Monkey King: Hero Is Back
Theatrical poster
Directed byTian Xiaopeng
Screenplay byTian Xiaopeng
Based onJourney to the West
by Wu Cheng'en
Produced by
  • Jiang Hui
  • Liu Zhijiang
  • Lin Zhonglun
  • Yang Dan
  • Wang Weiming
Music byFlorian Linckus
Wong Ying-Wah
Production
companies
Beijing Weiyingshidai Culture & Media
Hengdian Chinese Film Production Co.
October Animation Studio
S&C Pictures
Shandong Film and Television Production Center
Distributed byUnited Entertainment Partners
Release date
  • 10 July 2015 (2015-07-10)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryChina
LanguagesMandarin
English
BudgetUS$16 million[1]
Box officeUS$153 million[2]
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese西游记之大圣归来
Traditional Chinese西遊記之大聖歸來
Literal meaningJourney to the West: Return of the Great Sage

Monkey King: Hero Is Back (Chinese: 西游记之大圣归来; pinyin: Xīyóu jì zhī dà shèng guīlái; lit. 'Journey to the West: Return of the Great Sage') is a 2015 Chinese computer-animated fantasy adventure film written and directed by Tian Xiaopeng in his directorial debut.[3] The film was released on 10 July 2015,[4] and became the highest-grossing animated film in China until it was surpassed by the 2016 films Zootopia and Kung Fu Panda 3.[5][6]

A prequel to the film titled Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven is currently in development.

Plot

The all-powerful Monkey King, Sun Wukong, is imprisoned by the Buddha within an ice cage deep within the mountains for rebelling against heaven.

500 years later, Mountain Trolls attack a group of travelers, all except for a baby boy named Liuer are killed, and Liuer is adopted by a monk after floating down a river in a basket. (The name Jiang Liuer means River Flow Child.) Several years later, the same trolls invade a small village and kidnap 49 young children. Liuer saves one of the baby girls and is chased by the trolls for doing so. He stumbles into the cave where the Monkey King was imprisoned, and unknowingly releases him from his curse. Sun Wukong defeats the trolls, although he is only able to use physical attacks, since a remnant of Buddha's seal prevents him from regaining his magical powers, causing him pain whenever he tries to harness his magic.

Wukong attempts to break the Buddha's seal to no avail. Liuer and the girl enthusiastically greet Wukong, not knowing he has lost his powers, and pester him with endless questions. (One example is when Liuer asks if the god Nezha is a boy or a girl. Wukong answers, a girl.) Annoyed, Wukong attempts to avoid the two, but is unable to evade them. A stone monster, created by the Buddha to keep Wukong imprisoned, attacks the three. Liuer manages to undo the spell on the monster, but falls off a cliff in the process. When he awakes, he finds out Wukong has saved him.

The three come upon Pigsy, the Heavenly Immortal "Tian Peng Yuan Shuai" (Marshal of Heavenly Canopy) that Wukong defeated when he rebelled against Heaven 500 years ago, now reincarnated into a pig demon. Though Wukong is again hesitant, Pigsy joins the group as well. They also run into a white dragon that attacks them and tries to eat Liuer but Sun Wukong scares it off. (This also happened in the original canon, although unlike in the original books, the dragon does not turn into a white horse.)

They stay overnight at an inn, but its owners turn out to be Trolls in disguise, who try to kidnap the baby. More trolls arrive and Wukong fights them off. The leader of the monsters, Hun Dun, appears, defeating Wukong and capturing the girl. After Wukong refuses to pursue them, Liuer goes ahead to save them on his own.

Hun Dun reveals his plan to sacrifice all the children they have kidnapped in order to gain magical powers. Liuer meets with his mentor, Fa Ming, to try to rescue them but nearly get captured. Wukong finds a doll of himself that Liuer had and realises how important of a figure he is. He and Pigsy go to help Liuer. Saving Liuer and the 49 children, Wukong defeats the monsters. However, a solar eclipse occurs, and Hun Dun turns into a giant monstrous beast. Liuer is seemingly crushed by the rubble from Hun Dun's rampage. Upon seeing the boy's apparent death, Sun Wukong is devastated. Full of fury, he forcibly breaks Buddha's Seal, regaining his original supernatural powers, and easily defeats Hun Dun.

The final part of this movie connects to the themes in the original canon. Sun Wukong only regains his powers when he fights for someone else rather than himself, as Sun Wukong's powers are meant to protect the monk Xuanzang/TangSeng/Tang Sanzang against evil and lead the monk to enlightenment. Sun Wukong as a character is also meant to represent an enlightened mind, which is why Sun Wukong's staff emerges from his head. Jiang Liuer himself is the younger Xuanzang, since he only received the name Xuanzang after he was ordained.

In the end, Liuer is shown to have survived Hun Dun's rampage, and they return the abducted children to their families.

