MONKEY KING: HERO IS BACK REVIEWED
“Monkey King: Hero is Back” focuses on how Sun Wukong fought against the Heavens. After being imprisoned for 500 years, the locals need his help again. Freeing the Monkey King involves a pig person, a foolish girl and a lot of gumption. Dialog zips by fast, so it might be hard for younger viewers to follow. Thankfully, there are scenes of monsters eating boogers. Couple that with stunning CG animation for quite the fantasy outing.
China is stepping up their film game, but I’m not sure how this will play on the global market. It’s a very insular tale that relies on a ton of Chinese mythology and understanding Eastern storytelling. That might be a tall order for kids that just want a bright shiny movie to close out their last weeks of Summer Vacation. If you’re looking for familiar voices, the dub provides Jackie Chan and James Hong to entertain you. It’s no “Journey to the West”, but the action is non-stop and the colors pop throughout the presentation.
Be the cool parent and let your kids take a chance watching something like this. After all, you probably grew up watching weird edits of Ghibli movies. This is the chance to steer future film geeks in the right direction. Could it be better? Sure. But, this will do for now.
FILM STATS
- 1 hr and 29 mins
- PG
- VIVA Pictures
