← Back to Directory
The Monkey King
Movie

The Monkey King

2014 • Unknown

Woke Score
1
out of 10

Plot

Sun Wukong 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.

Overall Series Review

The Monkey King (2014) is a Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts fantasy film based on the classical 16th-century Chinese novel, Journey to the West. The film focuses on the origin story of Sun Wukong, a mischievous and powerful monkey born from a rock, detailing his rise to power, his rebellion against the Heavenly Palace, and his ultimate imprisonment by the Buddha. The production is an effects-heavy, culturally authentic retelling of a foundational Chinese myth, featuring an all-star ethnically Chinese cast. The narrative is a straightforward heroic journey of an arrogant character learning humility and discipline within a deeply spiritual framework. The core themes are power, ego, atonement, and spiritual destiny, which align with the source material's traditional values. The movie contains no discernible elements of modern ideological activism across any of the analyzed categories. It stands as a commercial, national-epic-style blockbuster honoring its own cultural legacy.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The movie is a Chinese co-production of a foundational Chinese myth featuring an ethnically Chinese cast portraying Chinese mythological figures. The casting is culturally authentic. The protagonist's struggle is against a celestial hierarchy based on his non-human nature and reckless ego, not based on human-world race, immutable characteristics, or intersectional hierarchy. There is no forced diversity or vilification of any specific ethnic group.

Oikophobia1/10

The movie is an extravagant, high-budget retelling of one of China's most celebrated cultural epics, which is the complete opposite of civilizational self-hatred. The conflict is with the existing celestial government (the Jade Emperor and his officials), a classic trope in the source material, and not a rejection or deconstruction of Chinese heritage, institutions, or ancestors. The narrative affirms the importance of a spiritual order and moral law.

Feminism1/10

Female characters hold positions of immense power and reverence as goddesses (Guan Yin, Nüwa) or as powerful demons (Princess Iron Fan). These roles are integral to the mythological structure. There is no evidence of a 'Girl Boss' trope that requires male emasculation to establish female competence. The narrative focus is on the male protagonist's development, and the strong female characters occupy complementary, powerful, and traditional positions within the mythos.

LGBTQ+1/10

The movie is a straightforward fantasy epic based on a pre-modern cultural text. The story focuses exclusively on martial conflict, celestial politics, and a quest for spiritual enlightenment. There is no presence of alternative sexualities being centered, queer theory, or any deconstruction of the nuclear family structure. The structure is entirely normative.

Anti-Theism1/10

The entire story is deeply entrenched in Chinese spiritualism, featuring Daoist and Buddhist figures. The ultimate narrative resolution is the protagonist's humbling and atonement by the Buddha, which establishes a clear, transcendent moral law. The core conflict is not a rejection of faith but a rebellion against a celestial bureaucracy, which ultimately leads to the protagonist being set on a path of spiritual devotion. Faith and a higher moral order are a central source of structure and meaning.