The Monkey King 2
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The Monkey King 2 is a 2016 Hong Kong-Chinese fantasy film based on the classic novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. The film was shot in 3D and is a sequel to the 2014 box office hit The Monkey King with Cheang Pou-soi returning as director and Sammo Hung as action director, who replaces Donnie Yen's role from the previous installment. The film stars Aaron Kwok, who portrayed the main antagonist in the previous installment, as the film's titular protagonist, who also replaces Yen from the previous installment.[8] It was released in the United States on 5 February, in Hong Kong on 6 February and in China on 8 February 2016, the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period.[1]

Plot
500 years after Sun Wukong's (Aaron Kwok) imprisonment under the Five Fingers Mountain, a young Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang (Feng Shaofeng) is sent on a journey to India to collect Buddha's scriptures. On his travels he accidentally frees Wukong and the Monkey King learns from the Mercy Goddess (Kelly Chen) that he has to protect the monk throughout the journey. They also meet Zhu Baije (Xiaoshenyang), a lustful pig demon, and Sha Wujing (Him Law), a djinn-like monk. All three demons accept Sanzang as their Master.

The company travel to the Yun Hai Xi Kingdom, a land terrorized by the White Bone Demon (Gong Li) who snatches children. As the demoness learns about Sanzang, she decides to eat him in order to stop her reincarnation cycle and achieve everlasting demon-hood. She transforms into an old woman and beguiles the group into her cottage in the woods. While her disguised minions lure Wukong, Baije and Wujing into the forest, the demoness tells Sanzang a story about how she was forced to marry as a young girl, and when her village suffered with famine, the people blamed her for it, even calling her an evil demon, and left her atop a cliff as a sacrifice for the gods. As Sanzang comforts the old lady, she attempts to kill him, but is stopped by Wukong who has seen through her disguise with his Fiery Eyes. He kills the old lady and the demoness escapes. Sanzang and the others don't believe Wukong that all the women he murdered were demons, and blame him for killing the innocent.

The group arrives to the kingdom's capital and the King (Fei Xiang) throws a feast for them, begging Sanzang to exorcise the bloodthirsty demoness. Suddenly the Lady White appears and demands the monk, but he expresses his desire to enlighten her. She tries to persuade Wukong to let her eat the monk, because only then he will be free of the spell that subdues his will. With Sun deceiving the demoness, a fight ensues. During the chaos, the King's guards kidnap Sanzang, but before the King kills the monk in order to cure himself of a disease - as he has been actually kidnapping all the children and blaming the White Bone Demon - Wukong saves him and the children as well. All of the group are celebrated as heroes, but as a little girl approaches Tanzang, Wukong kills her and her mother as well, seeing the demoness possessing them. That angers Sanzang, and, accusing him of seeing demons everywhere, orders Wukong to leave. Wukong flies away, but as soon as he does, the White Demon kidnaps Sanzang.

Baije and Wujing decide to disband, Baije heading to the Flower-Fruit Mountain to beg Wukong for help, and Wujing rushing to the demoness' lair. Baije arrives at the mountain, but Wukong's not there. In her lair, the demoness confesses to the monk that the story she had told him earlier was true, recounting her previous life. Sanzang gets to understand why she doesn't want to become human again, and gives up. Outside the cave, Wujing fights the the Lady White's skeleton army, and later is joined by Baije and Wukong, who saves Sanzang. After a hard battle, the White Bone Demon is defeated by the Monkey King. However, Sanzang pleads Buddha to save her soul, only to be told he would have to give up his own life in order to save her. Tanzang accepts that and the demoness is absorbed into his body. In his subconsciousness, the monk tells the Lady White he will do anything to help her, but she refuses, rather destroying herself. In the real world, Sanzang pleads Wukong to kill him, which he refuses to do. The monk tells him he desires to help the demoness change her doom, no matter how many lives it will take to accomplish. Wukong tearfully agrees, promising to wait for his return forever, and kills him. Because of Sanzang's sacrifice, the demoness is led to her reincarnation to human, finally free of her pain and hatred.

Some time later, Wukong and his friends still wait for the return of the monk, but continue their journey to the Thunder Monastery. It seems that Sanzang actually reenters life, as a human finger cracks through the Buddha statue Wukong is carrying with him.

