Peril, fantasy violence, insults in Chinese tale adaptation.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
Animated fantasy violence involves potentially scary concepts like hell, ghosts, death, demons, social isolation, and physical and emotional threats to kids. Baby monkeys are stolen by a demon, and one is seen suspended in a cage over a vat of boiling water. Animated creatures, including humans and human children, are subjected to fights, falls, near-death experiences, potential drownings, electrifications, kung fu-style battles, pole fights, poisonings, avalanches, fire, drought, and more.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
"Hell," and insults like "wuss," "useless," "fool," "selfish," "scrawny," "loser," "dimwit," "old geezer," and "freak." Characters make threats and tell each other to shut up in various ways.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
The film is based on a classic Chinese tale and is set in China, as well as in other worlds. The Buddha is an omniscient and all-powerful being in the film. Most of the voice cast is Asian American. Jimmy Yang was born in Hong Kong.
Even the smallest pebble can make a big ripple. Don't underestimate people. Messages young children hear can stay with them into adulthood. It's important to find your place and your people in this world. Help others and accept help from others. Power can make people crazy. You only find your way when you have peace in your heart.
Positive Role Models
some
The Monkey King wants to save others from an evil demon. When he's treated poorly and ostracized, he takes a more egotistical path and strives for power for himself. It takes another lonely soul with misguided motives, Lin, to help him learn empathy and compassion -- and she learns the same herself. Other immortals are power-hungry.
Educational Value
very little
The movie is based on a Chinese folk tale and might inspire kids to seek out other traditional stories.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Monkey King, based on a Chinese folk tale, is an animated film with significant fantasy violence and characters misbehaving and taunting each other with insults. Ultimately, the characters learn empathy and compassion for others. But on their path, they encounter potentially scary scenarios and concepts like hell, ghosts, death, demons, social isolation, and physical and emotional threats to children. Baby monkeys are stolen by a demon, and one is seen suspended in a cage over a vat of boiling water. Animated creatures, including humans and human kids, are subjected to fights, falls, near-death experiences, potential drownings, electrifications, kung fu-style battles, pole fights, poisonings, avalanches, fire, drought, and more. Language includes "hell" and insults like "wuss," "useless," "fool," "selfish," "scrawny," "loser," "dimwit," "old geezer" and "freak." A character jokes about getting "hammered" at a future party. Characters make threats and tell each other to shut up in various ways. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
I think this film isn't suitable for kids, it desensitised the reality of heaven and hell. The language that is used and the underlying story isn't appropriate. I found it quite disturbing with demons and fighting and immortality. If you are a Christian family do not go near this film at all. I regret putting it on.
This show is basically disrespectful of religion. There is literally a scene where the monkey goes into Hell to erase his name on a list to become immortal, and also another where he says he is greater than heaven. Another problem is weird jokes, and inappropriate language. There is a scene where The Dragon King tampers with some peaches, and a few minutes later he eats them and begins to act like someone who took drugs, saying creepy and weird things, and multiple scenes where they use derogatory and offensive words. The last problem is that the main character is horrifically overpowered, and acts narcissistic. How does someone take on an entire demon without training whatsoever, and then somehow win a battle with a 120 meters tall dragon without breaking a sweat? I expected an epic battle, not simply the dragon losing to a few strikes of the monkey's stick. Also, the baby monkey looks cute at first, but he is actually seen going to a mother monkey, throwing the other child away and then trying to take place as the child, only for the mother to scream at him and shoo him away.
What's the Story?
THE MONKEY KING (Jimmy O. Yang), a little red monkey born from a rock, is ostracized by society, but he has an important destiny. We know this because the Buddha (BD Wong) says so himself. When a weapon looking for its hero finds him, the now grown Monkey King sets out to solidify his place among the immortals, which also include the Jade Emperor (Hoon Lee), the Dragon King (Bowen Yang), and Wangmu (Jodi Long). First, he must slay 100 demons. On his final slaying, he meets Lin (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport), a poor young village girl who insists on accompanying him as his assistant. Little does the Monkey King know that Lin has ulterior motives. Together on their journeys, the two will learn a lot about each other and their places in the world.
Buckle your seatbelt and be prepared for nonstop action in this telling of the legendary tale, which looks spectacular but doesn't get to the fable's real messages until late in the game. Without the Buddha's introductory revelations about The Monkey King, this film's titular character could seem unredeemable (besides his self-aggrandizing humor) for a chunk of the action. Sure, he was ostracized as a child and never learned to love or be loved. We get it. But it takes an hour-plus of fast-paced, far-fetched brawls before his young, female sidekick Lin shows him what he's been missing -- and sees the lonely creature inside him as well. In that sense, the film aims squarely at a very young audience, for whom the action will be entertaining enough. Older viewers can appreciate the film's textured look, which was meant to mimic Chinese brush painting.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what The Monkey King and Lin learn from each other. Why does it take them so long?
How do characters show empathy and compassion? Are these two characteristics the same? How so or how not?
The filmmakers said they wanted this movie to have the texture and dynamics of Chinese brush painting and ink on paper. Can you find examples of this in the movie?
The Monkey King is a classic tale. Where could you find more information about this story and its various iterations on screen?
Who was the Buddha? What does he stand for? Where can you go for more information?
MPAA explanation:
action/violence and brief thematic material
Last updated:
September 29, 2023
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
