The American version of "Journey to the West" has polarized reputations at home and abroad: Wukong gave birth to a son, and the queen mother wore a slip dress

As we all know, Chinese mythological IP has always been the sweet potato of film and television adaptations.

Among them, "Journey to the West" is the most, TV series, movies, animations, online dramas, and Internet universities, all of which have been filmed in many versions.

Until now, various adaptations and remakes are still emerging.

So much so that some netizens said: "Let go of Brother Monkey, Brother Monkey's hair has been stripped away." ”

Not only domestically, but also abroad, this classic IP remake has been made a lot.

For example, the upcoming animated movie list announced by Netflix includes "The Monkey King" produced by "Star" Stephen Chow.

This foreign version of Journey to the West has a huge investment, and it is said that the production cost is 150 million US dollars, about 1 billion yuan.

Unexpectedly, after the stills were released, many netizens said that compared with the classic image of the Monkey King, the Netflix version of Brother Monkey is too ugly, like the "horse monkey version of the Great Saint".

It is not only Netflix that has been scolded, but also Disney.

After "The Little Mermaid" encountered an epic Waterloo, it was scolded for a series related to Journey to the West-

"Journey to the West ABC"

The play aired in late May, and although it is based on Wu Chengen's works, it is actually adapted from the manga "Meisheng Chinese" by Chinese-American author Yang Jinlun.

The ABC in the title of the play is the acronym of American Born Chinese, which refers to Chinese children born in the United States.

The play tells the story of Wang Jin, an ordinary Chinese teenager who grew up in the United States, and after meeting his new classmate Sun Weichen at school, he accidentally got involved in the battle between the gods in Chinese mythology.

As early as 2022, the show was popular before it was broadcast.

In addition to the popularity of "rubbing" the westward journey, it is also because Disney has gathered the strongest team of Asian Americans in Hollywood.

Wu Yanzu plays Sun Wukong and Michelle Yeoh plays Guanyin.

Wu Hanzhang plays the Jade Emperor, Qian Xinyi plays Jigong, Ouyang Wancheng plays the East Sea Dragon King, and Xu Weilun plays Shiji Niangniang.

Guan Jiwei, Huang Jinghan, and Yang Yanyan also played important roles in the play, including Lu Yan also made a cameo appearance.

Many of the above actors have starred in "Instantaneous Universe", which can also be regarded as a crew building.

In addition, the writing and directing team of this drama is also very luxurious, with a total of 7 directors.

Among them, Destin Crichton is also the director of "Shang Qi", and Liu Yuling, who has performed brilliantly in "Deadly Woman", is also one of the directors of the play.

With such a strong creative lineup, it is obvious that Disney is going to enlarge its moves.

Unexpectedly, under the high attention, it is a polarized evaluation, and the word of mouth at home and abroad is in sharp contrast.

The domestic Douban score directly failed, and now it has dropped all the way to 5.7 points.

In the short evaluation area, there are voices from all sides, and the most popular evaluations are basically all kinds of fierce group ridicule.

"A group of Chinese who are not Chinese filmed a Chinese mythological story that is not a Chinese myth."

"After watching four episodes, it is simply superb, and the Chinese mythology story is incidental."

Some netizens even scolded directly:

"It's the worst and most embarrassing Westward Journey drama I've ever seen, and there is no one."

"The script is too weak (intellectual)."

Another part of netizens took the opposite attitude and praised it very bluntly.

"It's quite good-looking, I originally thought that the combination of Westward Journey + Meigao would be very thunderous, but in fact, it is very well integrated."

"The mythological part is quite interesting, the high-saturation and low-resolution Hong Kong film filter is intentional, and you can watch the scene."

"The overall play is very relaxed, and even the second half is filled with some absurd nonsense of the taste of old Hong Kong films."

Overseas word-of-mouth is very different, IMDB 7.2, MTC 72 points, Rotten Tomatoes freshness even reached 96%.

Most netizens gave praise:

"The fight scenes full of tension make the martial arts movie genre update and iterate again, imagine Stephen Chow in "Kung Fu"."

"Overall, the play shows in a fun and imaginative way what it's like to live in two different worlds, whether it's the children of immigrants or the children of the Great Sage."

"The wonderful script, keen observation of Asian teenagers, as well as rich martial arts fight scenes, and superb cast drama make this drama fast-paced and addictive."

Recalling "Shang Qi" directed by the director of the play, the evaluation at home and abroad is also very different.

Domestic Douban just passed, foreign praise rave reviews.

Rotten Tomatoes freshness 91%, audience rating 98%, IMDB rating 7.4.

So, why is the reputation of "Journey to the West ABC" polarized?

Let's start with the plot and make a judgment.

