Anthony Stacchi is the director of the computer-animated fantasy action comedy movie The Monkey King from 2023. It is a prequel to the well-known Journey to the West literature from the Ming period. Jimmy O. Yang plays the titular trickster in the movie, with Bowen Yang, Jo Koy, BD Wong, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, and Stephanie Hsu serving as his supporting cast members.
The Monkey King made its world premiere on July 30, 2023, at the 22nd New York Asian Film Festival, and Netflix distributed it internationally on August 18, 2023. Critics gave the movie a variety of ratings.
Plot
The Jade Emperor is disturbed when a monkey appears out of a stone on top of a towering mountain one night. Buddha appears before the Emperor and instructs him to let the cub find his destiny just before the Emperor gives the order to kill the cub.
Despite finding a troop of other monkeys, the monkey is too rambunctious to blend in. A feared demon emerges from his mountain hideout during one of his antics and captures one of the troop’s pups for nourishment; as a result, Monkey is exiled. He prepares to battle the demon in order to prove his worth to the soldiers. When he feels ready, many years later, he faces the demon, but his preparation is futile, and another cub is abducted. Monkey enters the Dragon King’s underwater domain in search of a more suitable weapon. There, he encounters the dragon-king gloating over a luminous column that he intends to use to exterminate all life on Earth’s surface. Monkey communicates with the column, changes it into a staff, and flees.
The Monkey King (Official trailer)
Voice cast
Jimmy O. Yang as Monkey King
Dee Bradley Baker as Baby Monkey King
Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Lin
Bowen Yang as Dragon King
Jo Koy as Benbo
Nan Li as Stick
Stephanie Hsu as Mayor’s Wife
BD Wong as Buddha
Ron Yuan as Babbo
Hoon Lee as Jade Emperor
Andrew Pang as Mayor
Andrew Kishino as King Yama
Jodi Long as Wangmu
James Sie as Elder Monkey
Sophie Jean Wu as Red Girl
