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the-monkey-ruler · 5 months ago

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The Monkey King 2 (2016) 西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精

Director: Zheng Baorui Screenwriter: Ran Ping / Ran Jinan / Wen Ning Starring: Aaron Kwok / Gong Li / Feng Shaofeng / Xiao Shenyang / Luo Ziyi / Fei Xiang / Kelly Chen / Ngawang Rinchen / Peng Yu / Cheng Dong / Liu Chutian / Yu Xin / Wei Lu / Qi Xier / Mu Qi Miya / Zhang Zimu Genre: Comedy / Action / Fantasy Country/Region of Production: Mainland China/Hong Kong, China Language: Mandarin Chinese Date: 2016-02-08 (Mainland China) / 2024-09-14 (Re-release in Mainland China) Duration: 120 minutes Also known as: Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven Sequel / Journey to the West: Three Strikes of Bone Demons / Three Strikes of Bone Demons / 西遊記之三打白骨精 / 西游记之大闹天宫续集 / 西游记之三打白骨精 / 三打白骨精 IMDb: tt4591310 Type: Retelling

Summary:

500 years after Sun Wukong's (Aaron Kwok) imprisonment under the Five Fingers Mountain, a young Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang (Feng Shaofeng) sets out for a journey to the Thunder Monastery in India to collect Buddha's scriptures. When he is attacked by a tiger, he is forced to free Wukong and the Monkey King learns that he has to protect the monk throughout the journey, because the Bodhisattva Guanyin ensured he would be bound by an enchanted circlet that can cause him pain whenever Tang Sanzang chants a certain sutra. Soon the duo meet Zhu Bajie (Xiaoshenyang), a lustful pig demon, and Sha Wujing (Him Law), a djinn-like monk. He fights a dragon, defeats it and transforms it into a horse as his mount.

The company travel to the Yun Hai Xi Kingdom, a land terrorized by the White Bone Demon (Gong Li) who has been eating people in order to extend her unnatural life and avoid the Wheel of Reincarnation. As the demoness learns about Sanzang, she decides to eat him in order to stop her reincarnation cycle and achieve everlasting demonhood. She takes the appearance of an old woman and lures the group into a cottage in the woods. To prevent Wukong from using his truth-seeking eyes to see through her disguise immediately, she throws tainted dust into his eyes that clouds his sight. Then while her disguised minions keep Wukong, Bajie and Wujing occupied, the demoness tells Sanzang a story about how she was forced to marry as a young girl, and when her village suffered famine, the people blamed her for it, even calling her an evil demon, and attempted to kill her as a sacrifice to the gods. As Tang comforts the old lady, she attempts to kill him, but is stopped by Wukong. The demoness escapes before Wukong can deal the killing blow and leaves the dead body of the old lady behind. Sanzang and the others don't believe Wukong that all the women he murdered were demons, and blame him for killing the innocent. Sanzang punishes Wukong by chanting the sutra and causing the circlet to tighten painfully on his head. Afterwards, Sanzang climbs to the top of a mountain where Wukong is sulking. Sanzang tells Wukong he thinks they are both very alike, for they both only trust what their own eyes sees. But together, they are better able to discern the truth. This is why they were all chosen to be on this journey together.

The group arrives to the kingdom's capital and the King (Fei Xiang) throws a feast for them, begging Sanzang to exorcise the bloodthirsty demoness from their land. Suddenly Lady White appears and demands the monk, but he offers her his help in enlightenment instead. She tells Wukong that they are both very alike, and tries to persuade Wukong to let her devour the monk, but he deceives her instead and a fight ensues. During the chaos, the King's guards kidnap Sanzang. It is revealed that it's actually been the King kidnapping and killing the children in a desperate attempt to cure himself of a cursed disease by drinking their blood. He tries to kill Sanzang, but Wukong arrives and saves the monk and the surviving children as well. All of the group are celebrated as heroes, but as a little girl approaches Sanzang, Wukong beats her and her mother to death as well, because his truth-seeking eyes perceive both were possessed by the White Bone Demon. In a fit of anger and disbelief, Tang banishes Wukong away. As soon as Wukong leaves, Sanzang gets kidnapped by the demoness.

