Showing posts with label Adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adventure. Show all posts

Duck Duck Goose 2018

I'm not sure why this movie has so many bad reviews. It's a fun kids movie. The animation is well done and honestly it's just a really pretty film. The cat is kind of spooky but not too bad. Parts were predictable but there were also some good plot twists. I enjoyed it.

After he’s grounded by an injury, a high-flying bachelor is saddled with two wide-eyed orphans as they come face-to-face with the dangers and beauty of the outside world in this funny and touching animated feature, "Duck Duck Goose". Our free-wheeling hero, Peng, rejects the community of his tight-knit flock of geese in an attempt to live life on his own terms. But after he narrowly rescues two young ducklings, Chi and Chao, from an eccentric but deadly cat named Banzou, the two latch onto the Goose like a parent; and with a paralyzing winter on the horizon and the departure of both their flocks, Peng agrees to look after the ducklings out of fear his injury might be discovered by Banzou, and other predators who would prey on a goose who cannot fly. The makeshift trio embarks on a beautiful and dangerous journey through mountains and lakes, bamboo forests, marble caves and deep river valleys to reach their respective flocks. On the way, Peng must learn to care for the two ducklings despite his independent attitude, all the while evading the hungry and relentless Banzou, who’ll stop at nothing to claim the ducklings he feels entitled to.

Tomb Invader 2018

Archaeologist, Alabama Channing, is recruited by a mysterious billionaire to help find an ancient Chinese relic. The same treasure that her mother was in search of before she went missing.

Archaeologists Julie Channing, searches for the mythical Heart of the Dragon in a temple in China. After failing to choose the key, a temple collapse is triggered, and Channing and her team are killed.

20 Years later, Archaeologist Alabama "Ally" Channin, daughter of Julie, discovers a chest in a cave in the Middle East, dodging booby traps in the process, she escapes only to be cornered by armed soldiers. She dispatches the soldiers and heads home.

Ally works as a professor at Emeron University, where she is approached by Isabelle Villeneuve, who gives her a box containing her mother Julie's journal and a phone, which rings. On the other end of the phone is Billionaire Tim Parker who requests that she meet him in China.

Ally and her friends Helena, a fellow archaeologist, and Bennie, a geologist, make the trip to China to meet with Tim who is with Isabelle, and Nathan Carter a freelance treasure hunter who only seeks monetary gain from ancient artefacts, much to Ally's chagrin. Tim explains that he is seeking to finish Ally's mother's work and recover the Heart of the Dragon. Ally and her friends agree to help. That night, their camp is attacked by a band of locals who kill Isabelle and kidnap Nathan. The remaining members of the group give chase.

Nathan is taken to the leader of the local group, Jian, who berates his men for killing Isabelle. The locals tell Jian about a girl who was with Carter's group, and Jian demands to know who she is. Nathan reveals she is Alabama Channing.

Ally and the others track Nathan and the bandits to their location and are eventually ambushed. Bennie is knocked out but Ally dispatches their attacker, and realizes they must be close to Nathan. She heads in alone but is captured. She is taunted by Li Wei, Jian's second in command, however she breaks free of her restraints and fights her captors, before she and Nathan flee regrouping with the others. They are swiftly caught again though and Jian reveals to Ally that he knew her mother.

Jian tells Ally that he seeks the Heart of the Dragon as a means of uniting China, and asks her to help retrieve it. Ally agrees. Tim threatens Nathan telling him to remember who he works for and that Jian is not to get the Heart of the Dragon.

Entering the Temple they travel navigate the corridors, trying to bypass the traps. However Bennie is killed by a poisoned dart and Helena is injured by falling rocks. Tim offers to go ahead to make sure it's safe. Nathan reveals that Tim has no intention of giving the Heart of the Dragon to Jian and seeks it for it's supposed power.

After supposedly finding the Heart of the Dragon, a glowing gemstone, Tim demands Ally hand it over, and the pair fight. Tim gets the upper hand and incapacitates Ally and Nathan, but a stone guardian comes to life knocking Tim to the side and fighting Ally and Nathan. Tim regains consciousness and flees.

Ally and Nathan defeat the guardian which opens a door, revealing a sword, the real Heart of the Dragon. The temple begins to collapse and they make their escape helping the injured Helena. Tim races for an exit and hits a dead end, the ceiling collapses killing him.

