MovieChat Forums > Xi you ji: Da nao tian gong (2016) Discussion > WHAT A MESS! Donnie Yen let down by the ...

WHAT A MESS! Donnie Yen let down by the entire production

posted 10 years ago by air_canada367
8 replies | jump to latest

It was initially speculated that this adaptation was going to be more faithful to the Chinese literature classic Journey to the West, and would focus specifically on the first chapters from the birth of The Monkey King Sun Wukong to the "Havoc in The Heavenly Kingdom", but disappointingly, the story's amateurishly altered and with the utterly poor CGI, makeup and costumes, the film turned out like an obsolete children's TV show. Full review: http://www.colourlessopinions.com/2014/01/monkey-king-review-2014-donn ie-yen.html

[–] dscAlex 10 years ago

I just watched it in Hong Kong, and unfortunately have to agree. Very disappointing. It seemed very rushed, renders not complete, some of the costumes were indeed laughable, the production team looked huge in the credits, with visual effect teams from the US, Korea and Japan, I guess they went over their budget, or time killed the final renders.

[–] air_canada367 10 years ago

I believe they probably rushed for Chinese New Year release. How sad, it was so promising when they announced the plans several years ago.

www.colourlessopinions.com

[–] dscAlex 10 years ago

It sure was :( Donnie Yen's performance was good overall. I guess in the end, the visual effect teams became like a puzzle, it seemed like too many companies worked on this one film, which usually never ends up well. And indeed rushed for Chinese New Year. The continuity of scenes was a bit of a mess too.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] kesel5588 10 years ago

You mean The Storm Riders made in 1998 and Legend of Zu made in 2001? Both films were made over a decade and continues to inspire filmmakers to transition comics to on screen. The fluidity of the costume designs combined with the CGI in from both movies are far superior and made more sense than this kind of hot mess. The horns looked glue onto the Ox Demon. The scene with the lady goddess looked like a jewelry commercial (she was literally wearing round diamond studs). The CGI rendering of palaces is a joke.

I'm baffled by the resources being poured into this movie. It's no wonder Hong Kong film industry is in the dumps. The industry has to trace back to it's roots.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] A_New_Hope 10 years ago

Just watched this film and im a huge fan... Of Asian films but this, wow. So bad!

The acting was laughable. I went back and re-watched http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_%28TV_series%29 and the newest movie out and both were far better than this mess.

As we grow we learn, i have learned that if you don't like me grow up or ignore me.

[–] millicurie99 10 years ago

Remember nowadays HK film producers can get away with a lot more because they only need to focus on one market-China with 1 billion population. Shoddy works by HK or international standard are often good enough for the Mainland audience. Money being the prime objective, there is definitely less pressure for the film producers to "do it right".