The Monkey King 2(2016)

1h 59m

Release Date: Feb 5, 2016 | Limited

100%
52%
5.9

When a travelling monk is stranded in a wasteland, The Monkey King must escort him across the land to retrieve sacred scriptures and protect him from an evil demon.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Feb 5, 2016

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$166,391
Total US & Canada:
$709,982
Total International
$192,968,316
Total Worldwide:
$193,678,298

Current Showtimes

Your Location or

(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Soi Cheang
Director

Jack Lai
Director

Aaron Kwok
Sun Wukong

Gong Li
Actor

Shaofeng Feng
Tang Seng

Shenyang Xiao
Zhu Bajie

Him Law

Sha Seng

Kris Phillips

Guowang

Kelly Chen

Guanyin

Giselle Chia

Bat demon

John Ching

Chieftain

Chutian Liu

Actor

Miya Muqi

Actor

Eddie Peng

Pharmacy dispenser

Ngawang Rinchen

Witch Doctor

Lu Wei

Evil spirit snake

Xin Yu

Chief of Guard, Western Yunhai Kingdom

Zimu Zhang

Treasurer daughter

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Surround 7.1,Dolby Atmos

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: China,Hong Kong

Language: Mandarin,English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Continuing the story of Monkey King after a 500-year interlude, this installment tells the story of a traveling Monk Named Tang Seng (William Feng) who must enlist the aid of the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) who is both his protector and novice on a journey of 36,000 miles to the Thunder Monastery to retrieve holy scriptures. As with most epic adventures-such as Homer's Odyssey-reaching the destination may or may not be the deciding factor between failure and success, rather the journey and the lessons learned by the protagonists about the nature of things and the nature of themselves becomes at least as important, if not more so. The Monkey King and Tang Seng are joined on their journey by two brothers, Sha Seng and Zhu Bajie, who primarily act as foils for the Monkey King and Tang Seng and provide comic relief for what would otherwise be a much darker story. The central conflict of the story revolves around the strife between Tang Seng and the Monkey King. They are allies and seek the same goal, but both think and "see" differently. Primarily, both see the "truth", but where Tang Seng sees the true nature of individuals or their "heart," the Monkey King sees through their disguises but evaluates them solely upon their actions. The dichotomy that frequently exists between one's true nature and their actions is lost to him. This sets up a secondary conflict of the movie, specifically concerning the main antagonist, the White Boned Demon (Li Gong). The White Boned Demon is a more complex villainess than the typical norm and very quickly begins to complicate the relationship between Tang Seng and the Monkey King. The Monkey King perceives an evil nature as being the primary motivation for her actions and following his nature, thinks that killing her is the appropriate response. Tang Seng, on the other hand, while recognizing the evil of her actions, also realizes that evil is not the animating principle behind them, rather it is the pain she feels for having been betrayed and condemned to death by her family and village when she was just a girl. For this reason, his belief is that she needs the opportunity to change, not be destroyed. After repeated attempts to convince the Monkey King not to kill everyone he perceives (accurately) to be a threat, Tang Seng sends him away with the intention of continuing the journey with Sha Seng and Zhu Bajie. All of this is being observed by the White Boned Demon who immediately swoops in and flies off with Tang Seng to her stronghold in the mountains where she intends to eat him, a final act of defiance that will make her both immortal and eternally damned. At the den of the White Boned Demon, Tang Seng tries to convince her to change, which she refuses. He then agrees to let her kill and eat him and as she begins to take his life, the Monkey King reappears to save him. A fight between Monkey King, Sha Seng, Zhu Bajie, on one side and The White Boned Demon and a horde of skeletons on the other side ensues. After being defeated by the Monkey King, the Buddha appears in the sky to condemn the White Boned Demon to nothingness, only to have Tang Seng intercede on her behalf, offering to take her place and lead her to her next incarnation, which he successfully does.

Storyline

Taking place 500 years after the Havoc in Heaven, the Tang Priest is appointed by Buddha to go to the West to fetch the sacred scriptures, only to accidentally free the Monkey King. With Lady White (Gong Li) aiming to break up the team assembled to defeat her, the Monkey King must fight in order to save his world.