Outside, Ally presents Jian with the Heart of the Dragon, he offers her anything she wants for her services and she wryly asks if there are any other hidden relics she can look for.

Back at Emerson University, Ally is teaching her class when a recovered Helena enters the room, and gives her a look suggesting she has another adventure for them to go on. Ally dismisses her class.

Crystal Inferno 2017

At the 20th floor of a skyscraper, a gas leak has started a fire. Anne and Ben Bronson, two teenage kids, are trapped in a fiery inferno 20 storeys above the ground, while the fire is spreading throughout the entire building. From the 60th floor, their parents, Brianna and Tom, who were about to sign their divorce papers, will have to fight together to save their family from the flames. Even if Brianna is a brilliant structural engineer, will she find out a way to stop this uncontrolled fire ?

AWell I must admit to not being familiar with "Crystal Inferno" (or "Inferno: Skyscraper Escape") prior to stumbling upon it by blind luck. And I am a sucker for disaster movies, so of course I took the time and effort to sit down and watch this 2017 movie.

I will say that it was actually better than I had hoped for, because the vast majority of disaster movies available are just downright horrible and mauled by having grotesquely awful CGI. Luckily the was only so much CGI in "Crystal Inferno" that it didn't really matter that it looked fake sometimes. You could look past that, because the movie was not relying heavily on having a spectacular special effect to blow the audience away. I doubt they would have had the funds for that, but that is another issue.

"Crystal Inferno" is based more on being a story-driven movie that focuses on the characters and not having blazing special effects to make the audience go "oooh" and "aaah". As for the story, well it was entertaining enough actually, albeit very, very predictable and generic.

It should be said that "Crystal Inferno" has TV movie written all over it.

This is not among the worst of disaster movies that I have seen, and it is actually worth the time if you have an hour and a half to spare and got nothing preceding on the menu.

Tiger Zinda Hai 2017

Inspired by real events, Tiger Zinda Hai is a sequel to the blockbuster Ek Tha Tiger, and an espionage action drama that follows a daring rescue mission in Iraq. When a group of Indian and Pakistani nurses are held hostage in Iraq by the militant Abu Usman, Indian intelligence (RAW) tracks down the reclusive agent Tiger 8 years after he fled with former Pakistani intelligence (ISI) agent Zoya. Joining forces in the name of humanity, Tiger and Zoya lead a team of RAW and ISI agents to covertly enter the hospital where the nurses are trapped, and get the nurses to safety before an American airstrike blows up the hospital. Tiger Zinda Hai is an all out entertainer with gritty action, music and drama.

This movie has no connection with the incident or with how rescue operation is carried out,dont expect some sensible it is a typical bhai kind of movie where everything is possible and others are helpless because tiger is still alive,the only saving grace is the action

Mighty Joe Young 1998

The baby gorilla left in her care grows up to become a hugely tall and broad specimen by the name of Joe, living in the mountains as a mostly unseen legend among people who live there. Along comes an eco-minded emissary from a California sanctuary, who talks the jungle girl into providing safe haven for Joe at the L.A. facility. The transition is not without discomfort, but everything is aggravated via a conspiracy of poachers to get Joe into their own greedy hands!

The Disney remake of "Mighty Joe Young" is an excellent film, but nothing beats the charm of the original film. Having said that, I think both versions are worth owning. There is a common thread that runs through both the original and this remake, and both share a somewhat similar climatic ending. But there are enough differences to make the two films unique and quite interesting in side-by-side comparisons. Of course with Disney's version you have state-of-the art CGI. Joe looks so real, it will blow your mind! A sweet tearjerker that the whole family will enjoy. The remake MJY was filmed in Color and Widescreen.

With the original "Mighty Joe Young" you don't get the state-of-the-art special effects of the remake, but what you do get is a much better story which tugs at all your emotions. The climax of the film is very exciting, and so touching that it brings tears to the eyes. I won't give it away as to not spoil it. The original MJY was filmed in Black & White and Full Screen.

Great news, this film is finally being released in November 2005 along with the original "King Kong" and "Son of Kong" as a special collection. It most likely will be available as a single DVD as well. It should be a winner!

Ninja bugeicho momochi sandayu 1980

In the middle of the 16th century, Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord sets out to destroy the Momochi clan. He sends his war commander in search of the clan's hidden gold only to find that two daggers are the key to the hiding place of the treasured gold. Spanning decades, the quest for the missing daggers takes Shiranui through war and ancient tradition.

