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Yesterday we shared the new poster for The Monkey King from director Soi Cheang, a forthcoming Chinese fantasy film based on characters from the book Journey to the West. The film stars Donnie Yen, Chow Yun-fat, Aaron Kwok, Joe Chen Chiau-En, and Kelly Chen.
Today, we have the teaser trailer for The Monkey King and… Well, it leaves a lot to be desired. I mean, a lot. It’s CG heavy and looks sub-Green Lantern in terms of effects quality. Maybe even sub-3DO. And there’s something about that voice over that’s painful. It’s just a teaser, so hopefully they’ll work out all the kinks. They better, because right now this teaser leaves me uneasy.
The Monkey King arrives in Chinese theaters in late 2013. There’s a lengthy synopsis for The Monkey King after the cut.
[Via Twitch]
The synopsis for The Monkey King on Twitch looks like it was badly translated, so what follows below is a version of it I smoothed out a little bit:
Ever since the beginning of time, deities maintained order of Heaven and Earth. However, there were demons who weren’t content with being subservient. The leader of the demons, Buffalo Demon King, mounted an attack against the deities in Heaven in order to seize power. He was defeated by the deity Jade Emperor, and was expelled to Flaming Mountain on Earth. The battle was over, and Heaven was in ruins.
To ensure harmony among deities, demons, and humans, the goddess Nuwa turned herself into multicolored crystals. With these crystals, she mended Heaven and created the South Heavenly Gate to guard from another demon attack. The Gate was imbued with divine power so that any demon who came close to it would turn into ash.
Despite her care, Nuwa dropped one of the crystals on Earth, leaving an opening in the Gate. As the crystal fell, it gathered eons worth of solar and lunar energies and transformed into a celestial fetus. From this, a divine monkey was born, a key figure in the security and safety of the Heavenly Palace.
This divine monkey warn born with remarkable talent and intelligence. He learned magic from the Old Master Puti, such as how to ride on a flying cloud, how to freeze people in mid-action, and how to transform into 72 different beings.
Meanwhile, a giant wall of water hit Flaming Mountain where Buffalo Demon King dwelt. The Demon King knew it was time to enact his scheme: to turn the divine monkey against Heaven and then take control of Heaven himself.