The protagonist of this drama is actually Wang Jin, an Asian high school student.

Wang Jin is introverted and inferior, and is a Chinese teenager who wants to integrate into American high school life.

However, white classmates often joked about him, and although Wang Jin felt uncomfortable, in order not to be excluded, he silently suffered the pain caused by racial discrimination and school bullying.

Until the arrival of transfer student Sun Weichen.

Sun Weichen is the son of Sun Wukong, his personality is completely different from Wang Jin, and he is a confident and brave second generation of immortals.

The reason why he became Wang Jin's high school classmate was because the other party was his guide.

It turned out that Sun Weichen stole the golden hoop rod in order to find the "hidden version" of the scripture that his father retrieved, that is, the fourth scroll, in order to stop the rebellion of the Bull Demon King.

In this way, Wang Jin solved various American problems in high school life with the help of Sun Weichen, while leading him to find the powerful fourth scroll.

In this process of fighting against the Bull Demon King, Wang Jin gradually accepted his Chinese identity and reconciled with himself...

It is not difficult to see from the synopsis that the story is divided into two lines, the main line is Wang Jin's high school student line, and the dark line is Sun Weichen's westward journey line.

The final direction of these two lines is also the main focus of the series.

So, if you come for the two actors Michelle Yeoh and Wu Yanzu, then it is inevitable that there will be some disappointment.

Because whether it is "qiong content" or "ancestral content", it is relatively low.

In addition, the word-of-mouth controversy of the play mainly focuses on the following points:

First of all, it is a portrayal of the gods of Journey to the West.

For example, many people's favorite Monkey King.

Everyone knows that Brother Monkey jumped out of a stone.

In the first episode of the 86th version of "Journey to the West", there was a shot of the monkey king's first appearance, which was shot in Beidaihe.

In "Journey to the West ABC", Brother Monkey not only gave birth to a baby, but also stole the golden hoop stick by the baby as soon as he appeared.

After Sun Wukong obtained the true scripture, didn't the four great ones become Buddhas, and how did they still give birth to babies?

Without the Golden Hoop Stick, Wukong's strength value has also been greatly weakened, which is far from the original Great Sage who still has seventy-two transformations and tendon cloud skills.

Not only that, the bow horse who made a big disturbance in the Heavenly Palace at the Peach Conference was not "blackened", but became a Qi Tian Great Sage with a preparation.

In addition to Sun Wukong, various immortals have also been "devilishly modified".

Guanyin Bodhisattva, not only appeared in platform sandals, but also let Sun Wukong's son learn English well.

She also acts as an intermediary between Sun Wukong's father and son, mediating the contradictions between the two, and the degree of intimacy is comparable to that of the aunt of the neighborhood committee.

The Jade Emperor exposed his derailment in front of the gods and immortals, and the Peach Conference changed into a melon eating conference in seconds.

The queen mother, dressed in a cool slip red dress, became a first-class beautiful host in the control field.

East Sea Dragon King Ao Guang was originally a small carp, and Zhang Dongsheng, who became bald in private.

Everyone has the impression that Junior Brother Sha, who is silent in Mune, has become Junior Sister Sha.

These are nothing, Jigong also mixed into the Westward Journey World.

In the mortal world, he became a waiter working in a Chinese restaurant, sandwiched between Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King.

Adding the Jigong of the Southern Song Dynasty to the westward journey with the background of the Tang Dynasty shows how magical the adaptation of the play in the setting of the gods is.

The Peach Conference is like a big fight in a literary performance.

The new settings of various immortals are destined to step on the thunder point of the domestic audience, and it is inevitable to cause controversy.

Netizens who gave one-star bad reviews all unanimously believed that the play had changed the original book, and Chinese traditional culture had been offended.

Secondly, the portrayal of the villain is somewhat sloppy, the other character changes are also abrupt, and the behavior is illogical.

The villain of the whole drama, the Bull Demon King, was a "wronged brother" with Sun Wukong a long time ago.

He wanted to become the next Yipin Great Sage, but the opportunity was given to a good friend by the Dragon King, and the red-eyed Bull Demon King instantly blackened, and the plastic brotherhood broke off.

It is understandable that the Bull Demon King would be jealous and unwilling, after all, he proposed the project of taking scriptures from the West Heaven in the play.

But later, he wanted to use the golden rod to overthrow the heavenly court and destroy the world, which contradicted the original intention of proposing to learn the scriptures.

The series also does not explain in depth the motives of the Bull Demon King to become a villain, and lacks reasonable plot foreshadowing.

The behavior of the character of the Dragon King also lacks logic.

At the Peach Conference, the Queen Mother was just about to award the Lifetime Achievement Award to the Dragon King, when Goku rushed to the stage and interrupted.