Yeah, this movie is that good. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The best thing about this movie is the music. I know very little about it, but know that I would trade my little sister for a copy of the soundtrack. It also is that good. It seems to have been composed by the troll of the Japanese composing scene at the time. The whole movie is a series of bizarre sound effects and some sort of jazz-pop backing. It's like this guy was watching the film and went, "Hey, this part of the movie is sad. They're killing off a major character in a very noble and touching way. Hmm... I seem to have this disco-beat left over from another movie that never got made. What if I layered it with some blues-funk? That would be killer." And then he did, and it was. No, seriously, that's not meant to be funny. That is what happens. So keep in mind that, even if I am not describing the music happening at any given time in the movie, it is definitely going to be some sort of wholly inappropriate dance-pop with some urban sound thrown in and then mangled all up for good measure. If you ever get a chance to see this movie, you really should, because the culmination of every part of it makes it so adorably awful/awesome. I'll try my best not to leave anything out, and briefly explain about historical or cultural knowledge that may be less familiar to those who don't live off of these movies like I do. Got it? Okay, let's begin movie time!

Right off the bat, the title screen is overlaid with this horror-movie-esque riff, quickly bleeding into some sort of opening song that tells me that football is coming on. It doesn't.

All the music stops, and we are suddenly jolted into a room with two very important-looking people. The man seated elevated seems to be some sort of daimyo. The guy closest to us is giving some sort of a report. He's name-dropping, a lot, things that get my inner dork all fired up. Iga ninja! Really? Behind him, two men are bowing, and the vassal explains that he has trained these two ninja; one cannot speak, the other cannot hear.

Goosebumps 2015

After moving to a small town, Zach Cooper finds a silver lining when he meets next door neighbor Hannah, the daughter of bestselling Goosebumps series author R.L. Stine. Stine is very strange and mysterious and it turns out for good reason. He is a prisoner of his own imagination – the monsters that his books made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Zach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it’s suddenly up to Stine, Zach and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong.

Zach (Dylan Minnette) moves to a new town with his mother and soon meets his neighbor Hannah (Odeya Rush). The two hit it off but she's being overly protected by her father (Jack Black) and soon Zach finds out why.

I guess I should admit that I've never read any of the Goosebump stories and I haven't watched any of the television episodes. I was someone familiar with some of the monsters due to hearing about them as my girlfriend talked about them. I still went into this movie with high expectations and for the most part I found GOOSEBUMPS to be entertaining in its own way. The film is certainly flawed and it could have been much better but there are enough good things to make it worth watching.

What really helps the film is the fact that Rush, Black and Minnette are so good in their roles as is Ryan Lee who plays the nerd. I thought all four of them did a great job with their roles and I thought they certainly helped keep the film moving and entertaining. The monsters themselves were also fun for what they were. The CGI effects were of good quality as you'd expect and I thought the film was creative in the way that it got all of them on the screen.

I did have some issues with the film including the fact that I thought most of the humor didn't work overly well. I also thought the film dragged a bit too much and I really didn't think there was any suspense or tension. Again, going off what I had heard, apparently the show and books were meant to scare people but none of that carried over to this film version.

Isle of Dogs 2018

An outbreak of dog flu has spread through the city of Megasaki, Japan, and Mayor Kobayashi has demanded all dogs to be sent to Trash Island. On the island, a young boy named Atari sets out to find his lost dog, Spots, with the help of five other dogs... with many obstacles along the way.

I really enjoyed this wonderful little film that was such a departure in a way for director Wes Anderson, yet his style is still readily obvious. I saw this at a midnight showing and I can tell you, everyone walking out of the theater was raving and talking about how great it was, And it was, such a charming a cute adventure of a story that was a total surprise, in the sense of a surprise to see Anderson making an animated film. I was so exited for the film and it really was in no way a disappointment, I thoroughly enjoyed his latest work, in fact, I might go see it twice, which is rare for me. In the second paragraph I will discuss a little more about what exactly I liked about it, but in general this was a damn good film that demands a viewing.

