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The second newest trailer aired online at the start of the new year for the upcoming release of director Terence Cheung‘s The Monkey King: The Legend Begins. The trailer takes on a much darker tone than previous trailers with exciting new footage of some of our main players, namely international action star and action director Donnie Yen opposite actors Chow Yun Fat, Aaron Kwok and Peter Ho.
Sun Wukong, (The Monkey King) is a monkey born from a heavenly stone who acquires supernatural powers. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years, he later accompanies the monk Xuanzang on a journey to India. Thus, according to legend, Buddhism is brought to ancient China. This much beloved story, is as much a part of Asian culture as The Iliad and The Odyssey or The Wizard of Oz are to the West. This first installment in a trilogy of live action 3-D movies is actually a prequel to The Journey To The West, the much told story of the Monkey Kings adventures on the road to India. The Monkey King: Havoc In The Heavenly Palace will be released in the U.S. as The Monkey King. The first movie is the origins story — beginning with the birth of Sun Wukong and ending with his imprisonment for his crimes under the Five-Peaked Mountain. Along the way he acquires incredible powers, battling the armies of the gods and the armies of the demons to find his rightful place in the Heavens. It is a classic story of the scorned underdog who acquires great abilities but uses them recklessly and ultimately must pay a huge price to find redemption. The Monkey King captures the drama, beauty, humor and fantastic action of the folk legend and brings it to the screen in a way never before possible.