In the demoness' lair, the White Bone Demon gives Sanzang a day to convince her to give up her evil ways and embrace nonviolence and enlightenment as the true path to immortality. She reveals to him the story she had told him earlier was true, recounting her previous life as a mortal. Right before Sanzang's time is up, he is saved by Wukong at the last minute. Wukong, Bajie and Wujing fight the White Bone Demon and her army and finally defeat her, with Wukong mortally wounding her. The Buddha comes down from the Heavens to collect the defeated demoness' soul and banish it to oblivion but Sanzang pleads Buddha to grant her mercy and give Sanzang one last chance to save her soul from destruction. Buddha tells him that he would have to lead her on the path herself, meaning he would have to sacrifice his own life. The monk begs the demoness to show remorse and accept the Wheel of Reincarnation, but the White Bone Demon would rather die as a broken tainted soul in Sanzang's body instead of returning to the Wheel of Reincarnation. Saddened, Tang begs Wukong to kill him, too. The Monkey King refuses at first, but Sanzang explains how he used to think he just had to recite Buddha's teachings to convince people to become good. Now he understands he must also lead by example and do good in order to convince people. Sanzang had to do this for his own journey towards enlightenment. Wukong finally understands the monk's desire to help the demoness change her fate, and tearfully agrees, promising Sanzang to wait for his return. Wukong brings his staff down and Sanzang's body is changed into a statue. In return Sanzang says if he gets a chance to do so in his next life, he would be glad to be Wukong's master again. Because of Sanzang's sacrifice, he succeeds in leading the demoness to her next reincarnation, freeing her of her pain and hatred.

Some time later, Wukong and his friends still wait for the return of the monk, but continue their journey to the Thunder Monastery. Wukong rides on Sanzang's horse with Sanzang's statue strapped to his back. From Heaven, Guanyin drops a bead of water from her magic vase that falls to earth and hits right at Sanzang's hand. The surface cracks, revealing a human finger underneath.

Source: https://movie.douban.com/subject/25827963/

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A7XSayGf04

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marcusgohmarcusgoh · 9 years ago

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Review: 'The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)' puts a new spin on a familiar story

Aaron Kwok as the Monkey King in "The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)." (Shaw Organisation)

Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. He Tweets/Instagrams at Optimarcus and writes at marcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own.

Secret ending? No.

Running time: 119 minutes (~2 hours)

"The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)" is a Hong Kong action drama in a fantasy setting, that's an adaptation of the classic "Journey to the West" story. It focuses on the White Bone Demoness' enmity with Tripitaka and his disciplines. It stars Aaron Kwok (Sun Wukong/Monkey King), Gong Li (Bai Gu Jing/White Bone Demoness), Feng Shaofeng (Tang Sanzang/Tripitaka), Xiaoshenyang (Zhu Bajie/Pigsy), Him Law (Sha Wujing/Sandy), and Kelly Chen (Guan Yin). It is rated PG-13.

"The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)" retains the essence of the story while adding more fantastical elements to it, giving us an enchanting film about the story that all of us grew up with. It's a visually arresting picture that presents the four heroes of "Journey to the West" as incredibly formidable individuals, reminding us why it is such a timeless story.

Pigsy (Xiaoshenyang) is surprised in "The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)." (Shaw Organisation)

Highlights

Lavish sets and exquisite costumes

Everything in this film was painstakingly designed and carefully produced, and this shows in the final product. The sets carry arcane runes and markings that convey the magic that permeates the very fabric of this world, further enhancing the mystic feel of the film. Even the attire for the lowliest guard fits in beautifully with the other, more detailed costumes, creating evocative scenes and helping immerse you in the fantasy world of "The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)."

Good production values and special effects

The prudent mix of practical and digital effects (rather than using CGI for everything) creates a more realistic and believable world, since not every magical effect has that flawless sheen of computer graphics. This allows the movie to conserve the digital effects for when they really matter, which in turn translates to grander and more polished displays when necessary, such as the depiction of the heroes' super powers. The finale, in particular, is quite a treat.

White Bone Demoness is stylishly deadly

Gong Li brings grace and poise to this classic villainess, bringing a tragic quality to her motivations and actions. It's not just her powers that make her so fearsome, but the air of intimidation that surrounds her. Her multiple costume changes also serve to keep her interesting and refreshing throughout the film, though one wonders how she manages to stay so fashionable. It's probably magic.

A very, very blue Sandy (Him Law) in "The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)." (Shaw Organisation)

Letdowns

Tripitaka is unbelievably gullible

The way the relationship develops between Tripitaka and Monkey King doesn't warrant the misunderstandings that occur between them. The plot tries to service the original story and and give proper character development, but in doing so it creates multiple paradoxical interactions. It makes Tripitaka's naivete look like the result of brain damage. Perhaps less growth, or fewer homages to the original story would have resulted in more believable interactions.

Sandy's character design is overdone

Sandy is distractingly blue, so much so that you're spending more time wondering whether which parts are make-up and which parts are CGI. If that's not enough, there's also a lot of detail on his body that's unidentifiable — is that part of his armour, or is it that how a demon's skin looks like? I applaud the effort put into his character design, but I also have to wonder what was the intention behind it.

Tripitaka (Feng Shaofeng) atop his signature horse in "The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)." (Shaw Organisation)

"The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)" is an entertaining film that puts its own spin on a familiar story, using modern special effects to enhance the magic of the original tale.

Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Oh yes.

Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? If you're a fan of "Journey to the West."

"The Monkey King 2 (西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精)" opens in cinemas 5 February, 2016 (Friday).

#西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精 #reviews #The Monkey King 2 #Asian Cinema #Aaron Kwok

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