The Monkey King 2

This review may contain spoilers!

This is a colossal improvement from the first Monkey King film. I would give The Monkey King 2 a 4/10.

Where this film really excels compared to the original is that the plot has a cohesive plot that follows some form of structure, this is a quest film so you can get easily engaged with the plot. The special effects are another improvement from the first film, while some of the effects still look quite fake most of them are visually impressive and really sets this film apart as a film that is constantly reliant upon the effects. The cinematography in this movie is expansive and really has a big blockbuster feel, the battle sequences are incredibly shot in particular. The score for this film really aids the action of the film, however I like it most in the more contemplative moments where the themes reflect the characters' current state of mind.

Aaron Kwok, who played Sun Wukong, was a great protagonist for this film; I enjoyed that he brought a hardened character who learned to care for his master in this film. Xiao Shen-Yang, who played Zhu Bajie, was a great source of comedic relief in this film; I really liked how he was a pig demon obsessed with his own appearance.

However the best performance came from Gong Li, who played Baigujing. Li was a phenomenal antagonist in this film, easily one of the most terrifying this year. She had such a commanding presence, every scene that she was in felt unpredictable because she played such a dangerous role. I liked that there was a subplot focussing upon redeeming her despite her inability to see the potential of this redemption.

This plot is bogged down with unnecessary scenes and poorly executed subplots, there isn't much need for this film to be two hours long and all this unnecessary content really stretches out the film. The fight choreography for this film is pretty awful, the effects often are relied upon while the fighting itself looks too simple. I don't often comment upon subtitles for the foreign films I review but I will for this film, the subtitles on this film were really poorly done and weren't translated very well at all.

Feng Shaofeng, who played Tang Sanzang, delivers quite a bland performance in his role; I didn't find the relationship between him and any of the other characters very convincing with the exception of maybe Kwok. Him Law, who played Sha Wujing, was just a character that had no screen presence but was treated as the 'muscle'; his line delivery was absolutely terrible. Kelly Chen, who played Guan Yin, doesn't really have the presence to pull off the deity she portrays; Chen's performance is very dull and quite wooden.