Monk Comes Down the Mountain (2015)

Too much of everything

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Heck, I read all the reviews and thought I really needed to see this one.Everyone waiting for a typical Kung Fu movie isn't going to get one. If that's what you want, go home.However, if you think Kung Fu + Fairytale + The Matrix sounds good, this is one for you.In almost each review all I read was whiny, whingey, unimaginative dross. Lighten up folks, indulge in that wonderful whimsy called imagination and you might come to truly love and appreciate superlative brilliance for a change, instead of the usual crap that comes of movie theatres.One thing that even the unimaginative will enjoy is the incredible beauty and the stunning cinematography.Totally captivating. Even ape strike, which I think I actually understood!

Director Kaige Chen is one of China's most acclaimed directors, so I went in this with relatively high expectations. Unfortunately, this movie turned out as a letdown, being an uneven mess of a movie. It feels like it has had not one, but several directors on set, fighting about what kind of movie they want to do. The final result is disappointing piece of work, which at least has some scenes of magical beauty to save it from being a complete failure.Mixing martial-arts and slapstick comedy is by no means a bad idea, as both genres require a lot of physical talent and choreography. And it has been done several times very successfully, see Kung-Fu Hustle as a prime example. Jackie Chan actually built an entire career on these kinds of movie. In this case however, the formula doesn't seem to work. The plot follows young monk He Anxia, who is forced to leave his temple and find his way in the real world, which is set somewhere in China of the 1920ies. On his journey, He meets several people, from an apothecary who is betrayed by his wife and his brother, to a mysterious janitor, who appears to have mastered a unique art of Kung-Fu, the "ape style". Also, somewhere in this is at least one love story, but this is hard to tell. Could be accidental. The whole piece is narrated by He's son, whom we never meet in person throughout the entire movie. Why? That is one of the many, many questions this movie leaves behind. The main character seems to be some kind of Chinese Forrest Gump (there are actually a couple of references to this movie). So, in the first act, He Anxia acts more like a retard, who is overwhelmed by the modern world he sets foot in for the first time. Unfortunately, as the movie progresses, the development of his character is completely left behind. More and more people enter and leave the scenery, as if this was a bus-station, not a movie. Likewise, new plot lines open up, only to be dropped immediately, and the whole thing becomes more and confusing. The title-giving "Monk, coming down the mountain" finds himself sidelined, as the story progresses. One cannot say, what came first, but as the movie falls apart dramatically, it also loses its way tone wise. What started more like a screwball comedy, turns into a mystical martial-arts piece and ends up as a gangster- movie. For absolutely no reason, there even is full CGI-sequence with monkey in the jungle. It has absolutely no coherence whatsoever. On the plus side, there are some beautiful shots and the fight- scenes do have some special moments. There is a glimpse of a potentially good movie here and there. It's a pity, that these glimpses haven't been brought to shine in this case. Kaige Chen is a fantastic director, but this movie feels lazy, unambitious and is not a great example of Chinese movie-making.

4/10 - Minor spoilers are present that should not ruin anything out of the plot line.This is not a movie I would recommend to anyone who likes movies and want a "proper" movie to watch for a night.What should be added is: This movie is highly suitable for moviebuffs or those who teach in an area related to cinema. Those areas in the movie that are well made are really well made. Those areas that fail are clear and obvious, marking out their presence and their impact on the movie. The highs are high and the lows are really bloody low. The movie still retains a grain of interest. This is a big budget movie.Pro's • Those who scouted for locations earned 1 of those stars. • Prop, costumes and wardrobe earned another one. • Those who made the special effects earned yet another one. • Lastly the classical plot and earned a mentioning. • Chen Chang & Aaron Kwok (Yin and Yang) as well as Wah Yuen also deserves a mentioning as they made solid performances despite what I'll share next. Also note that the budget wasn't small, that much is clear.Con's • The (far, very far) over the top martial arts (wirework a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) simply was not good and did a HUGE disservice to the movie. Same with the magical (or energetic if you prefer) additions. It detracted one star - so bad and big was the impact of it (i very rarely detract stars).• The dialogue was out of place a lot of the time, but it felt construed (allmost as if someone had rewritten it completely, tampered with it from the beginning to the end).• Like in Hollywoods older days, explosions were put in for the sake of explosions, actually making some parts as when Chang & Kwok met more of a showpiece for the studio and what they can do rather than a needed addition to the movie.• The time of events (mixing modern warfare with classical martial arts did not work with the over the top effects).• Some of the moments did simply not line up and the rationality of the characters were out of place.• There were also jumps in time which were not smoothly done.• There was really badly done symbolism in it, forcing and as far as i know partly misinforming the viewer. Do not get me wrong, i like when these kinds of movies use symbolism (like recently Mr. Six) and the cinematography can be really effective and complimentary to the story - but it isn't here, due to how it was implemented. *To give one example; when Zhou bring a pillar of water up and knocks out Pengs effort. -Just having the courtyard contain water and some open plated fires (for one reason or another) could have allowed the same fight to take place without wireworks and over the top cgi effects.• The clear moviereferences baked in were out of place, if you do not even recognise the Matrix references please do not comment in this thread. - Drawing connotations to modern sci-fi in a classical martial arts film is just wrong. If the point is to say that Matrix lent from martial arts movies I do not think anyone in the world previously missed that.• And not to forget, an out of the blue circumcision near the start. Genital mutilation of men (or women) should be done by individuals when they are old enough to rule themselves, or give informed consent and take the action to visit a doctor by themselves (excluding when deformities are present etc).• So if you are someone who is interested in movies this is a must see, you will take a lot from it - both good and bad. This would be a perfect movie to use if you teach in a related subject as it has extremely well done areas mixed with extremely badly matched and done areas, but not much within the middle. It is rare in that way (yes there are similar movies but they are usually not this well done in other aspects and it's not as clear how bad impact some elements have).• Some moments could easily have been movie magic (to give two examples); The fight at the start (easily could have been something else with the exact same setting) but without the forced effects. The sweeping with the broom.

The only thing that deserves a bit of praise are some of the effects and kung fu scenes, but even those are a stretch to say the least.This movie is absolutely awful, and its awfulness increases as the so called "plot" progresses. JUST KIDDING, there is no plot, even a child can write such a horrendous story. The relations between characters are almost non existing. The movie does not follow the audience's pace at all, for some times the pace is so off that you feel completely cheated to even pay for this movie. Although advertised as a comedy, the only funny thing was how bad the movie is. Although I cannot give examples, imagine a lower school level story line with sci fi effects made by Michael Bay, add in some really weird elements of homosexuality, adultery, and kungfu and tadaaaaa.Do not watch, as the saying goes "if people tell you something looks and smells like poop so many times, you seriously don't need to eat it", so DO NOT WATCH IT.