The Monkey King
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): August 18, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Paste MagazineB. PantherAug 16, 2023
Though aimed at a slightly younger audience, The Monkey King still has the mix of high-stakes peril and high-reward comedy that has become part of Chow’s signature style. Read full review
83
ColliderArezou AminAug 15, 2023
The film's central thesis, that everyone needs somewhere to belong, seems simple on paper. However, it winds up being much more nuanced in practice. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 18, 2023
The animation is sharp, the animated action beats fluid and fun. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyAug 15, 2023
The Monkey King is no exception. It mines rich source material for a widely accessible episodic adventure laced with rowdy martial arts clashes and fantastical detours. Even if its Americanization follows a standard template, the movie maintains a flavorful sprinkling of the material’s cultural specificity. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 17, 2023
A lot of culture, East and West, receives glancing blows from The Monkey King, which was directed by Anthony Stacchi, whose 2014 stop-motion animated feature “The Boxtrolls” is a classic. And an entirely different animal from The Monkey King. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAmy NicholsonAug 17, 2023
The rare moments in which an image pauses to catch its breath can be stunning, such as a shot of an endless expanse of flaming lanterns dangling over countless white ghosts — how the artist Yayoi Kusama might have designed the afterlife. There’s enough gags that a dozen land. Read full review
60
The GuardianLeslie FelperinAug 16, 2023
The latest in a 10,000-mile-long line of adaptations of Journey to the West, the 16th-century Chinese novel attributed to Wu Cheng’en, bounces along energetically, and has some exceptionally fun frills around the edges, such as a flouncy vocal performance from Bowen Yang as spiteful, effete baddie the Dragon King, who gets to sing the film’s best musical number. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoAug 18, 2023
Aggressively mediocre, Netflix’s “The Monkey King” takes no risks and offers too little humor, heart, or action to entertain all but the youngest in the family. Read full review
50
IGNKenneth Seward Jr.Aug 18, 2023
Netflix’s The Monkey King is an example of a potentially great film that’s undone by poor pacing, uneven animation, and a truly unlikable protagonist. Read full review
30
Screen RantAlex HarrisonAug 15, 2023
The heart of the problem is The Monkey King makes its central character, whose story has been told and retold for hundreds of years, uninteresting. Without that spine to hold it together, everything collapses. Read full review
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