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(Monkey Magic, TV: Change, Fukigen na jiin, Koini ochitara, Puraido)
Producer:
Chihiro Kameyama
Screenplay:
Yuji Sakamoto
Music:
Satoshi Takebe
Cast :
Monkey: Shingo Katori
Tripitaka: Eri Fukatsu
Pigsy: Atsushi Ito
Sandy: Teruyoshi Uchimura
Princess Reimi: Mikako Tabe
Rin Rin: Asami Mizukawa
Roshi: Koji Okura
See the trailer
Anyone who was around to watch kids TV in the early 80s when we got to see it on BBC2 will remember Monkey,
a bizarre programme featuring a foursome of warriors that look like what you'd expect if The Monkees were recast with
Japanese actors.
For this movie comeback, their leader, Tripitaka (Eri Fukatsu) is off to make the journey west in search of
magical sutras that could restore peace to the land, accompanied three mythical creatures - Monkey (Shingo Katori),
Sandy (Teruyoshi Uchimura) and Pigsy (Atsushi Ito). Due to the fact that Tripitaka is thought of as a
legendary figure, their destiny is to go to a great temple in India where she's asked by Princess Reimi (Mikako
Tabe) to reverse the curse that has turned a king and queen into tortoises by baddies King Gold Horn and his
brother, King Silver Horn, who have also turned water and greenery into a desert.
It started off as quite amusing, such as when the clan think they're incurring Buddha's wrath for trying to climb a
king's burial mound (you'll find out about that piece of nonsense when you see it), but on reflection I think this
would've been best brought back as a TV show again, though, as after about 30 mins the novelty wears off and it
starts to drag.
Eventually, you're just waiting for it to end - and at 110 minutes before the closing credits arrive, it certainly runs
for longer than it should've done. There's a twist along the way, but nothing to write home about, and the film gets a
little violent towards the end to earn its 12-certificate, but the madness does outstay its welcome.
The film is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio with no real problems other than looking a little soft
at times, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound occasionally gets a bit of a treat with some thundering sound on occasion,
such as the aforementioned incurred wrath, and some great split-surround effects in the fight scenes, particularly
towards the end.
Sadly, little time has been spent on the extras. There's no discussions about why they brought it back, how the sets
were designed, etc, just a trailer (1:44, letterbox 2.35:1) and 16 TV spots (6:30), aka very brief trailers in the main.
There's also something called The Journey To The West, but this is just a page of text about the origin of Monkey,
and is quite hard to read given that it's black text on a bright red background.
To cap it all, there's no original 'Monkey' music and, for those who wanted the same feel as the version we got to see
on TV in the UK, no mad audio dubbing either. In the UK, we got to see the TV series with David Collings (aka Silver from
Sapphire and Steel) voice the lead role of Monkey, although I never knew that at the time.
On the plus side, the film is very well chaptered with 30 in total and while there's no option for subtitles, English
ones are on by default and cannot be turned off if any Japanese viewers wanted to watch this without them. The main
menu contains many clips from the film, although these contain big spoilers about major elements of the movie, so
switch away from that as quickly as possible if you haven't started to watch it.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy Overview
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Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.