The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精) Movie Review | by tiffanyyong.com
Recommended Audience: Fans of Aaron Kwok, Gong Li, Feng Shaofeng, Xiao Shenyang, Kris Philips, Him Law, Kelly Chen and Monkey King movie fans
The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精) Movie Synopsis
In this sequel of the 2014 box office hit The Monkey King, the White Boned Demon (Baigujing) played by Gong Li constantly attempts to prise Tang Sanzang for his meat, thus forcing the quartet to delay the journey on the quest for sutra. Whilst Tang was involved in a misunderstanding with Monkey King (Sun Wukong), White Boned Demon stole the opportunity to manipulate Tang, who is vulnerable without the help of his skilled disciple…
The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精) Viewer Rating: 3.5/5 ***
The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精) Movie Review:
If you have caught the replay of the first movie on the local tv channel, you might want to catch this second installment just for the sake of comparison. Plus, since 2016 is the year of Monkey, what Chinese New Year film can be more suitable than the Monkey King 2?
To be truthful, I wasn’t really impressed with the first movie. Donnie Yen as Monkey King was unrecognisable. In fact, he could be a stunt double for all we know and credited as Donnie Yen! So when Aaron Kwok replaced Donnie Yen to be the Monkey King, the first thing I focused on was to see if he is recognizable. So, this film was slightly better than the previous one based on the make-up!
Monkey King or the Journey to the West is China’s classic literature (or you can say well-worn) story and the Battle of the White-Boned Demon aka Madam Bones aka 白骨精 is one of the most famous chapters. The director did not deviate too much from the original story but focus on the creativity of the costumes and special effects. Sha Wujing (Him Law), the sand demon followed the original storyline and was made blue (avatar?), a look that no one has ever seen before.
While the overall quality of the VFX sequences are better than the first, the script simple and straight forward, the chemistry and lines were pretty humorous, especially between the three disciples. There are of course, weird moments when they each transformed into a gigantic monster (think Power Rangers and Transformers) and they had to fight them.
But what impressed me the most was Gong Li’s portrayal as Baigujing. I always had the impression that Madam Bone will be someone slender and willowy (we all know how voluptuous Gong Li is), and I didn’t think she would suit the role. I was wrong, and it was entrancing to watch as she morphs and changes her costume. Her shimmering beauty made her gorgeous and malevolent all at the same time.
Do You Know?
Louis Koo was reported to be in the sequel and portray the role of Tang Sanzang, but he was replaced by Feng Shaofeng later on.
Aaron Kwok, who portrayed the Bull Demon King in The Monkey King, replaced Donnie Yen to be the Monkey King. To prepare for his role, Kwok took several months of martial arts training before the shoot. During filming, Kwok had to undergo six hours of makeup and an additional three hours to clean it up daily.
Behind The Scenes and Interviews
Check out The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精) Facebook Page!
The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精) is out in cinemas on 6 February 2016.
xoxo
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*Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for the movie review.
1/2 of #TheEpiphanyDuplet, Tiffany Yong juggles her ABCs – Acting, Blogging and Coaching/Consulting as she is fuelled by passion and drive to succeed.
It is not easy to make a living in Singapore just purely based on Acting, so with Blogging to help her with her online presence, and Coaching kids drama, private tutoring and freelance social media consulting to finance her life, she is currently leading the life most people hope to have: Living the Dream!
Hmmm, this may be something I’m into! Sounds like it might be entertaining. Thanks for the review!
I’d actually like to watch the movie for its costumes. Looks fabulous… I feel a lot of Indian influence in the styling as well…
Interesting movie theme! I don’t see these kinds of movies anymore. At an old mall here in Manila, I would always see posters of Asian movies like these and it would amaze me because it looks so realistic!
Looks like an odd movie. I haven’t heard about this before. If it was an anime, I’d watch it. Thanks for sharing this review.
Hi! I just wanted to let you know (even if you never watched this movie or the first one) there actually is an anime that is pretty heavily based on Journey to the West, which is what the movie is about. It’s called Shinzo. It’s a little old and a lot cheesy, but the anime is pretty similar to the story I think, and definitely a fun watch. The characters are pretty similar, what with the main characters being similar to Wukong and Sanzang in personality and the overall group of characters pretty obviously based on the characters who are portrayed in this movie. Hope you enjoy it if you watch it!
Ha ha..Looks like a fun movie just by looking at costumes! These kind of movies are actually quite entertaining.
It reminds me of the old Chinese period movies. They did a great job on the characters look and costume.
Well-worn is correct. I have seen a number of old Chinese films about these characters since I was a kid. I guess they will now reboot it for the new generations. If I get the chance to review the classic story, I would.
I love the costume designs in this movie. A few of the movies you share I probably won’t get to see but this I would love to. Maybe Netflix or Amazon might have it one day.
I haven’t seen Gong Li in a movie for a long while, so I might watch this one for her. Your description of Gong Li’s portrayal even solidified that.
Although I’m not familiar with the characters, I really love the costumes! Especially that one of Gong Li’s! She looks so stunning and very beautiful, like an Evil Queen. No wonder you changed your mind and thought she did great for he role.
It’s been a long time since I watched this kind of movie that is based on Chinese literature. My grandfather will surely like this.
I think I heard of the Monkey King from my sister. She loves this kind of movies. She knows Aaron Kwok, too!
Weird props but this movie sounds interesting to me. The costume and the set is very intriguing.