And passionately opened the microphone, spit on everyone present, and made the dragon king lose face.

This complaining not only did not make the Dragon King angry, but was very happy that Goku told the truth and directly gave him the Golden Hoop Rod and the First Pin Great Sage.

However, after the appearance of the Dragon King, he gave the impression that he had a bad temper and commanded his opponents.

Such a dragon king, but was moved by Goku, who met for the first time, and gave him treasures, which is really difficult to persuade.

The transformation before and after the protagonist Wang Jin is also very abrupt.

In particular, the drama also arranged tacky emotional scenes for him, like a male frequency cool text.

He is not good-looking, but the beautiful white female classmate has an inexplicable liking, and finally falls in love with him.

His growth path is also in line with the routine of most cool texts.

First he was bullied and racially challenged, and then he successfully gained identity due to game challenges.

Then there is the issue of production, which is also a point of controversy for many people.

As a fantasy drama with elements of Journey to the West, if the characters and scene effects are delayed, then the look and feel will be much lower.

Judging from the texture of the Monkey King father and son chasing the picture at the beginning of the first episode, although there is still a gap with the top special effects, the look and feel is still good.

It can be seen that its picture style is pursuing oriental aesthetics.

As for the other scenes, it's not so good.

For example, the design of the Tiangong part is not grand at all, but gives people a sense of déjà vu at the junction of urban and rural areas.

Various immortals dressed in modern costumes turned the Peach Festival into the Met Gala.

From the perspective of service, the popular costumes and plastic headdresses in the play make the characters feel tacky and cheap from head to toe.

This is Avalokiteshvara.

This is the Iron Fan Princess.

This is the Jade Face Princess, do you dare to believe that this is the beauty of Journey to the West?

The makeup of Sun Wukong's father and son makes people travel back to 1968's "Planet of the Apes".

Although the play has thunder points, it is not completely without highlights.

For example, the fight between the gods.

The director of this play has directed "Shang Qi".

Aside from other things, several action scenes of "Shang Qi" are still wonderful, such as the bus scene that does not forget the gag in addition to the tension, with the characteristics of old Hong Kong films.

This drama also has a similar fight scene in the forced space, such as the fight scene in the high school corridor, and with the blessing of special effects, the shooting is not bad.

Also, incorporating a lot of nonsensical elements, some bridges are funny and real.

For example, Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King went to participate in the Peach Conference, and encountered a fairy on the way.

Goku is angry: Why did they cut the queue?

The Bull Demon King said in one word: they are leaders.

Jigong's participation in the Peach Conference was stopped by the guards of the South Heavenly Gate, because the Tiangong forbade bringing his own alcohol.

Guanyin Bodhisattva delivered his acceptance speech: Every year I say, next time I will give this award to others.

On the whole, this drama actually tells the growth story of a Chinese teenager in the shell of Journey to the West, portraying the identity dilemma of Chinese in the United States.

This is why overseas Asian audiences will resonate and give high scores, but domestic audiences cannot substitute, it is difficult to resonate, and there is a huge sense of separation.

For example, "Journey to the West ABC" borrows the sub-line of Guan Jiwei to show the identity dilemma faced by Chinese Americans in the United States, and pokes at the pain points of many Chinese audiences.

In the play, he plays an Asian comedian who once relied on sitcoms as a clown and is a household name in the United States.

Thirty years on, the sitcom became popular on the Internet, and one of his lines became a meme, and the embarrassing picture was spoofed into a meme.

The crew reunited, and he chose not to endure this ridicule anymore, but said his heart in public for thirty years.

Also, the portrayal of Wang Jin's family to show the difficulties encountered by the growth of the second generation of Chinese immigrants.

Wang Jin's father has not been promoted after working for many years, and he is embarrassed to speak.

Wang Jin's mother is a budget-conscious housewife with a strong personality and is in charge of everything about her son.

When they reach middle age, they have been smoothed by time, taking away the sharpness that was penniless and brave to the United States.

All that remains is day-to-day life and endless quarrels.

At present, although the show's reputation is polarized, Disney does not plan to stop.

Obviously, this is the first season of "Journey to the West ABC", and the foreshadowing buried at the end of the last episode can be seen.

The Bull Demon King was captured by Sun Wukong and brought to the Jade Emperor for disposal.

After Wang Jin said goodbye to Sun Weichen, he returned home to find that his parents were not there, and an uninvited guest came to the house, the Iron Fan Princess.

She said in a threatening tone:

"Don't you want to see your mom and dad?"

It is clear that the Iron Fan Princess is here for the Bull Demon King.

What the story of the second season will tell, you can guess how many points.

Bluestone Movies | Mei Liqing

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