THE MONKEY KING (Release 2014)

About

Worked as a MUSIC PROGRAMMER. (composer: Christopher Young)

Initial release: January 30, 2014 (Hong Kong)

Director: Cheang Pou-soi

Film series: The Monkey King

Budget: 500 million yuan (82 million USD)

Box office: 181.9 million USD

A monkey born from heavenly stone acquires supernatural powers and must battle the armies of both gods and demons to find his place in the heavens.

The film is based on selected chapters of Wu Cheng'en's classical novel Journey to the West, and tells the story of how Sun Wukong rebels against the Jade Emperor of Heaven.

The film opens with the Bull Demon King (Aaron Kwok) waging war on Heaven. Much of Heaven is destroyed during the battle, and the Bull Demon King faces off against the Jade Emperor (Chow Yun-fat), the ruler of Heaven. The Bull Demon King is defeated but before the Jade Emperor can kill the Bull Demon King, his sister and Bull Demon King's lover Princess Iron Fan (Joe Chen) intervenes. She begs her brother to spare his life, saying that deities and demons can coexist peacefully. The Jade Emperor agrees to spare the Bull Demon King for the sake of his sister but he feels the Demon King must still be punished for his actions, and banishes him, Princess Iron Fan, and the rest of the demons to Flaming Mountain. Distraught over the destruction of Heaven, the goddess Nüwa (Zhang Zilin) sacrifices her body, turning it into magic crystals which rebuild Heaven as well as re-enforce the entrance into Heaven— the Southern Gate— so that it would destroy any demon who tries to pass through it. In the aftermath of the battle, the Jade Emperor appoints his nephew Erlang Shen (Peter Ho) to guard the Southern Gate. Erlang Shen finds the task beneath him and an insult to his abilities and resents his uncle for being given the duty.