Cast

Character Mandarin English
Sun Wukong, the Monkey King Lei Zhang Jackie Chan
Liuer Zijie Lin Kannon Kurowski
Fa Ming Wenlun Wu James Hong
Hun Dun Zirong Tong Feodor Chin
Li Jing / Pigsy Jiurong Liu Roger Craig Smith
Jade Emperor TBA David S. Jung
Father Qianjing Zhao
Lady Troll Wu Di Nika Futterman

Crowdfunding

7.8 million yuan ($1.23 million) of the film's marketing costs was raised through crowdfunding, in exchange for listing of the 109 financiers (many of whom are children) in the film's credits.[7][8]

Reception

Box Office

The film grossed $17.99 million CNY ($2.85 million USD) on its opening day, placing third at the Chinese box office.[9] With positive reviews and word of mouth, the film's box office reception steadily increased, peaking at $65.87 million CNY ($10.44 million USD) a day, and first at the box office.[10] The film began to drop due to competition from Monster Hunt and finished its run with a gross of $957 million CNY ($153 million USD).[11] The film became the seventh highest grossing film in China of 2015 and the highest grossing animated film in China until being surpassed by Zootopia and Kung Fu Panda 3 the following year.

Other media

On October 17, 2019, a video game based on the film was released on PlayStation 4, developed by HexaDrive with assistance from Japan Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment in Asia and THQ Nordic internationally; a Windows port published by Oasis Games was also released on the same day.[12][13] As Sun Wukong (renamed Dasheng in the English dub), players guide Liuer and Pigsy (Zhu Bajie) to fight off Mountain Trolls and other monsters to save the kidnapped children from the clutches of the demon king Hun Dun, use statues of Guanyin to unlock spells to enhance skills and use various weapons to battle enemies. Two DLCs were available: Mind Palace, which is set within Sun Wukong's mind sealed inside the Buddha's crystal, where he trains himself in a series of obstacles and traps between different biomes, and Uproar in Heaven, which is set before the main story where the monkey king duels against three of the Jade Emperor's greatest warriors, Nezha, Juling Shen and the Jade Emperor's nephew Erlang Shen.

The film crosses over with other animated films such as Ne Zha and Jiang Ziya in various commercials.

Accolades

Year Awards Category Outcome
2015 Golden Rooster Awards Best Animated Feature Won[14]
2015 Silk Road International Film Festival Animated Film of the Year 2015 Won[15]
2015 China Animation & Comic Competition Golden Dragon Award Best Animated Feature Film Won[16]
2015 China Animation & Comic Competition Golden Dragon Award Best Directing for an Animation Won[16]
2015 Sichuan TV Festival Golden Panda Award Best Directing for an Animation Nominated[17]
2015 Golden Horse Film Festival Best Animation Feature Nominated[18]

Future

A prequel titled Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven is in development as of 2023.[19][20][21]

References

  1. ↑ Amidi, Amid (26 July 2015). "Breaking: 'Monkey King' Breaks Chinese Record, Surpasses 'Kung Fu Panda 2′". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Patrick Brzeski (31 August 2015). "China Box Office: 'Terminator Genisys' Marches Towards $100M". The Hollywood Reporter. (Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Forget 'Minions,' 'Monster Hunt' and 'Monkey King' Smash Chinese Box Office Records". Cartoon Brew. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  4. ↑ 《大圣归来》概念美术赏 水墨油彩风格多变 东方意境跃然纸上. mtime.com. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Jonathan Papish (29 January 2016). "On Screen China: Let the Bear Hug Commence—'Kung Fu Panda 3'". China Film Insider. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Nancy Tartaglione (30 January 2016). "'Kung Fu Panda 3' In China At $40M+ Through Saturday; Eyes Record Animation Debut". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Crowdfunding tastes blood in movie market-Industries-chinadaily.com.cn". chinadaily.com.cn.
  8. ↑ "Film fans crowdfund new blockbuster hits-Business-chinadaily.com.cn". chinadaily.com.cn.
  9. ↑ http://english.entgroup.cn/boxoffice/cn/daily/?date=07%20/10%20/2015
  10. ↑ http://english.entgroup.cn/boxoffice/cn/daily/?date=07%20/15%20/2015
  11. ↑ "艺恩娱数".
  12. ↑ "Monkey King: Hero is Back on Playstation". store.playstation.com.
  13. ↑ "Monkey King: Hero Is Back Co-Developed by Sony Japan Studio for PS4 Gets First Gameplay Trailer". DualShockers. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  14. ↑ "Golden Rooster Awards (2015)". IMDb. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "第二届丝绸之路国际电影节"在福州落幕. www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  16. 1 2 第12届中国动漫金龙奖获奖名单揭晓. southern.com. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  17. ↑ "Sichuan TV Festival (2015)". IMDb. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "Golden Horse Film Festival (2015)". IMDb. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  19. ↑ Xu, Fan (5 November 2015). "Media giant gives new lease of life to animation films". Chinadaily.com.cn. China Daily Information Co. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  20. ↑ Amidi, Amid (22 April 2016). "China's Enlight Media To Produce 22 Animated Features, Starting With 'Big Fish and Begonia'". Cartoon Brew. Cartoon Brew, LLC. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  21. ↑ Zhang, Rui (13 February 2023). "'Deep Sea' director to share top animation effects with peers". China.org.cn. China Internet Information Center. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
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