Millennium director

Chinese classical legends are really a treasure trove of IPs.

Among this treasure trove, the most mature one is the IP of the Monkey King - Sun Wukong.

Although "Journey to the West" is one of the four famous classics, it is the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" that really made "Journey to the West" and Sun Wukong an artistic image familiar to all Chinese people, and even all Chinese people.

The 1986 version of "Journey to the West" and the sequel to "Journey to the West" can be said to have influenced at least four generations of Chinese people!

Before this TV series appeared, "Journey to the West" was already widely circulated, and even a black-and-white movie of the same theme appeared in the late 1920s, but it has always been just a very famous popular novel.

After all, in the 1970s and 1980s in China, televisions were not very popular. At least until the early 1980s, only the middle class in a few cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou could have televisions in every household.

It was also very troublesome and difficult to shoot TV series in that era.

In the 1990s, after the popularization of televisions, the TV series "Journey to the West" was one of the few long-form TV series produced by China itself.

So, relying on the televisions that entered every household, relying on this new and most popular media equipment in China, the story of "Journey to the West" finally entered all Chinese families, and it was a screen image!

Its influence and spread, that is, "My Fair Princess", which was also popular all over the world and was replayed every summer vacation, cannot be compared.

At least as of 2018, "My Fair Princess" has basically become a memory of the previous generation, and Qiong Yao's love story is no longer accepted and bought by the new generation of young people, but "Journey to the West" is still a classic, and there are still various TV series, movies, and games adapted from "Journey to the West".

So, when Wu Yuan also waved his hoe and dug a hoe on this great treasure, the surprise came.

The feeling of Liu Xiaolingtong playing the Monkey King again + the excellent superhero movie itself made "The Monkey King" receive unprecedented praise!

Of course, the "unprecedented" here refers only to the field of similar commercial films, that is, various movies adapted from "Journey to the West".

There is no way, it all depends on the contrast of peers.

It's not that Wu Yuan is so good, but in the past ten years, among the dozens of large and small Journey to the West-themed movies shot by domestic film companies, except for Stephen Chow's, none of them is good enough.

Whether it is "Journey to the West: The Great Conqueror in Heaven" or "Journey to the West: The Kingdom of Women" or "The Legend of Wukong" and "Journey to the West: The Three Strikes of the White Bone Demon", the scores on Douban have not reached more than 6 points, the best score is only 5.6, and the worst is even only 3.

It's not that Douban is too harsh. The animated version of "The Return of the Great Sage" has a Douban score of 9.4, and Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey" also has a Douban score of 9.2 points.

The above-mentioned Journey to the West-themed movies are actually quite good, whether in terms of investment, actor status, or the special effects screen effects presented in the end. The special effects level is at least above the level of "Monster Hunt".

But these movies are not highly rated, because the "adaptation" of these movies is not successful.

Either they are too conservative, and the story is similar to the original "Journey to the West", or even not as smooth as the original story rhythm.

Or it is like "The Legend of Wukong", which is so modified that even the original novel is unrecognizable. The screenwriter always thinks that he is more awesome than the author of the original novel, and he insists on making random changes, and finally changes a pile of shit.

And Wu Yuan's "The Great Sage" can be regarded as a movie that took advantage.

Although this movie eats the Journey to the West IP, the story itself has nothing to do with Journey to the West. It is a completely new story in a modern background, but it also plays the sentimental killing of Liu Xiaolingtong, which is a kind of hotness without the trouble of "Journey to the West" itself.

After all, Journey to the West is too classic. No matter who adapts the various disasters in the story of Journey to the West, it is unlikely that they can produce a work that is more colorful and more brilliant than the original.

Just look at a few successful precedents. Whether it is A Chinese Odyssey or Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, or even The Return of the Great Sage, they are all wearing the skin of Journey to the West to tell their own stories.

The first two focus on the story before the four members of the Journey to the West went to seek Buddhist scriptures, and completely reshape the characters of Sun Wukong, Tang Monk, etc. The story has nothing to do with Journey to the West itself.

The Return of the Great Sage tells the story of what happened in the "transition time" when Sun Wukong was pressed under the Five Finger Mountain and had not yet met the adult Tang Monk. It is also a brand new creation, but the characters are borrowed.

Then these movies were all successful.

Even the Japanese comic Dragon Ball is the same, borrowing characters but interpreting a brand new story.

However, the movies that really followed the story in Journey to the West basically all failed.

In the past, people in the industry had some understanding of this situation, but they were still unsure.

But after the premiere of "The Monkey King", the audience's response was very enthusiastic, as if they had watched a wonderful movie, and some of the invited industry insiders finally woke up.

For a classic story like this that has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the Chinese people, no matter how it is remade, it will not be outstanding. It is necessary to create a new story by using a shell to achieve success!

The good thing about "The Monkey King" is that this story is related to "Journey to the West", but not completely related!

Just like the protagonist of "A Chinese Odyssey" is called Zhizunbao, the protagonist of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is called Chen Xuanzang, and the protagonist of "The Return of the Monkey King" is called Jiang Liuer, the protagonist of "The Monkey King" is not called Sun Wukong, but an aspiring young man who grew up under the red flag - Sun Wukong!

There is indeed a battle between the peerless hero Sun Wukong and the Dapeng demon king in the movie. The scene is exciting and thrilling, and the fighting scenes are wonderful, which made the audience applaud and exclaim.

But the focus of the story has never been the majestic Sun Wukong, but the Sun Wukong who has inherited his legacy, an ordinary urban young man whose idol is Sun Wukong.

The audience watched him go from a modern young man who knew nothing to a man who, after several inheritance tests, inherited Sun Wukong's armor, crown, combat boots, and even a replica of the golden hoop stick that Sun Wukong left on Earth, becoming the new generation of the Monkey King, defeating the villain Dapeng Monster King who had put pressure on him from the beginning!

At the end of the movie, when Sun Wukong wore a "Monkey King suit", held the golden hoop stick vertically behind him, and floated in the air looking at the rising sun in the distance, all the audience gave him warm applause. When Wu Yuan also smiled and led all the main creators to stand up and bow, everyone knew that a successful movie was born again.

Four days later.

On December 25, 2018, "The Monkey King" was fully released in more than 20,000 theaters across the country!

On the day of the release, the pre-sale + premiere box office broke 400 million! (End of this chapter)