2006]

This mini-series is a humorous parable about the evolution of Chinese culture into the modern age. It uses the classic Chinese tale "Journey to the West" and shows its relevance in the modern age; the allegory here is that losing this book literally results in the loss of all the advances of modern civilization. It is retelling of the classic story, but in a Buddhist context of reliving the events in another cycle to make it relevant to the modern day. The story uses humor to make it accessible to the audience, and also to make the point that wrapping up tradition with too much seriousness causes some of the meaning and lesson of tradition to be lost. Some of the acting is pretty good, with Ric Young embracing contradiction portraying Confucius as a conniving villain and Ling Bai portraying Kuan Ying operating on many different levels. The Wizard-of-Oz ending was a little simplistic but it underlined how the story worked as allegory and parable. This is a light fluffy action story with a subtly complex political undertone, and an interesting interpretation of a classic tale.

A movie that butchered a legend, and insulted a culture.

[tetsuo916 · 1/10 · 9 September 2003]

Loosely based on one of China's greatest stories (A Journey to the West, also known as the "Monkey King"), the Lost Empire was a horrible rendition which insulted a rich culture.

Moving past the bad acting, cheesy action sequences, and the slow, lengthy story; the Lost Empire continually butchered China's legends and heroes.

Many of China's heroes and gods were wrongly portrayed as either villains or imbeciles... most insulting was the portrayl of Confucius as a devious worm who had nothing but disdain to the heroes...

Prime entertainment

[Sentinel-15 · 10/10 · 5 November 2002]

This is like a post-modern take on the legend of the Monkey King, where a modern human gets involved with saving the book that contains the original story.

First of all, it is FUN!

There are lots of interesting characters, lots of action, heroic characters fighting the Good Fight... what more do you want?

Just keep in mind that this is NOT the original legend(s) - whatever those were about - and it doesn't even try to be, so don't criticize it for that.

This is good old-fashioned entertainment, with lots of imagination and heroics. Enjoy!

Not as bad as people say, not as good as I hoped.

[shadowsong642 · 6/10 · 8 May 2011]

I figured this movie was like martial arts movie meets cheesy movie, with bad dialogue that made me want to take an ax and butcher the screenwriters. Seriously guys, actually embark on a daring voyage outside of your little writing hole and learn how people REALLY speak to each other. And for god's sake, put some effort into those special effects! Despite the terrible FX that practically leapt from an animated video game and the unrealistic and unconvincing script, it was still a fun movie. The only reason I even watched it was because of Thomas Gibson, and his acting wasn't top notch, but it was somewhat earlier in his career, so I forgive him. The other actors did an exceptional job as well, but none of them lived up to their full potential because of that STUPID SCRIPT! I've neither read nor had any interest in reading Journey to the West, therefore I can't share others' hatred for this movie. Personally? I was laughing at the humor, gaping at the martial arts, and rolling my eyes at the attempts at realism with flying. I recommend this movie.

Avoid at all costs! Don't let the trailer fool you! -- 3 (Really bad)

[jimboduck · 3/10 · 17 March 2005]

I saw the trailer for THE MONKEY KING on videocassette three years ago and have been meaning to rent this movie ever since. Though the first ten minutes reveal an interesting concept, the next thirty minutes or so are terrible, at which point you are free to hit the stop button. I was planning to write about the TV-Esq low quality production of this movie, but once realizing that this was originally for TV, I thought of something else to talk about. No, even if I found this "film" on TV, I would definitely not tune in for another episode.

After watching the trailer, which is of course all in voice-over narration, I had assumed that THE MONKEY KING was an extravagant high-wire Hong Kong circus act. Popping in the DVD, I was hoping to see extravagantly costumed characters flying through the air and doing wild martial arts. "Maybe it's like an extremely silly Once Upon a Time in China," I thought, "where the Monkey King spits streams of blood and the pig man makes a million golden rings appear out of nowhere!"

I was heartbroken when the Monkey King, played by Russel Wong, appears on screen and speaks perfect taxi-driver English. Nope, the whole movie is in English, there's not a trace of any Asian language or authentic culture, and obviously no one from the Hong Kong movie industry was involved in this production. It's more a parody of Asian folklore than anything else, and all the props are made of cardboard. The martial arts and dialog are both ridiculous (there are more moves and more coherent dialog in a Jane Fonda aerobics video), and I couldn't help from cutting THE MONKEY KING halfway short. It was unbearable.