Wes Anderson's style is so honed in this film despite it being animated. The use of colors and symmetry are still plainly obvious, the color and design of things very consistent giving a believable world for the film to be set in. Each one of the characters was deeply developed and fascinating while also working off many of the other characters. The writing is sharp, intelligent, and very well written in the style of many of the other Anderson classics. So basically if you are a fan of his style, then you will be delighted to see this movie that is the personification of Wes Anderson's style.

Ready Player One 2018

In the year 2045, the real world is a harsh place. The only time Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) truly feels alive is when he escapes to the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spends their days. In the OASIS, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone-the only limits are your own imagination. The OASIS was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who left his immense fortune and total control of the Oasis to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir. When Wade conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends-aka the High Five-are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS.

Like a lot of other people who've reviewed stated, I love the book. I don't read. Simply never (unless it is a bed time story with my kiddo). After finishing this book, I read it again. I'm tempted to read it a third time. It's just that good.

I went into this movie blind. Only looking at the overall total score that reviewers were giving the movie. I was shocked when (very soon into the movie) I realized that the book and movie were going to similar almost in name only. It's really hard to put into words how let down I was initially. But after finishing the movie you sort of realize how difficult (maybe impossible) it would have been for them to make a movie based solely on the book. With this in mind I try to think of the book and movie as two 100% different things. Not basing judgement off of one because of the other. If you enjoy action/adventure movies and lots of nostalgia mostly from the 80's and 90's with other generations sprinkled in, you'll enjoy this movie.

I'm excited to watch it again and really happy this was even made. Overall really great family fun movie. 3.75/5.

Rampage 2018


Primatologist Davis (Dwayne Johnson) shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent silverback gorilla who has been in his care since he was young. When a greed-fueled corporation's genetic experiment goes awry, George and other animals across the country are mutated into aggressive supercreatures who destroy everything in their path. In this adrenaline-filled ride, Davis tries to find an antidote, not only to halt a global catastrophe but also to save the fearsome creature who was once his friend.

The gorilla was very funny when there were funny moments and he had a wicked sense of humor! Lot’s of action kept the guys interested and we love The Rock, so it was a great movie night choice for us. There is language and crude humor so you may not want your younger kids (7-10) to watch it without you present. Kids younger than 7? Skip it or adults only watch.

Here's the thing, most movies coming out of Hollywood are average at best and it's all been done over and over again. Rarely are you going to watch a movie today that's truly a classic. So, at the end of the day it comes down to a few things:
1. Is it visually stimulating?
2. Is it immersive?
3. Are the actors enjoyable?
4. Did I enjoy watching the movie?
5. Did it pass time well?
The answer to all five for me was an emphatic yes. In the end, while not a great actor in a traditional sense, The Rock is pretty much always entertaining and this movie was more or less a feel good, happy ending that you saw coming but there was enough tension and plot to make it interesting at all times.

Tomb Raider 2018

Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer, lost to her when she was barely a teen. Now 21 and struggling to make her way in the world, Lara is determined to forge her own path rather than take the reins of her father's global empire...so even she can't understand what drives her to solve the puzzle of his mysterious death. Going explicitly against her dad's final wishes, Lara leaves the familiar streets of London in search of a mythical island -- which may or may not exist -- somewhere off the coast of Hong Kong. With her life threatened at every turn and with no training or experience to fall back on, Lara's sharp mind, blind faith and inherently stubborn spirit are the only weapons she’ll have on this non-stop, action-packed, trial-by-fire adventure into the unknown.

The Angeline Tomb Raider films were made in 2001 and 2003. The first was great and the second so-so. The movie series has been given a reboot with Alicia Vikander as the eponymous heroine. I did not play the original Lara Croft games but have enjoyed the recent ones with the new look Lara. This film takes a lot of cues from the modern Tomb Raider games. The action sequences draw heavily from the modern games. I particularly liked the crashed plane sequence. It feels like a direct port from the games in some places. The plot is decent and the principal actors do a very good job with the material they are given. The preformances of Alicia Vikander and Walter Goggins are exceptional. Goggins carries off the intensity of the main villain very well. Fans of the original Lara will prefer the Angeline Jolie version. Fans of the modern game will find this familiar and enjoyable.

The Monkey King (2014) | និយាយខ្មែរ

The Monkey King - Havoc in Heaven's Palace is based on the first seven chapters of the classic Chinese book Journey to The West. Sun Wukong (The Monkey King) is a monkey born from a heavenly crystal who acquires supernatural powers on Earth.

