Monkey King: Hero Is Back

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Monkey King: Hero Is Back
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Tian Xiaopeng
Based on	Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en
Production companies	Beijing Weiyingshidai Culture & Media Hengdian Chinese Film Production Co. October Animation Studio S&C Pictures Shandong Film and Television Production Center
Distributed by	United Entertainment Partners (China) Viva Pictures (USA) Big Picture 2 Films (Portugal) SC Films International (World-wide)
Release date	10 July 2015 (2015-07-10)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	China
Languages	Mandarin English
Budget	US$16 million[1]
Box office	US$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 meaning	Journey to the West: Return of the Great Sage
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīyóu jì zhī dà shèng guīlái Yue: Cantonese Jyutping sai1jau4 gei3 zi1 daai6sing3 gwai1loi4

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 film directed by first time director Tian Xiaopeng.^[3] The film was released on 10 July 2015.^[4] The film was the highest-grossing animated film in China until it was surpassed by the 2016 films Zootopia and Kung Fu Panda 3.^[5][6]

Plot[]

The all-powerful Monkey King, Sun Wukong, once roamed freely between Heaven and Earth, but after angering and defying the Gods and defeating the heavenly army, he is imprisoned by the Buddha within an ice cage deep within the mountains. The movie takes place at the sun-light mountain in the Fujian province of china.

And 500 years later, Mountain Trolls invade a small village and kidnap several young children. A boy monk name Liuer tries to help one baby girl get to safety. He stumbles into the cave where the Monkey King was imprisoned, and unknowingly releases him from his curse. Sun Wukong defeats the trolls who were chasing Liuer, although he's only able to use physical attacks, since a remnant of Buddha's seal prevents him from regaining his magical powers. Sun Wukong leaves, and Liuer trails after him, bringing the girl. Later they find Pigsy, a member of the heavenly army who has been transformed into a shape-shifting pig after having been defeated by Sun Wukong 500 years ago. He goes along with them too.

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 they defeat several of them, but the Troll's leader Hun Dun defeats Sun Wukong and abducts the girl. Sun Wukong refuses to pursue them. Liuer goes ahead on his own, and bumps into his teacher Fa Ming.

At Hun Dun's lair, it is shown that he plans to sacrifice all the children they've kidnapped in order to gain magical powers. Liuer and Fa Ming try to rescue them, and Sun Wukong decides to help. Hun Dun turns into a titanic monstrous beast, and Liuer is killed when the monster's rampage causes rocks to fall and crush him.

Upon seeing the boy's death, Sun Wukong is devastated. Full of fury, he forcibly breaks Buddha's Seal with sheer brute force, regaining his original supernatural powers, and easily defeats Hun Dun.

As the story ends, it is revealed Liuer survived the rocks, and they return the abducted children to their families.

Cast[]

Crowdfunding[]

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

Other media[]

On October 17, 2019, a video game was released on PlayStation 4, developed by Hexa Drive and published by Oasis Games.^[9] 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.

Awards and nominations[]

References[]

External links[]

• Monkey King: Hero Is Back at IMDb