Wednesday, February 5, 2014

The Monkey King



The TGV cinema at Bukit Indah, Johor Baru, was packed yesterday.  Tickets for The Monkey King was all sold out for the 8.30pm screening, so I had to watch the 9.30pm show.  The previous day, both the 8.30pm and 9.30pm shows were fully booked when I got there at around 5pm.

I have always been a big fan of Donnie Yen.  The Hong Kong action star has such awesome moves.  My all-time favourite Donnie Yen movie --- SPL --- love the knife-baton fight scene in the alley.


Donnie Yen then went on to star in movies like "Seven Swords", "Ip Man" and "Dragon Tiger Gate".

In the Monkey King, the story of Sun Wukong started with the battle between Good and Evil, and how the protagonist was born from the crystal of a deva/goddess.

Sun Wukong has many negative traits such as arrogance, brashness and impudence, but he also has a big heart and cares for the well-being and happiness of all, not only his own.  Both the dark forces and the light wanted him on their side, but eventually it is Sun Wukong who has to decide which side he wants to serve.

The Underworld resorted to trickery while the Heavenly beings offered free will.

The CGI effects was nothing to shout about but the storyline and  Donnie Yen's stellar portrayal of Sun Wukong deserved a thumbs-up.  There were also moments where I had burst out in laughter.

The Monkey King reportedly grossed $1.8 mil on Jan 31 and took in $20 mil throughout China on the first day of the Chinese New Year. And it garnered $4.5 mil during the three-day CNY weekend holiday in China.

The film will undoubtedly achieve number 1 status in both the Malaysia and Singapore's box office.




1 comment:

  1. I just watched it. Thumbs up. Feel like watching again.

    ReplyDelete