Lessons from The Monkey King by the Ent. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Watch The Monkey King
Movie: The Monkey King
Rating: PG
Genre: Animated, Children’s, Comedy, Action
Length: 1 hr. 37 mins.
Age suggested: 8 and up
Release Date: August 18th, 2023
Warnings: Lots of fighting, Different creatures (some scarier than others), Mild rude humor
Quick The Monkey King Summary
Based on the classic Chinese tales, The Monkey King tells the story of a monkey whose goal is to be accepted amongst the gods. He goes on a mission to destroy one hundred demons. When a little girl, Lin, comes alongside him, he must learn to not simply just focus on himself, but also see the world as larger than he knew.
The Monkey King Review
(Contains Mild Spoilers)
The Monkey King is an interesting movie about the obsession of power and acceptance. The Monkey King spends the entire movie trying to become on of the gods, but along the way shows that he really just cares about himself. Although his character is very charismatic, it is hard to root for him as a protagonist. On the other hand, we are introduced to Lin, a little girl who is simply trying to save her village. Her actions, although not always good, do make since throughout the movie and you can feel a bit more of a connection with her.
Is The Monkey King Appropriate for Kids
The movie is ultimately pretty tame, but does contain some large and scary monsters that may scare younger viewers. This coincides with a lot of fight scenes, although most of them aren’t overly violent and take the more comic-style of fighting. There is also just a lot of attitudes that you may not want kids emulating. Besides these things, The Monkey King is appropriate for kids mature enough to handle those topics
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Why Watch The Monkey King
Although The Monkey King isn’t as good as some of the other Netflix Originals, there is still a lot to enjoy here. Lin’s whole story is my personal favorite. She feels like a character worth rooting on and this is ultimately rewarded. The Monkey King as a character is harder to root for, but still provides a fair amount of entertainment through his boisterous and cocky attitude.
The ultimate addition of Buddha was a very interesting touch that, to me, elevated it from a mediocre kids movie to at least an interesting one. The conversation between Lin and the Buddha was a personal highlight of this movie. On a grander note, the overall story of The Monkey King is quite interesting with many great life lessons (You can see our Lessons from The Monkey King section below).
Continue reading for our Lessons from The Monkey King.
Favorite The Monkey King Quotes
Everything was in balance. We respected the the gods and we followed the rules until the night a magical rock gave birth to a powerful being.
Maybe you’re not as useless as I thought.
You can do great things. I’m just a mortal.
You’re the only mortal I know who’s gone to hell and heaven in one day.
You want something. Don’t ask. Just take it.
He’s just a little monkey looking for a place to belong.
The Monkey King’s scroll is still to be written. When he is ready, the world we need him as it has needed you.
Well, I guess a little pebble did make a big wave.
I kept my promise and did great things
The Monkey King Quotes
Lessons from The Monkey King
No Matter How Small, We Can Make a Difference
Lin’s whole mission is to protect her village. When she visits hell with the Monkey King, she finds a scroll that tells her that she always tries to make a difference, but never does. This leads her into many actions, with the ultimate conclusion that her scroll is still to be written and that the world does need her.
Power Without Kindness is Evil
The Monkey King has an obsession with immortality and joining the gods. After so many rejections, it simply becomes a search for as much power as possible. In the climax of the movie, the Monkey King gains an enormous amount of power, but shows the same evil as all the other gods before, becoming just another evil being.
The Importance of Humility
The consequences of the Monkey King’s actions at the end of the movie ultimately lead to an intervention from the Buddha in which the Monkey King is forced to meditate and find enlightenment and humility.
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The Monkey King Discussion Questions
Themes to Discuss: Acceptance, Power, Justifications, Purpose, Selfishness
- Who was your favorite character and why?
- What was the Monkey King trying to prove to himseld
- What was Lin’s motivation for her actions?
- What did it mean that Monkey King could not leave Buddha’s hand?
- How did the Monkey King change from the beginning of the movie to the end?
Thanks for reading our Lesson from The Monkey King
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