I think the movie was originally aiming at a Neverending Story type fantasy, where all the Chinese stuff would add "extra value" to the fantasy -- kind of like a paper umbrella or a fortune cookie. The production for this movie is at the same abysmal level as those bleak British dramas broadcast on PBS. The MONKEY KING's sets, special effects, costumes, and dialog would make for a very nice Sunday flea market but definitely not a two hour production. Instead of watching THE MONKEY KING, I highly recommend searching for a four hour made-for-TV Alice in Wonderland which featured Sammy Davis Junior as the Catepillar and Scott Baio as a cat, as well as a myriad other 80's TV stars. That was cheap production, but it was cheap production done well with care. I don't know if it's on DVD, but I highly recommend that if you're looking for fantasy with lots of color.

Oh, and if you're looking for cool martial arts, you're better off visiting your local day care center when the kids miss nap-time.

Avoid the MONKEY KING at all costs. It really shouldn't be commercially available and is only a sneaky, albeit clever, ploy to lure video rental customers who are into the Hong Kong high-wire genre.

JY

Jimboduck-dot-com

HK martial arts meets college-boy - result true love

[mark-152 · 8/10 · 23 June 2001]

Interesting combination of Hong Kong martial arts / fantasy technique with Hollywood Raiders of the Lost Ark cheekiness. Well sketched, updated characters from the classic Chinese novel, with great special effects, fun fight scenes, poignant romance and a leading actress simply too gorgeous for words.

The college idealist American hero with the great racquet ball backhand gets bit tiresome, as does the ideological spin that the true Chinese spirit is rugged individualism.

Still the original somehow shines through and retains its interest and fascination.

Nice feel for a westernized Chinese story

[JimWile · 6/10 · 29 April 2006]

An excellent blending of the classical stories of the Monkey King and his friends with the modern world.

Whenever a movie is made that attempts to blend classical stories with the modern world you have to give it the benefit of the doubt. The feel of the movie is much more important than the neatly pulling together points from the classical stories by Wu. The Lost Empire (Recently released on the Sci Fi channel as "The Monkey King". Does an excellent job of tying the intent and overall feel of the 4 books of the "Journey" saga into the modern world.

For those who like to nit pick movies like this one, they should realize that there is not a classical Chinese movie made which holds up to scrutiny versus the original texts. Movies just are not supposed to be a replacement for reading. This movie does a very good job of giving the feel of the old movies a more than passing homage. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Fantasy and Classical Chinese stories.

At least they changed its name to protect the innocent

[tjrc · 1/10 · 13 March 2001]

At least they changed the name of this show from its original working title, "The Monkey King" (as the book "Journey To The West" is generally known), acknowledging that it was not attempting to be remotely faithful to the original tale.

It would have been better to make a straight retelling of the book. As it is, there is about 30 minutes of compelling TV in this show -- unfortunately, those 30 minutes are spread over 4 hours.

I was frankly embarrassed by the treatment of Confucius as a petulant wisecracker and corrupt court politician, which I found offensive, and I am surprised that I haven't seen any complaints from Chinese-Americans on this score. But it's still early.

A tale unknown, but fanciful intro

[Observer-2 · 21 December 2002]

Some other commentators have bemoaned the historical faults, others the romantic interest. To which I say this - first off, it was a made for TV movie. What is the first role of such a movie? To entertain. Perhaps the History Channel will do a more accurate documentary, if that's what people want. As for the romance, where would the movie "Titanic" have been without the love story? Similarly, this movie needs the romantic interest to move the very 21st Century "Scholar" into a position to want to get involved with people that are more the stuff of Myth, Legend, and to a great degree, Hope. Otherwise, why should he bother? "The Journey West" is a story I'd not heard of. Now, even with this fanciful introduction, I think I'll go look it up and read it. To bring me to do this, both the movie, and other comments here, have thus been successful. Microwave up the popcorn, sit back and enjoy the show. Just don't take it too seriously, just enjoy it for the entertainment that it is.

Total Rubbish

[f-society · 1/10 · 1 June 2003]

I've watched this mini-series hoping it will bring some excitements, art and culture of the traditional Chinese "Journey to the West" story. Of course the most important thing I'm looking at for in this movie is to have best visual effects. However, the effects are so bad and no realistic (Not even close).

