The eponymous golden monk of this Wong Jing quickie is the same folk hero played by Stephen Chow in Johnnie To’s The Mad Monk (1993), Buddhist monk Ji Gong. Here played by Zheng Kai as a superpowered monk who when crossing paths with demon hunter Jade (Zhang Yuqi), realizes they have been lovers lifetimes ago in Heaven, while trying to fend off the evil dragon Beihai Dulong’s plot to overthrow the emperor. Co-directed by Billy Chung, The Golden Monk is a painful bore and an eyesore from start to finish. Its humour is the usual stodgy Wong Jing cocktail of tired Mo Lei Tau, tiresome pratfalls and cringe-worthy references to recent hits (here, the Marvel universe), while the action is plagued by truly embarrassing CGI, with poorly-rendered monsters jerking around endlessly against flat backgrounds. With its formula of demon-hunting, origin story, unhinged humour and a romantic tragedy involving a monk and a feisty hunter, the film desperately apes Stephen Chow’s infinitely superior Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, a sorry sight indeed. While Zheng Kai has solid presence and comic timing, a vast supporting cast of Hong Kong, Mainland and Taiwanese comedians gesticulate hopelessly around him, while Zhang Yuqi seems to have mentally checked out very early into the film. And so should the audience. 1/2*
All posts tagged zheng kai
THE GOLDEN MONK (2017) short review
Posted in Film Reviews
Posted by LP Hugo on January 16, 2018
https://asianfilmstrike.com/2018/01/16/the-golden-monk-2017-short-review/
May 2022 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 - Follow Asian Film Strike on WordPress.com
Asian Film Strike on Twitter
- New poster for Law Chi Leung's mountain rescue thriller COME BACK HOME, starring Donnie Yen, Cecilia Han & Jia Bing: https://t.co/KVDEYZoiPB 1 week ago
- New poster for Danny Wong's thriller CYBER HEIST, written by Soi Cheang, and starring Aaron Kwok, Simon Yam, Gordon… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2 weeks ago
- Soft-boiled twitter.com/IndieWire/stat… 2 weeks ago
- New poster for Frant Gwo's THE WANDERING EARTH 2, starring Wu Jing & Andy Lau: https://t.co/Td6uVxfhVW 1 month ago
- A look at Louis Koo, Richie Jen & Raymond Lam in Soi Cheang & Jonathan Li's TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN, p… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 month ago
Top Posts Today
Tags
aaron kwok alex fong chung sun andy lau andy on cynthia khan donnie yen eddie peng eric tsang fan siu-wong fantasy francis ng girls with guns horror jackie chan kara hui lam ka tung lam suet louis koo martial arts moon lee remake sammo hung kam bo simon yam song jia tony leung ka-fai wong jing yuen biao yuen wah yukari oshima yu nanRequest a review