103. The Monkey King 3; movie review

THE MONKEY KING 3
Cert 12A
114 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate fantasy, violence

Two years ago,  I admitted that the 70s Monkey King TV series had been "too exotic and off-beam" for my tastes and I had exactly the same feeling about its big screen reincarnation.
For half an hour of this latest film, I had an acute sense of deja vu, unable to plug into the mystical goings on.
And then it was as if the fog lifted. The Monkey King entered Womanland and everything suddenly made sense (yes, I deliberately opened myself up to the obvious comments).
Cheang Pou-soi's film becomes a love story, laced with moral messages and heavily sprinkled with the usual Monkey King action.
It follows on from the last adventure with he thoughtful Buddhist monk (William Feng) being accompanied on his trek to the West by three disciples - Monkey (Aaron Kwok), the pig demon (Xiao Shenyang) and the blue-skinned sand demon (Him Lo Chung-him).
Unexpectedly, they come across a land where no men exist (yes, it is explained who makes women pregnant) and, because of longstanding suspicions, they are immediately arrested and told they will be executed.
However, the monk and Womanland queen (Zhao Liying) fall for each other, causing reverberations of literally seismic proportions.
Those who revel in The Monkey King flying through the air and battling with demons need fear not - he does plenty of that to defend his master, the monk.
The action is plentiful and spectacular - although I found that the monsters reminded me of those in 1970s B-movies (perhaps that was the intention).
But this fantasy has a heavier moral message about love, the power of women and not judging a book by its cover.
Disappointingly, in a film about Womanland, the vast majority of the dialogue is spoken by men.
However, the recent best picture Oscar nominations give us hope that the female voice is becoming louder on the big screen.
Maybe it is time for The Monkey Queen?

Reasons to watch: If you are into typical Chinese fantasy films
Reasons to avoid: It is as mad as a box of frogs

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

The big question - How did the Monkey King learn to fly?

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