Cast[edit]
Aaron Kwok as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King
Gong Li as Baigujing, the White Bone Demon
Feng Shaofeng as Tang Sanzang the Buddhist monk
Xiaoshenyang as Zhu Bajie the pig demon
Him Law as Sha Wujing the water-buffalo
Fei Xiang as the king of Yun Hai Xi Kingdom (literally Western Kingdom of Sea of Clouds)
Kelly Chen as Guan Yin, the Mercy Goddess
Lu Weu, Xi'er Qi and Miya Muqi as the evil spirits snake, bat and pig.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Filmko Entertainment first announced a sequel for The Monkey King on 13 February 2014. Wan Haifeng, Chairman of Filmko, also stated that Louis Koo has confirmed to join the sequel and portray the role of Tang Sanzang, while also negotiating with Chow Yun-fat to reprise his role as the Jade Emperor in the sequel.[9]

Casting[edit]
Aaron Kwok, who portrayed the Bull Demon King in The Monkey King, announced on his Sina Weibo account that he would be portraying Sun Wukong in the sequel, replacing Donnie Yen from the previous installment.[10] To prepare for his role, Kwok took several months of martial arts training before the shoot.[11] During filming, Kwok had to undergo six hours of makeup and an additional three hours to clean it up daily.[1] On 27 November, it was reported that Gong Li will join the cast, portraying the role of Baigujing, the White Skeleton Demon, and will be paid HK$40 million for the role.[12][13] Additional cast members that were announced by Filmko Entertainment later include Feng Shaofeng as Tang Sanzang, a role that was previously reported to be portrayed by Louis Koo, Xiaoshenyang as Zhu Bajie, and Him Law, who portrayed Muzha in the previous installments, as Sha Wujing.[8]

Filming[edit]
Principal photography began in December 2014 in Wuxi Studio[1] and will later[when?] move on to New Zealand. 3D effects team from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to aid the production crew.[13] Special Makeup Effects supervised by Shaun Smith.[14] Visual effects supervised by Oscar-nominated VFX Supervisor Jacques Stroweis. Filmko Entertainment is co-producing the film with an additional 11 production companies that are not yet to be revealed.[1] On 28 February 2015, main cast members Kwok, Gong, Feng, Xiaoshenyang and Law gave blessings at a Buddhist temple in Wuxi as the film was heading into the final stages of filming.[6]

Release[edit]
On 24 December, the film held a press conference in Wuxi where it was attended by the film's producer Kiefer Liu, director Cheang Pou-soi, action director Sammo Hung, and main cast members Aaron Kwok, Gong Li, Feng Shaofeng, Xiaoshenyang, and Him Law. During the event it was announced that the film will be released on 8 February 2016, the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period, which is also the first day of the Year of the Monkey.[1]

Box office[edit]
The Monkey King opened simultaneously with The Mermaid and From Vegas to Macau III in China and recorded an opening day of US$25 million.[15]

Critical reception[edit]
Elizabeth Kerr of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "a fun spin on a well-worn legend."[2]

Sequel[edit]
A sequel, The Monkey King 3, is scheduled for release in China on February 16, 2018.[16]

References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k "《西遊記之孫悟空三打白骨精》劍指猴年春節檔票房冠軍".
^ Jump up to: a b c Kerr, Elizabeth (February 2, 2016). "'The Monkey King 2': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
Jump up ^ "THE MONKEY KING 2 [3D] (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
Jump up ^ "The Monkey King 2". Event Cinemas.
Jump up ^ http://en.yibada.com/articles/101621/20160130/monkey-king-2-released-globally.htm
^ Jump up to: a b "“The Monkey King 2″ Enters Final Stages of Filming".
Jump up ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=monkeyking2.htm
^ Jump up to: a b "Him Law’s Big Film Break in "The Monkey King 2"".
Jump up ^ ""The Monkey King 2" is confirmed!".
Jump up ^ "AARON KWOK TAKES OVER THE MONKEY KING 2 FOR DONNIE YEN".
Jump up ^ "Li Gong Refuses to Respond to Questions about Golden Horse Awards In early November".
Jump up ^ "猛料速遞：鞏俐12變撼城城　天價誘唐僧".
^ Jump up to: a b "Gong Li Pockets $40 Million HKD for "The Monkey King 2"".
Jump up ^ Jurinko, Mark. "The Monkey King 2: The Characters and Their Creators". Famous Monsters. Philip Kim. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
Jump up ^ Patrick Brzeski (February 9, 2016). "China Box Office: Stephen Chow's 'Mermaid' Powers Record Single Day". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
Jump up ^ "西游记·女儿国 (2018)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
External links[edit]
The Monkey King 2 at the Internet Movie Database
The Monkey King 2 at Box Office Mojo