''The Monkey King 3'' is a 2018 Chinese fantasy film based on the classic novel ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...

'' by

Wu Cheng'en Wu Cheng'en (, c. 1500–1582Shi Changyu (1999). "Introduction." in trans. W.J.F. Jenner, ''Journey to the West'', volume 1. Seventh Edition. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 1–22. or 1505–1580), courtesy name Ruzhong (), was a Chines ...

. The film is the third installment of the ''Monkey King'' franchise, after '' The Monkey King'' (2014) and ''

The Monkey King 2 ''The Monkey King 2'' (Chinese: 西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精) is a 2016 Hong Kong-Chinese action fantasy film based on the classic 16th-century novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. The film was shot in 3D and is a sequel to the ...

'' (2016). Directed and produced by

Cheang Pou-soi Cheang Pou-soi (; born 11 July 1972), also known as his main credited as Soi Cheang or Bob Cheng, is a Hong Kong film director, assistant director, screenwriter, script supervisor, actor and film producer. Filmography As director * '' Mad Fate'' ...

, the film stars

Aaron Kwok Aaron Kwok Fu-shing (born 26 October 1965) is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. Active since the 1980s, Kwok is known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. Dubbed the "God of Dance", Kwok's onstage dancing is influenc ...

Feng Shaofeng Feng Shaofeng (, born October 7, 1978), also known as William Feng, is a Chinese actor. Feng rose to fame with the hit time travel series ''Palace'' (2011). He was ranked 33rd on 2012's Forbes China Celebrity 100 list. He won the Hundred Flowers A ...

, Xiao Shenyang,

Him Law Him Law Tze-yat (born Law Chung-him on 28 August 1984) is a Hong Kong actor currently contracted to TVB. Law began his acting career by starring as supporting characters in several well-known films, most notably in ''Mob Sister'' (2005), whic ...

and

Zhao Liying Zhao Liying (, born 16 October 1987), also known as Zanilia Zhao, is a Chinese actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in television series ''Legend of Lu Zhen'' (2013), ''Boss & Me'' (2014), ''The Journey of Flower'' (2015), ''The M ...

. The film was released on February 16, 2018, the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Sun Wukong (

), Tang Sanzang (

), Zhu Bajie (

Xiaoshenyang Shen He (born 7 May 1981), better known by his stage name Xiaoshenyang (), is a Chinese actor. He was a student of Zhao Benshan and was an errenzhuan performer before joining the film and television industry. Xiaoshenyang became famous immediate ...

) and Sha Wujing (

) – inadvertently enter the Womanland of Western Liang, a nation populated by women raised to believe that men are fatally deceptive in matters of the heart. Love nevertheless blossoms between Tang Sanzang and the Womanland's young queen (

), even though her royal preceptor (

Gigi Leung Gigi Leung Wing-kei (Chinese: 梁詠琪, born 25 March 1976) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. Early life She was born at Tsan Yuk Hospital in Sai Ying Pun on 25 March 1976 and was given the name Leung Pik-chi () for superstitious reasons; as ...

) is hell-bent on sentencing the men to death. As Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing search for a way out of this nation surrounded by a vast magical net, it soon transpires, conveniently, that romantic love is the only key to opening the gate. Will Tang Sanzang give up on his sacred mission and stay with the queen?

Cast

as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King *

Tang Sanzang Tang Sanzang () is a central character in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. Tang Sanzang is based on the historical Buddhist monk Xuanzang. He is also widely known by his courtesy name, Tang Seng, () or Sanzang (). ...

, the Buddhist monk *

Zhu Bajie Zhu Bajie (), also named Zhu Wuneng, is one of the three helpers of Tang Sanzang and a major character of the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West''. Zhu means " swine" and Bajie means " eight precepts". Buddhist scholars consider that both e ...

, the pig demon *

Sha Wujing Sha Wujing () is one of the three disciples of the Buddhist pilgrim Tang Sanzang in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' written by Wu Cheng'en in the Ming dynasty, although versions of his character predate the Ming novel. In the sour ...