The movie was good but it tended to drag in some places; on the upside, however, they did delve a bit more into the mythology of the Monkey King and how he got punished by Buddha. In some other movies, like "Journey to the West" (which was a really good movie, FYI; I highly recommend it) just tell us the the Monkey King just disagreed with Buddha it gives no more information than that. So it was nice to see the whole story from the Monkey King's side.

The Monkey King (2014)

The Monkey King - Havoc in Heaven's Palace is based on the first seven chapters of the classic Chinese book Journey to The West. Sun Wukong (The Monkey King) is a monkey born from a heavenly crystal who acquires supernatural powers on Earth.

The movie was good but it tended to drag in some places; on the upside, however, they did delve a bit more into the mythology of the Monkey King and how he got punished by Buddha. In some other movies, like "Journey to the West" (which was a really good movie, FYI; I highly recommend it) just tell us the the Monkey King just disagreed with Buddha it gives no more information than that. So it was nice to see the whole story from the Monkey King's side.

The Monkey King 2 (2016) | និយាយខ្មែរ

The follow up to the international fantasy blockbuster, fast forwards 500 year to a new realm where the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) vows to protect the innocent from a demon seeking immortality.

Demons unscrupulously run amuck everywhere, people are all scared and panic except Monk Tang (starred by William Feng), he fears no danger and determines to lead his three apprentice Sun Wu Kong (starred by Aaron Kwok), Zhu Ba Jie (starred by Xiao Shen Yang), and Sha Seng (starred by Him Law) to get scriptures in the west for the sake of deliver all living creatures from torment, no matter if it risks their own lives. On their way when they pass by a small western country, the King (starred by Kris Phillips) has bad intentions, and there is also a powerful evil Bai Gu Jing (starred by Gong Li) who set up traps in order to catch Monk Tang and eat him. But Sun Wu Kong see through Bai Gu Jing’s tricks and subvert her plots which makes she hate Sun Wu Kong a lot. Bai Gu Jing set up a trap to make Monk Tong misunderstand Sun Wu Kong and throw him out. Sun Wu Kong is unconvinced at first but has been enlighten by the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Guanyin (starred by Kelly Chen), so that he decides to go back to Monk Tang and fight Bai Gu Jing but didn’t even know that Monk Tong has trapped and caught by Bai Gu Jing. Mong Tang’s life hangs by a thread, Sun Wu Kong rushes to save his master and start several fierce battles with the powerful Bai Gu Jing.

The Monkey King 2 (2016)

The follow up to the international fantasy blockbuster, fast forwards 500 year to a new realm where the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) vows to protect the innocent from a demon seeking immortality.

Demons unscrupulously run amuck everywhere, people are all scared and panic except Monk Tang (starred by William Feng), he fears no danger and determines to lead his three apprentice Sun Wu Kong (starred by Aaron Kwok), Zhu Ba Jie (starred by Xiao Shen Yang), and Sha Seng (starred by Him Law) to get scriptures in the west for the sake of deliver all living creatures from torment, no matter if it risks their own lives. On their way when they pass by a small western country, the King (starred by Kris Phillips) has bad intentions, and there is also a powerful evil Bai Gu Jing (starred by Gong Li) who set up traps in order to catch Monk Tang and eat him. But Sun Wu Kong see through Bai Gu Jing’s tricks and subvert her plots which makes she hate Sun Wu Kong a lot. Bai Gu Jing set up a trap to make Monk Tong misunderstand Sun Wu Kong and throw him out. Sun Wu Kong is unconvinced at first but has been enlighten by the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Guanyin (starred by Kelly Chen), so that he decides to go back to Monk Tang and fight Bai Gu Jing but didn’t even know that Monk Tong has trapped and caught by Bai Gu Jing. Mong Tang’s life hangs by a thread, Sun Wu Kong rushes to save his master and start several fierce battles with the powerful Bai Gu Jing.

The Monkey King 3 (2018)

The third installment of the blockbuster fantasy series sees the return of the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) in his most action-packed adventure yet, as the travelers on their journey to the West are imprisoned by the Queen of an all-female kingdom and threatened by the wrathful River God.

