Chapter 222: A Stunning Start
After eight years of hard work, can the "Monkey King" truly "return"?
Whether it's solid material or just pure bragging, this new director claims to have created a milestone in Chinese animated films!
[The production cost exceeded 100 million yuan, and famous movie star Gu Wei took a huge risk just to support domestic animated films!]
【.】
On the first day of the movie's release, various news about "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" appeared online. Reports from various media outlets, whether optimistic or pessimistic, all contributed to the popularity of the movie.
The 13th was Friday. After work in the evening, Li Zhi and his girlfriend made an appointment to have dinner together.
The two were classmates at Beijing University of Science and Technology. They were boyfriend and girlfriend when they were in school and have been dating for several years.
Because Li Zhi's family is in Tianjin, and his girlfriend is a native of Beijing, they both found jobs in Beijing after graduation and are now at the stage of discussing marriage.
After having dinner at a grilled fish restaurant in Wanda Plaza, they went to the Wanda Cinema on the top floor together.
Li Zhi usually likes to watch movies, while his girlfriend prefers to watch TV series, but in order to accompany him, she often goes to the cinema with him.
Arriving at the cinema lobby, Li Zhi said to his girlfriend who was holding his arm:
"Meimei? What movie do you want to see?"
Li Zhi asked politely. He knew his girlfriend wasn't very interested in watching movies. In the past, she would just say "I'll do as you say" in a sweet voice.
However, today's situation was a little different. Sun Yumei pointed at the scrolling screen above the cinema ticket office and said, "I want to see that~"
Li Zhi looked in the direction his girlfriend pointed and saw that it was the most popular show on the screen, "Journey to the West: Hero is Back".
"Why did you want to watch a cartoon?"
Li Zhi frowned and asked. He usually watched animated movies, but only Hollywood ones, like "Shrek the Monsters" and "Kung Fu Panda". He was completely disappointed with domestic animated movies after watching them a few times.
The plot is childish and the visuals are crude. Watching it in the cinema is a complete waste of your money.
"Gu Wei is the producer of this movie. As his fan, I have to support him no matter what."
Sun Yumei looked at her boyfriend and said.
Li Zhi suddenly realized that he knew his girlfriend loved watching TV dramas and always had her own idols, but she was prone to changing her mind. Usually, she would become a fan of the male lead in the most popular TV drama recently.
Since last summer vacation, Gu Wei has become her idol.
After hesitating for a moment, Li Zhi said:
"Well, there's nothing else to watch right now anyway, so just consider it as supporting your idol, Meimei!"
Li Zhi was ready to waste this hour and a half. Anyway, he didn't think that domestic cartoons could produce anything exciting. He planned to go in and play with his phone if it was too boring.
Li Zhi went to the ticket office to buy tickets for the latest show. What he didn't expect was that there were quite a lot of people watching the movie. On the seat selection interface, he could see that most of the seats in the theater had been sold, with only a few seats in the corners that were not so good left.
Li Zhi didn't care. He didn't plan to watch carefully anyway, so he chose a seat at the edge of the back row where two people were together.
After a while, everyone checked their tickets and entered the venue. Li Zhi found that the people watching "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" with them were all young men and women, and girls accounted for the majority of them.
After thinking for a while, Li Zhi whispered to his girlfriend:
"Are these not all Gu Wei's fans?"
"That should be it. I saw many people in the fan group said that they would go to the cinema today to support the movie produced by their idol."
After entering the screening room, the two found their seats and sat down. A few minutes later, the theater was already full.
Li Zhi was somewhat surprised at the unity of Gu Wei's fans. He himself was not a fan, and although his girlfriend was a fan, she changed idols too quickly. Apart from watching dramas and surfing the Internet, he never let chasing stars do other things that affected his life.
He doesn't quite understand the psychology of these fans.
Soon the lights in the theater dimmed, and everyone stopped chatting and looked at the big screen, and the movie officially began.
"A long time ago, there was a monkey king named Sun Wukong. He had great magical powers and supernatural powers. He caused chaos in the Heavenly Palace and angered the Jade Emperor."
The movie opens with the classic background music of Supreme Treasure transforming into Sun Wukong [Overture to the Small Knife Society], and then, accompanied by the voice-over, various gods headed by the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King surround a thin figure in the clouds.
He was wearing golden chain mail, a phoenix-wing purple-gold crown on his head, and a blood-red cloak fluttering in the wind behind him.