Aside from bad acting and visuals, the problem with this story is that Qua Yinn being fall in love with the human! It's the most insulting story for the Buddhist people and religion! And Friar Sand wearing human skulls (Maybe when he was Cannibal but no anymore!)?? What about the Monkey King? He doesn't look like Monkey, instead look like human. Also Monkey King wasn't put under the mountain by the demons. Monkey King was so powerful, nobody (even the most powerful good or evil) can defeat or control it. Eventually Monkey King was punished by Buddha by putting it under the mountain. This movie is totally going on the wrong way.

This mini-series is nothing compared to the original Chinese version (25 episodes) of "Journey to the West" released in 1986. If you are looking for the "real" story (with better visual effects), then go for the chinese version! It has got English caption in the whole series.

This movie is just worthless. Acting, music, visual effects, story.....none of them are good.

I'll rate this movie 1.

Good intention, bad production

[chicagrrl · 2/10 · 12 March 2001]

As someone who grew up reading "Journey to the West" and various Chinese folklore, I must say this attempt at presenting a rich, wonderful culture was quite lacking. I am not so sure I got the point of the movie as I was cringing so much from the bad acting and story line. I guess the road to bad TV movies is paved with good intentions.

Maybe I am a purist, but it seemed wrong to be mixing elements of Western romanticism with Eastern tradition, courage, and wisdom. Sure, in some stories, these elements are great together, but not in this one. Am I supposed to believe that the Goddess of Mercy, the epitome of compassion and gracefulness, is a scantily-clad, large-bosomed, overly made-up young woman with claw-like press-on nails, who lives in a church and just can't help falling in love with a mortal? Or a supposed Chinese scholar who couldn't tell the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese? Please, I beg of the producers, have a little mercy on those of us who know enough to know that it is, well, just plain wrong.

Yet, despite my objections, I admit, I couldn't stop watching it. Some good things CAN be said about this movie. Russell Wong is, as usual, a talented, versatile (yet under-rated) actor. The production stayed true to the details of MOST characters in "Journey to the West" (i.e. physical appearances, personalities, and magical abilities); in some ways, seeing the characters on TV brought back nostalgic memories of being completely engrossed with the book. If the producers' aim was to welcome and inspire more students of Eastern philosophy and history, the movie may have only succeeded in drawing (or averting) people's attention with its incredible cheesiness.

Go now, buy "Journey to the West," and become lost in the fantastic tale, as many of us have throughout the ages. But you're better off skipping "The Lost Empire."

A fabulous adventure, for children of all ages

[loopyc · 10/10 · 25 March 2001]

Staged in the present this movie is a thrill to watch for all those who have spent their childhood watching amazing Chinese cartoons. The hero in this movie (an American) is confronted with his longing for the mysteries of the east. He will need all of his powers to save not only his world but also the world of goddesses and mythical creatures.

A movie well worth watching.

So, so sad

[eversmashing · 2/10 · 12 March 2001]

Seeing this TV movie the day after I saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon made it almost unbearable. Seeing something like this after a masterpiece like Ang Lee's film was painful. It shows how americanized the fighting is, with fake close-up shots, fading transitions, and strategically timed fiery explosions in the background. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the fighting is about technique, not killing the other person and making it look cool. Overall, I'd say The Lost Empire is just another in a long line of sad made for TV movies. Nothing new.

Weird

[angelkiss84 · 8/10 · 16 March 2001]

ok, here is the thing. i grow up watching "Journey to the west" on tv back in china. even though i never actually read the story in text but i know the story really well...maybe it's because i watch it on TV couple million times. anyways, this movie was ok. except the so called "goddess" looked like the modern pop princess Britney spears. no offense to britney or anything i love brit, but the whole big boobs and the belly thing is just wrong. she suppose to be a goddess not some girl who's ready to pose for the playboy magazine. and Bai ling is just totally wrong for the part, she gave people the wrong idea of how a goddess should look like. the movie confused me a bit in the beginning but it didn't turn out that bad. At least Thomas Gibson was a cutie. that's the only reason which kept me-a 16 years old teenager watching til the end of the movie.

