The Monkey King (miniseries)
{{short description|2001 American television mini-series by Peter MacDonald}}
{{More plot|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox television
| image = The Monkey King (miniseries).jpg
| caption =
| alt_name = The Lost Empire
| genre =
| creator =
| developer =
| writer = David Henry Hwang
| based_on = {{based on|Journey to the West|Wu Cheng'en}}
| director = Peter MacDonald
| creative_director =
| presenter =
| starring = Thomas Gibson
Bai Ling
Russell Wong
| judges =
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer = John Altman
| country = United States
| language =
| num_seasons =
| num_episodes = 2
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = Robert Halmi Sr.
Robert A. Halmi
Tomas Krejci
| producer = Steve Harding
| editor = Colin Green
| cinematography = David Connell
| camera =
| runtime = 153 minutes
| company = Hallmark Entertainment
RTL
| channel = NBC
| first_aired = {{start date|2001|3|11}}
| last_aired = {{end date|2001|3|12}}
| related =
}}
The Monkey King, also known as The Lost Empire, is a 2001 television miniseries produced by NBC and the SciFi Channel. It is a contemporary take on the classic 16th-century novel Journey to the West. It stars Bai Ling, Thomas Gibson, Russell Wong, Eddie Marsan, and Randall Duk Kim. The miniseries was directed by Peter MacDonald and written by Asian American dramatist David Henry Hwang.
Plot
Nicholas Orton (played by Thomas Gibson) is an American businessman who has lived in China for several years. He has a chance encounter with a beautiful Chinese lady (played by Bai Ling) who says that he is the only one who can save the world from reverting five-hundred years. He is unswayed by this until many modern buildings begin disappearing before his eyes. This mystical lady (revealed later as Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion) transports him to a portal which offers entrance, through the teachings of Confucius (played by Ric Young), to the ancient Chinese underworld.
When Orton (soon to be named The Scholar From Above) reaches the other side of the portal, he finds that his studies of Confucius will come in handy for the path that lies ahead. Orton's first action is to rescue Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, from the mountain in which he has been imprisoned for centuries. Wukong travels with Orton in his quest to save the original manuscript of Journey to the West from retroactive destruction; if the story itself is erased from history, all the people who were ever inspired by the lessons it teaches will be worse off, and history will permanently change for the poorer. They are later joined by Zhu Bajie (Pigsy) and Sha Wujing (Friar Sand) to help them on their way.
Reception
Robert Bianco of USA Today called it "silly and confused."{{Cite web |last=Bianco|first=Robert|date=September 13, 2006 |title=What to watch Thursday
|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/criticscorner/2006-09-13-critics-corner_x.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505161506/https://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/criticscorner/2006-09-13-critics-corner_x.htm |archive-date=May 5, 2008 |access-date=February 15, 2024 |website=USA Today}} Variety called it "tedious" and said "all the strong technical work comes across as the outer shell of an empty nut."{{Cite web |last=Oxman|first=Steven|date=March 7, 2001 |title=Review: 'The Lost Empire'
|url=http://variety.com/2001/tv/reviews/the-lost-empire-1200467445/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308233401/http://variety.com/2001/tv/reviews/the-lost-empire-1200467445/ |archive-date=March 8, 2016 |access-date=February 15, 2024 |website=Variety}}
The ratings for the miniseries were poor; it recorded one of the lowest ratings ever for a miniseries on NBC. Critics said it was due to oversaturation of special-effects-driven miniseries dropping in popularity.{{cite web|url=http://www.durfee.net/will/news2001.htm|title= "Will & Grace" News Archive - 2001|work=durfee.net|first=Rob|last=Durfee|date=|accessdate=February 15, 2024}}
Release
The film is available on DVD and videocassette. There was also a novelization of the miniseries by Kathryn Wesley released under the title The Monkey King.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0198779|The Monkey King}}
{{David Henry Hwang}}
{{Journey to the West}}
{{Peter MacDonald}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monkey King (miniseries), The}}
Category:2000s adventure films
Category:2000s American television miniseries
Category:American fantasy adventure films
Category:2000s American science fiction television series
Category:2000s English-language films
Category:Films directed by Peter MacDonald
Category:Sonar Entertainment miniseries
Category:Sword and sorcery films
Category:Television shows based on Journey to the West