Monkey
King 2 (2016/Well Go USA Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C Film: C+
Sun
Wukong, a.k.a. The Monkey King (Aaron Kwok), is charged by the
Goddess Guanyin with protecting Xuanzang, the Holy Monk in his
Journey to the West for the holy scriptures. He is joined with his
brother in arms Bajie and Wujing, together they protect him from the
demons who seek immortality from Xuanzang in Pou-Soi Cheang's The
Monkey King 2 (2016).
Wukong
is the naughty Monkey King, after 500 years of imprisonment he is
given a chance by Buddha to redeem himself by escorting the pious
Xuanzang in his holy journey. While Xuanzang is a pacifist and is
knowledgeable, he lacks wisdom and foresight. Wukong on the other
hand is far more shrew, cleaver and devious and is much more worldly
than Xuanzang, but he lack patience and humility. Together Xuanang
is constantly getting them into trouble and Wukong constantly is
rescuing him, but zealous paranoia needs to learn to sometimes
forgive others, though all must face the wrath of the White Bone
Demon (international star Gong Li).
This
was based on the ancient tale of Journey to the West, the film was an
explosion of CGI and special effects eye candy. Certainly it seems
like China is catching up on Hollywood's CGI animations, but it was a
bit too much CGI and it made me wonder if the entire movie was done
in a green room.
Despite
that, the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image looks pretty
good and colorful throughout, but I wonder how this will hold up a
few years from now. The Cantonese Dolby Atmos 11.1 mix (Dolby TrueHD
7.1 core) likely will hold up better, with fine surrounds and even
overhead dimensionality, plus we get a Mandarin DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix that is on par with the Dolby TrueHD 7.1.
The mixdowns are not as good as the 11.1 and have some issues and
limits. Extras include making of the film and trailers.
-
Ricky Chiang