Wu Chengen’s 100-part literary classic Journey to the West could be seen as the Iliad or the Shakespeare of China, in that it’s the literary classic that always seems ripe for reimagining. In director Soi Cheang’s final (based on the closing shots, perhaps) installment of his three-part spin on the legend, The Monkey King 3 ventures into the book’s later chapters that are less familiar to Western audiences for a delicately cheeky and timely missed opportunity. Pivoting this time on pious monk Xuanzang’s sputtering romance with the emergent queen of a kingdom populated solely by women, Cheang does his able best to balance a love story with the heightened fantasy action expected of the previous two films, and after a rocky start he largely succeeds.

As the theory states, a hero is only as interesting as their villain, and Cheang and Co. peaked in part two, where Mainland superstar Gong Li hammed it up as the child-eating, immortality-seeking White Bone Spirit — never a raised eyebrow out of place — opposite an inspired Aaron Kwok as Wukong, the impish Monkey King. This time around, Xuanzang’s (William Feng) disciples take a back seat to his emotional quagmire, which not only bloats the film’s running time but also blunts its action. Nonetheless, The Monkey King 3 has enough eye-catching set pieces, CGI and wirework to keep things rolling and ensure a place near the top of Lunar New Year box office at home in Hong Kong and China. Success in Asia-Pacific will come from completists rounding out the trilogy. Overseas genre events aren’t beyond the realm of possibility, particularly if the women’s colony angle is exploited.

The story starts with Xuanzang, Wukong, the pig demon Bajie (Xiao Shenyang) and gloriously blue sand demon Wujing (Him Law) chugging up a river, still en route to reclaiming the sacred Buddhist scrolls when they encounter a River God and are tossed into a hidden colony. In a hilariously endless tumble, Xuanzang spies the Queen (Zhao Liying) of the innovatively named Womanland of Western Liang, and it’s love at first sight. Problem is, the women of Womanland have been raised to believe men are poisonous, and the Queen’s preceptor and protector (Hong Kong veteran Gigi Leung) immediately orders Xuanzang and his crew executed. The Queen is suffering terminal lovesickness however, and helps the four escape. That’s when the adventure starts, one filled with surprise pregnancies, unsavory induced miscarriages (!), a quest to flee across the Sea of Suffering and an eerily perceptive CGI reindeer.

Make no mistake, The Monkey King 3 is bonkers, but in a charming, delirious sort of way, with energy to spare and another strong performance by Kwok that's far more nuanced than it needs to be. There are more than a few moments where dodgy CG reveals itself, and in late-2000s fashion, the action is so kinetic as to be nearly unfathomable. But the film does have its moments: Xuanzang and the Queen’s journey across the misty, eerie sea; the possibility the residents of Womanland turning to stone where they stand; and the climactic sequence where the angry River God nearly lays waste to Womanland boast some stellar visuals. Not so much the precocious child of a scrap of scroll (seriously, it’s a piece of paper as a kindergarten brat). Shaun Smith’s makeup effects are strong, and it would have been nice to see them, and Cho Hwa Sung’s bright, popping production design, clearly rather than have them muddled by dark 3D glasses.

The Monkey King 3 didn’t need to be 3D, and it could have trimmed its romance — or refocused it. Once it becomes clear Xuanzang et al's escape from Womanland hinges on love as the key to locating the gate, the film settles into long stretches of insipid romantic philosophizing, with Xuanzang wrestling with his budding romantic feelings and devotion to his Tang vows and the Queen pondering her duty, the wider world she may now be able to see and a doomsday prophecy. In itself that’s not a terrible story, but Feng and Zhao are a less than riveting couple, making their dilemmas leaden soap opera instead of compelling crises of conscience or identity, even if that unfolds within the parameters of a fantasy romp.

The film’s biggest crimes, however, sit with how Cheang and writer Elvis Man drop the ball on the preceptor’s failed romance and Womanland itself. The subplot involving the preceptor’s complex, unrequited love with the River God is sneakily subversive, given the God being identified as male but the physical character itself being wholly androgynous, if not outright feminine (and played by a female actor, Lin Chiling). It’s a more engrossing, universal story (career or love?) even without the blurred gender lines. And despite being a thriving society free of men, when trouble rears its head, it's Wukong and Xuanzang who swoop in to save the day. The Queen spends the final fight unconscious, and the preceptor runs around begging for the men’s help. In the wake of Wonder Woman and Black Panther’s active-not-reactive female characters, The Monkey King 3 feels like a missed opportunity to pass the baton to those films’ Asian sisters.

Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds 2017