, the water-buffalo *

as the Ruler of Women's Country *

Lin Chi-ling Lin Chi-ling (born 29 November 1974) is a Taiwanese model, actress, singer and television host. Early life Lin Chi-ling was born on 29 November 1974 in Taipei, Taiwan. Lin's father, Lin Fan-nan (), and her mother, Wu Tzu-mei (), are both from ...

Hebo Hebo () is the god of the Yellow River (''Huang He''). The Yellow River is the main river of northern China, one of the world's major rivers and a river of great cultural importance in China. This is reflected in Chinese mythology by the tales s ...

as Advisor *

Liu Tao Liu Tao (, born 12 July 1978) is a Chinese actress from Nanchang, Jiangxi. She is known for her roles in ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'' (2003), ''Madame White Snake'' (2006), ''Mazu'' (2012), ''To Elderly With Love'' (2013), ''Nirvana in Fire'' ...

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

Kingdom Yuen Kingdom Yuen King-dan (苑瓊丹; born 11 September 1963) is a Hong Kong actress with a long history working with TVB. Life and career Kingdom was born in Hong Kong, her father was an ivory carver. She started her acting career with HK ATV during ...

as Priest * Cecilia So as young advisor *

Sire Ma Sire Ma (; born 31 July 1987), or Ma Choi, is a Chinese actress based in Hong Kong. Her birth name is Sima Saier (). She was the 2nd runner up at the Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2008, simultaneously winning the Miss Photogenic Award. She later went ...

Production

Casting

On 4 December 2016, it was announced that

would play the role of the Ruler of Women's Country. The original cast members of ''

'':

and

would be reprising their roles as Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing respectively in the film. On 1 March 2017,

, and

were reported to have joined the cast.

Filming

Hollywood talent Shaun Smith (''300'', ''I am Legend'', ''The Monkey King 2'') returns as the special makeup effects supervisor/designer for the ''Monkey King 3''.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began in December 2016 and concluded in early April 2017.

Release

The third sequel was released in China on February 16, 2018.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On Tianjin Maoyan Culture Media's ticketing website the film has received a 7.8/10 from the audience based on over 240,000 reviews. Elizabeth Kerr from ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' believes that the film is "bonker(s), but in a charming, delirious sort of way" with "enough eye-catching set pieces." But the movie may not necessary to be 3D. As for actors, Aaron Kwok delivers a "strong performance...that's far more nuanced than it needs to be," while "Feng and Zhao are a less than riveting couple, making their dilemmas leaden soap opera instead of compelling crises of conscience or identity." She also points out that even the Queen's still "begging for the men's help" and notes that ''The Monkey King 3'' is missing its opportunity to make the female characters "active-not-reactive". China's noted film critic Raymond Zhou regards ''The Monkey King 3'' as inferior to its predecessor, "''The Monkey King 2.'' He criticizes on his personal Weibo that the CGI effect is more credible than the story is and that both of two romantic leads have no chemistry. Feng Shaofeng's performance is reliable among leads. Senior film critic Derek Elley, however, credits ''The Monkey King 3'' as "the most engaging of the three films on a character level, with a relaxed tone and often silly humour that also help to bolster its "human" face." Xuanzang's role is "always a difficult one to bring off amid such colourful company (Aaron Kwok, Xiaoshenyang, and Luo Zhongqian)", but Feng Shaofeng "manages to make Xuanzang sympathetic"; Zhao fails to "dominate the film as her character should"; Gigi Leung "grabs the spotlight" while her character is not "fully-drawn"; Lin Zhiling "has a couple of memorable moments in the CGI-heavy finale."

References

External links

* * * Monkey King 3 Hollywood reporter {{DEFAULTSORT:Monkey King 3 2018 films 2010s Mandarin-language films 2010s children's fantasy films Chinese children's films 2018 fantasy films Hong Kong 3D films Hong Kong fantasy films Hong Kong martial arts films Chinese 3D films Chinese fantasy films Chinese sequel films Films directed by Cheang Pou-soi Martial arts fantasy films Films based on Journey to the West 2018 3D films 2018 martial arts films 2010s Hong Kong films