The Monkey King 2
西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精
China, 2016, colour, 2.35:1, 3-D, 119 mins.
Director: Zheng Baorui 郑保瑞 [Soi Cheang].
Rating: 8/10.
A big improvement on the first film, with character and CGI in a more proper relationship.
STORY
China, Tang dynasty. Five hundred years after the uproar in heaven caused by Sun Wukong, aka Monkey King (Guo Fucheng), the young Buddhist monk Xuanzang (Feng Shaofeng) has been instructed by the emperor to go westwards on a 108,000-li journey to collect some Buddhist scriptures from India and bring them to China. En route he’s attacked by a giant tiger; his two bodyguards desert him but he’s rescued by Monkey King, whom he helps free from his mountain prison. The goddess Guan Yin (Chen Huilin) instructs Monkey King to guard Xuanzang on his journey. Later they are joined by Zhu Ganglie, aka Zhu Bajie/Pigsy (Xiaoshenyang), and Sha Wujing, aka Sandy (Luo Zhongqian). Arriving at a cottage in some woods, they are given shelter by an old woman (Gong Li), who lives there with her two daughters. However, Monkey King unmasks her as White Bone Spirit, aka Lady White (Gong Li), a demon who feeds on the blood of humans and now wants to eat the virtuous Xuanzang to gain immortality. Against Xuanzang’s orders, Monkey King tries to kill her but she and her two demon female companions manage to escape back to their mountain lair. Xuanzang punishes Monkey King by intoning a magic incantation that constricts his powers. Somewhere in Central Asia, the group arrives in Cloud Sea West Kingdom, where they are welcomed by the ruler (Fei Xiang). He, however, lives under a curse by White Bone Spirit, who disrupts the welcome feast. White Bone Spirit unsuccessfully tries to lure Monkey King to her side. But when Monkey King exposes the king’s curse – which has led him to drink the blood of children to stave off its debilitating effects – and later prevents a killing by White Bone Spirit, Xuanzang thinks Monkey King’s violent streak is out of control and banishes him from his group. This leaves the way open for White Bone Spirit to make her move against Xuanzang.
REVIEW
Put simply, The Monkey King 2 西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精 is twice as much fun as the first film. Where The Monkey King 西游记之大闹天空 (2014) was a CG extravaganza in which the human cast struggled to keep its head above the visual effects, the sequel puts the characters front and foremost, with the CGI a supportive partner. The result is still spectacular entertainment, but thoroughly engaging rather than slick and soulless. The ability of the classic novel Journey to the West 西游记 to be a gift that never stops giving in Chinese culture is strikingly demonstrated by MK2. Though the film has the same director, Macau-born Zheng Baorui 郑保瑞 [Soi Cheang], it feels like the work of a reborn film-maker: after playing with the big train-set that was The Monkey King, Zheng has now partially rediscovered his genre roots within the frame of a big-budget mainstream movie, blending character and action (wrapped round a strong script) in the same way he managed to do in Motorway 车手 (2012).
As they did in Painted Sin: The Resurrection 画皮II (2012), lead writers Ran Ping 冉平, 62, and his daughter Ran Jia’nan 冉甲男 have concocted a story that mixes myth and witchcraft with eternal truths about human behaviour – here, the tug between pacifism and violence represented by Buddhist monk Xuanzang and his volatile bodyguard Monkey King. In a similar way to Painted Skin: The Resurrection, which bore only the vaguest of connections with the Qing dynasty short story, MK2 spins its own plot off of the character of a female demon whom Xuanzang and Monkey King meet on their journey. (The film’s Chinese title means “Journey to the West: Monkey King’s Three Battles vs. White Bone Spirit”.) Where MK also took a few liberties with its source material but was shackled by the need to trot through all the well-known bits of Monkey King’s early history, MK2 has a much freer vibe, as if Zheng and his team feel they can now create something really original with a new writing team.
Though the script is actually about something this time (rather than just a series of pesky fights) and creates a real up-and-down relationship between Xuanzang and the mercurial ape, Zheng seems to have re-evaluated the whole role of CGI in story-telling. Just as Zhou Xingchi 周星驰 [Stephen Chow] showed with his riff, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 西游 降魔篇 (2013), visual effects are at their strongest when built into character rather than allowed to roam free. In other words, it’s not the amount but the way in which they’re employed. There’s hardly a scene in MK2 in which CG isn’t used, but this time it’s rarely just for show.