"You bold demon monkey, you have violated the laws of heaven, why don't you surrender to the law quickly!"
Behind the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King were heavenly soldiers and generals. He held a golden pagoda in one hand and pointed at the figure with the other. Although his voice was loud, it sounded a little timid.
The camera turns and Sun Wukong is in a desperate situation but he is as casual as if he is at home, eating a peach in his hand, not paying any attention to the gods around him.
"This Sun Wukong's face is a bit long, a little ugly."
Li Zhi murmured softly.
The movie attracted his attention as soon as it started, and he had forgotten all about looking at his phone before entering.
What followed was a fierce battle between Sun Wukong and various gods, which made Li Zhi stare intently and his blood boil.
Like him, everyone else in the cinema was captivated by the show as soon as it started.
"When will domestic animation reach this level of image quality?"
Sun Wukong was eventually imprisoned under the Five Finger Mountain by the Buddha for 500 years.
500 years later, the city of Chang'an was ravaged by mountain monsters.
Jiang Liu'er (young Tang Monk), who lost his parents in the turmoil, was adopted and raised by an old monk. He has had a persistent fascination with the legend of the Monkey King since he was a child.
At the same time, the day of the solar eclipse is approaching, and the demon king wants to steal the boys and girls in the city for sacrifice. Jiang Liuer rescues a strange little girl and escapes into the mountains, where he accidentally frees the Monkey King Sun Wukong.
At this time, the magic seal was still in place, and Sun Wukong was just a monkey who knew some martial arts.
From the moment the movie started, the audience in the theater were immersed in the story told by the movie. Everyone was excited to see the Monkey King making trouble in the Heavenly Palace, and they were also worried about whether the cute Jiang Liuer could escape the capture of the monster.
Seeing that although Jiang Liuer was stranded in the mountains, he could stay with his idol Sun Wukong, and with his protection he would not be in too much danger, they all felt relieved.
Unfortunately, the plot is not what everyone expected.
Although Sun Wukong escaped, the seal was still there and all his magic was lost, so he could not provide much protection for Jiang Liuer. The Demon King kept sending monsters to chase them, and the audience was very worried after seeing several thrilling moments.
In the second half of the movie, although the former idol has lost his superpowers and has become down and out, Jiang Liuer, as his little fan, still follows him closely, giving Sun Wukong courage and confidence.
In the final battle with the Demon King, Jiang Liuer was buried under a huge rock in order to help his idol, and his life or death is unknown.
For a moment, sobbing sounds were heard from the theater from time to time. Li Zhi's girlfriend also twitched her nose and took out a tissue from her bag to wipe her tears.
Li Zhi, a grown man standing next to him, also had red eyes at this moment.
At this moment, the extremely grief-stricken Sun Wukong on the screen burst out with energy to break through the seal, broke stones into armor, waved flames into robes, took out the Ruyi Jingu Bang that accompanied him in the conquest of the Heavenly Palace from his ear, and turned into the Monkey King who was unmatched in heaven and earth.
Although the horse face remained the same, Li Zhi felt that this was the most handsome Sun Wukong he had ever seen.
After a fierce battle with the Demon King who had transformed into a giant monster, the Monkey King finally won, completely destroyed the Demon King, and rescued all the children.
The last part did not have a hasty ending like the original version, but instead contributed the most exciting fight scene in the entire movie, which made the audience in the cinema excited.
Of course, it was also because it was refreshing to see the Monkey King beat up the demon king.
At the end of the film, Jiang Liuer's image wrapped in bandages also appeared on the screen, telling everyone that the cute and brave little monk was not dead.
The ending music sounded and the lights in the theater came on.
Everyone walked out in an orderly manner, and from time to time one could hear the voices of the people who came together talking to each other.
“This movie is amazing!”
"Super exciting~"
"I can't believe this is a Chinese animated film. The visuals are amazing, on par with Kung Fu Panda! We're catching up to Hollywood in animated films."
“.”
Li Zhi couldn't calm down for a long time after walking out of the theater. He never expected that the movie "The Return of the Great Sage" would be so good.
It is definitely a milestone in domestic animated films.
"Meimei, I have to thank you. If it weren't for your persistence, I would have almost missed such a wonderful animated film!"
Holding his girlfriend's hand, Li Zhi said gently.