The Lost Direction

[mar9 · 3/10 · 29 March 2001]

An ambitious but unsuccessful attempt to update a classic of world literature for a modern Western (read white American) audience. The biggest problem and one this movie fails to overcome is that the story didn't need updating. It's a bit like Robin Williams' Peter Pan in "Hook", the change tears the spiritual heart out of the story. Thomas Gibson in the lead role doesn't extend his range far past his "Dharma and Greg" persona, and the American accents coming from just about everyone else (including King Monkey!?) just grate. Ling Bai as the goddess Kwan Yin is lovely BUT why oh why did the script call for her to fall in love with the mortal? It's senseless, pointless and just plain wrong. The story runs out of puff in the second half after some promising early moments. Special effects range from fabbo to so-so. The cloud-flying is particularly weak - it looks no better than the "Action Man on a hunk of cotton wool" used by the Japanese "Monkey" TV series. As for the tiger, it looked like it had escaped from "Beast Wars". It's hard to be truly frightened by something you just know is a bunch of polygons squirming around on a Silicon Graphics workstation. I mention the "Monkey" television serial deliberately. This new production, despite 21st century production values and special effects, pales by comparison with the Japanese creation, in spite of the latter's at times awful Fu-Manchu style English dubbing. It had more charismatic actors, scarier demons, better fight sequences and more laughs. It is bound to be on repeat screenings somewhere out there in pay-TV land, so tune in for some real Monkey Magic.

Absurd but enjoyable

[solri · 7 March 2003]

The Lost Empire, or The Monkey King, as it was called when I saw it on the Hallmark Network, is a silly film, but a very enjoyable one. It attempts to put a new spin on the Chinese classic, Journey to the West, which tells the story of how a monk went on an epic journey to recover some sacred scriptures, aided by the mischievous Monkey King, the gluttonous Pigsy and the sombre Sandy.

In this modern version the companions are the same, but the monk is replaced by a modern American sinologist, and the "scripture" is the original manuscript of Journey to the West itself, which is about to be destroyed by the "five traditional masters", who represent the forces of conservatism. Confused? It gets worse; if the book is destroyed, all the human progress that has taken place since the book was written will be reversed and the world will revert to feudalism. To cap it all, the Jade Emperor, Confucius and Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion, are all weighing in.

With a scenario like this, the film cannot help but being absurd in places, but the absurdity, intentional or otherwise, is part of the fun, as it was in the original Journey to the West, which is a comedy as well as an analogy of the spiritual journey. Viewers who have read Journey to the West will enjoy the references to it; others can sit back and enjoy the visual richness, which as well as some spectacular scenes and SFX, includes Bai Ling as Kuan Yin, looking far more sexy than a goddess of compassion ought to (but then that's one of the twists in this tale as well).

wow

[tcmg-imdb · 1/10 · 13 April 2008]

As I started watching, within half an hour I heard my 11 year old son's voice echoing in my mind. "wow". That's what he says to me in response to something I've said or done, which he says it in such a flat tone and with such a blank expression on his face that its meaning is absolutely clear. Wow, this is one of the lamest things I have ever seen. It's so lame that if I were out with it in public I'd walk 20 feet behind it and pretend I didn't know it. I cringed as I watched the scholar and the monkey king "snow boarding" through the clouds. I had to stop watching for fear of seeing the goddess of mercy "snow boarding" on her cloud.

To Long!!!!

[freddieee · 3/10 · 27 April 2003]

How could they make this movie 2.44 hours long??? I tought i was a quite good movie the first hour...not a great movie more of a fun B-movie.

But Then...when it never ended and story become stupid, not the kind of story you want to see. Let the good people win! Well then you just got tired and hoped it would end soon.

It should have been 1 hour shorter then I would have given it a 5...but now its more of a 2-3.

Bai Ling Shines

[brian_kay · 10/10 · 13 March 2001]

I'm not quite sure what age group this film was directed toward, but from a purely entertainment standpoint, I thought the film was very entertaining. For me, the story was reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Arc and The Wizard of Oz combined. The set and costume designs were fantastic.

What really impressed me was Bai Ling's performance. As usual she exuded excellence in her acting skills, let alone her Audrey Hepburn like physique and mannerisms. In viewing her past work, I think maybe she stepped down into this roll (for the sake of the story). Certainly, Bai Ling is a high calibre actress who, I hope in the future, will be involved in more serious rolls. (ex. Red Corner) It is a delight to see such a beautiful, intelligent and talented Asian women working in film.