The production’s whole stance is best demonstrated by the character of the villainness, White Bone Spirit: played in barnstorming style by Gong Li 巩俐, with a nice line in weary scorn, she’s also adorned with CGI that has real beauty and grace, especially in the shape-shifting. The narrative does lose some traction in the second half as Monkey King disappears for a while and the plotting of what is basically a very simple story becomes too discursive. But when the ape returns to the main narrative, and the visual effects crank up for the final 20 minutes, the movie gets a second wind.
Though Gong dominates the screen whenever she’s on, most of the heavy lifting is done by Hong Kong’s Guo Fucheng 郭富城 [Aaron Kwok] as Monkey King. Taking over from Zhen Zidan 甄子丹 [Donnie Yen] in the role, and with much shaggier make-up, Guo – who played the villain in MK so vacantly – is OK here as a more human, less simian, ape and not so transfixed on physical mannerisms as Zhen’s portrayal. He partners well with Mainland actor Feng Shaofeng 冯绍峰 (the demon-hunter in Painted Skin: The Resurrection), who subtly gives the goody-goody role of the monk some depth and emotion. The ending, which resolves the Xuanzang/Monkey King conflict, is suprisingly moving, with the cast, visual effects and (returning US composer) Christopher Young’s score blending in perfect balance.
In a relatively small cast, supporting performances are all solid, with both Mainland TV comedian Xiaoshenyang 小沈阳 (Impossible 不可思异, 2015) and Hong Kong’s Luo Zhongqian 罗仲谦 underplaying the monks’ two other companions, Pigsy and Sandy, and other roles even smaller. Hong Kong’s Chen Huilin 陈慧琳 [Kelly Chen] returns for a couple of scenes as the goddess Guan Yin, which hardly taxes her acting skills. Photography and production design are in the same capable hands, while the new members of the production team – Hong Jinbao 洪金宝 [Sammo Hung] for action, Lin An’er 林安儿 [Angie Lam] on editing, Wu Lilu 吴里璐 [Dora Ng] with costumes – are all seasoned Hong Kong veterans on their game. Visual effects, by some of the same South Korean and Mainland teams, are top drawer, with restrained use of 3-D.
CREDITS
Presented by Filmko Film (CN). Produced by Filmko Film (CN), Golden Shores Films (CN).
Script: Ran Ping, Ran Jia’nan, Wen Ning, Yin Yiyi. Photography: Yang Tao, Zhang Wenbao. Editing: Lin An’er [Angie Lam], Qiu Zhiwei [Yau Chi-wai], Lu Xin. Music: Christopher Young. Production design: Fu Dong. Costume design: Wu Lilu [Dora Ng]. Styling: Xi Zhongwen [Yee Chung-man]. Sound: Yin Jie. Action: Hong Jinbao [Sammo Hung]. Special make-up effects: Shaun Smith. Visual effects: Jeong Seong-jin, Gim Sang-hun, Gim Chan-su, Gim Cheol-min, Ding Libo, Xu Jian, Jacques Stroweis (Dexter Studios, Golden Shores Films, Digital Idea, Mofac & Alfred Creative Studios). 3-D: Sean Kelly, Yao Yao. Executive direction: Li Zhenlong.
Cast: Guo Fucheng [Aaron Kwok] (Sun Wukong/Monkey King), Gong Li (White Bone Spirit/Lady White; old woman), Feng Shaofeng (Xuanzang, monk), Xiaoshenyang (Zhu Ganglie/Zhu Bajie/Pigsy), Fei Xiang [Kris Phillips] (Cloud Sea West Kingdom’s king), Luo Zhongqian (Sha Wujing/Sandy), Wei Lu (snake demon), Qi Xier [Giselle Chia] (bat demon), Muqimiya [Miya] (porcupine demon), Cheng Dong (bandit), Peng Yu (herbal medicine shopkeeper), Chen Huilin [Kelly Chen] (Guan Yin, goddess of mercy), Awangrenqing (Wu, doctor), Liu Chutian (young White Bone Spirit), Yu Xin (Cloud Sea West Kingdom chief imperial bodyguard), Zhang Zimu (shopkeeper’s daughter), Li Yundi.
Release: China, 8 Feb 2016.