"It seems that being a fan does have its benefits~"
"Hmm! Gu Wei has a really good eye. I'll follow him on Weibo later so I can check out any of his works in the future."
Sun Yumei also smiled happily when she heard her boyfriend's words.
As the number of moviegoers continued to increase on the first day of its release on the 13th, there were more and more discussions about "The Monkey King" on the Internet.
[The Monkey King's transformation is so cool and awesome! I'm begging you to marry me! The technique and visuals are top-notch, and the humor is natural and harmonious. It's really good!]
This new adaptation of Journey to the West is impeccable in both storytelling and animation, reaching Hollywood standards. Its highlights include the motion and subjective shots, as well as the incredible 3D visuals!
This is the first time I'm proud to give this animated film 5 stars, not based on the "domestic film" standard. As viewers, we absolutely must give this kind of film a chance with our movie tickets!
It was even better than I expected! It was so good! The visuals were beautiful, the fighting was smooth, the plot was simple, and it was hilarious. The Monkey King was incredibly handsome, and his unwavering loyalty and perseverance, even when it hurt, was so well-developed. The moment the entrance music started, I was immediately enthralled!
[Whether it's visuals, special effects, plot, or music, it's truly excellent. It's currently the best domestic animated film. I hope everyone can regain their faith in Chinese animation! !]
【It’s time for our monkeys to amaze everyone!!!】
【.】
Before the first day of the film's release was over, Douban had already released scores with tens of thousands of comments and ratings, and it received a high score of 9.0, setting a record for domestic animated films.
The comments below are all positive, and everyone’s unanimous evaluation is that it is a conscientious Chinese animation with visual effects comparable to Hollywood!
At around 9 o'clock in the evening on the 13th, a dim night light was on in the villa's bedroom. Liu Yifei was sitting against the headboard in a purple gauze pajamas, with a yellow quilt with cartoon patterns covering her thighs.
She was holding a tablet computer and browsing the news, planning to read for a while before going to bed.
Switching from the headlines to Weibo, she opened her own Weibo homepage and took a look. Suddenly, she found that there were many more comments under the Weibo post that she had forwarded for Gu Wei before.
[Thanks to Tianxian sister for the recommendation, it's a really good movie. I just finished watching it and was stunned by the Monkey King's handsomeness! ]
[Sister Fairy has good taste, the animated film is a blast! ! ]
【Thanks for the recommendation, may good people live a peaceful life! 】
[My Fei's taste is still as good as ever, awesome! ]
I saw the movie, it was great! Feifei, you should work with Gu Wei more often. I've noticed that the quality of the films and TV series he's involved with is pretty good!
【.】
It turned out that they were all fans who went to the cinema because of her recommendation, and they were grateful to her for letting them watch a wonderful movie.
Liu Yifei's fans are mostly young men. Many of them were amazed by her "Little Dragon Girl" and "Wang Yuyan" when they were teenagers, and have liked her until they graduated and started working.
This time, because of her recommendation, some people went to see "The Monkey King: Hero is Back". The men were already interested in anime and Sun Wukong, so they were immediately stunned by what they saw.
Looking back now, they naturally praise the recommender, their favorite idol Liu Yifei.
Liu Yifei looked through the comments from fans, the corners of her mouth curled up, she put down her tablet and picked up her mobile phone.
"Congratulations! I read the reviews online and it seems you made the right choice again this time!"
After receiving her WeChat message, Gu Wei replied immediately.
"I also have to thank Sister Yifei for her promotion. You also contributed to the success (smiley face)."
"Looking at the comments from netizens, I want to see how this animated film turned out."
"This is easy, I invite you to go and see it!"
Liu Yifei hesitated.
"It's not a good idea for the two of us to go to the cinema. It would be bad if we were recognized."
"Haha, no need to go to the cinema, my company's screening room has the finished film, you can just come to my company (naughty)."
"Then I'll do it tomorrow."
After typing a few words, Liu Yifei suddenly remembered that tomorrow was Valentine's Day, February 14th, and quickly changed it to the day after tomorrow.
The two of them decided to go to the movies together the day after tomorrow.
After chatting with Gu Wei for a while, Liu Yifei put down her phone and prepared to go to bed.
Gu Wei is almost her best male friend. Every time she chats with him, she feels very relaxed. They get along very casually, and their relationship naturally becomes closer over time.
1
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com