Monkey King: Hero Is Back (2015)

First, I must say I only saw like 10 or 15 minutes of the movie, and it was already enough for me to know that I didn't want to see the rest, and that I should go to IMDb to rate this. Seeing as there were no bad reviews, I wanted to help out other people into not seeing this.Spoiler alert: Starts with monkey king being some kind of god or wannabe god fighting other gods to be accepted into heaven. Does not tell us his motivation for doing so.Even though he wins the fight against 3 other gods, Buddha, which is some kind of super evil god, decides to imprison monkey king under a mountain.Fast forward thousands of years: There's a group of humans going through a narrow path in the mountains. Doesn't tell us why. The path was obviously built by humans. A group of super strong monsters attack the humans. Doesn't tell us why. Also, how did the humans build a path in a monster ridden place? Wouldn't the humans bring warriors to protect them from monsters? When a baby in the group cries, all the monsters forget everything else and go for the baby. Doesn't tell us why. The mother of the baby jumps with the baby out of the mountain path into an abyss. In the next scene there's a baby coming down a river on top of a wooden crate. I think you skipped some important things here: How did the mother falling hundreds or thousands of meters/ miles get to rescue her baby? where did that box come from? At this point I thought: Well, I guess the movie makers are always going to treat the audience as if we're idiots, and I'm no idiot, so bye!

Within the first 15 minutes, Hero is Back realizes its goal: bring older audiences on a nostalgia trip, and enrapture young moviegoers with Sun Wukong, one of the most fantastic characters in Chinese mythology. The director spent 7 years developing this movie to show his son (a Batman junkie) the wonders of Chinese superheroes.Serving as a "pre-sequel" bridge between his two most famous adventures, the flick gives us a VERY interesting take on Wukong's struggles with self-doubt 500 years after he wreaked havoc in heaven.I was so excited for this unique premise that I flew to China to catch the premiere. The theaters were PACKED, as the trailer generated a lot of hype for domestic audiences. Everyone left with a smile on their face, and some with tears in their eyes, having seen their childhood hero brought to life with 21st century technology. The vibe in the theater lobby was amazing, and we all had a great time afterwards.Hero is Back's main failure is to move WAY too fast. After being introduced to our main cast, we barely spend any time with them at all before being moved right to the finale. Indeed, Hero is Back does a good job of establishing character motivations, and develops good chemistry. But the audience needs a few slow scenes here and there to appreciate the gravity of their journey, and to reflect on Wukong's growth!!!Overall, definitely DO watch Hero is Back, especially if you're a Wukong fan. Although it may feel rushed, you will laugh and marvel at the animation, and the insights to Wukong's character make it a unique experience.

Advantages:1, The character image is more mature.In the animation image design, the film didn't use children's characters for leading roles, like Monkey King, make the characters more mature.The image of Monkey King and Pig Zhu Bajie are all adult who have a background of adult socialization, which is beneficial to the depth of the hero image, rather than the superficial adventures.It is very distinctive that Villain the leading monster's face design for Sichuan Opera Face, and the leading monster's body feels elegant in the sky, I would like give him a name of "the beauty of evil".But after he become a big worm, disgusting, and the modeling of the worm, feel copying the image of the other films.2, Technical level greatly ascend.The mouth moving is more realistic;The background picture more rich layered. Disadvantages:1, The plot is weak.Writers had neither according to the novel, nor made innovation. The screenplay is only designed some abused poking fun which amused the audience once or twice. Even more worse, the focus is not prominent that the Monkey King turned into a hero of justice, slightly weak, it is not enough to convince me.2, Poor continuity in action.Action before and after in a few action scene is not smooth, give me a feeling of unknown cause and effect.3, Insert abrupt improper music.When the Monkey King, Pig Zhu Bajie, and Liu went alliance, background music style suddenly turned from the traditional Chinese opera into rock & roll, it appeared not harmonious.

Never imagine in this summer, such a Chinese 3d anime could inspire so many people in China where big screen once is full of western heroes,now we have our own hero with such a splendid debut.Thanks to this movie's cast staff,with the awesome 3d effects and well-designed music and scenes full of Chinese traditional cultural elements we regain our belief in China's anime. The last time I was touched by Chinese's anime is the Lotus lantern,but it still fails to bring the glory of Chinese anime time(1964,Havoc in Heaven,1981,The Nine-Colored Deer),now with this movie,we can expect more .May monkey king lead us to the renaissance of china's anime