New Age Artists

Chapter 662: Problem Child Jiang Liuer

Shen Santong's attitude towards the original version of "The Return of the Great Sage" is to take its essence, remove its dross, and expand the worldview.

The original version was groundbreaking and of great significance to animated films.

Some of the passages are quite interesting too.

However, Shen Santong was not very fond of the kernel and made some changes.

The Monkey King is not the character from the original Monkey King: Hero is Back , nor is he endowed with complex “human” traits.

Try to make it both consistent with the original work and have modern characteristics.

The Monkey King in the original novel is the perfect protagonist template, full of youthfulness.

Reading the original 100-chapter version, one can clearly feel that the author treats the Monkey King like his own son.

Breath of life, innocent, caring for the weak, yet a little reckless and impulsive.

The Monkey King’s personality cannot be said to be perfect, but he is liked and admired by everyone.

The part about the country of monks best reflects the character traits of the Great Sage, it is very adorable.

Facing those mountain gods and land gods, he was truly extremely cruel and vicious, just like the great devil five hundred years ago.

He is like an older brother to the children in cages.

Why do so many people like the Monkey King?
Because it was well shaped.

From the beginning, he was a self-reliant and willful demon king, but after experiencing the journey to the West to cultivate his mind, he became the Fighting Buddha who could convert the souls of the dead and change the structure of hell just by his auspicious aura.

As for this classic story that has been passed down, Shen Santong did not know if he had the talent to surpass the original, so he did not add anything extra.

In his setting, the Monkey King five hundred years later, even if he became a Buddha and had experienced five hundred years of fighting, his nature would remain unchanged.

So this version of the Monkey King is similar to the role of Jiang Liuer in the original version.

Mature and stable inside, but still retains innocence and courage.

The movie enters the formal plot.

first part.

Scene 1, problem child Jiang Liuer.

The sky in Chang'an was clear blue, except for three dark clouds in the distance.

From afar came the sound of strange children's songs.

It is full of childishness, but also has a bit of "forced sadness for the sake of writing new words". He thinks he is mature, but in fact he is still a child.

"I am the great devil, the golden hoop will break the sky!"

"The Jade Emperor crawls under the table, and the Dragon King leads the horse."

"Catch a star and smash it on Lingshan Mountain. Bang! Shatter the Bodhisattva's lotus boat!"

As the nursery rhyme plays, the camera angle moves downward.

The West Market in Chang'an City is full of various business activities.

There were people selling wontons, juggling, and a troupe performing shadow puppetry.

There were crowds of people, including peddlers, storytellers in teahouses, and rice and cloth shops.

The sun was looming.

When it came to Tong Yao's second line, the camera turned to a little monk about seven years old lying on the roof of a green-tiled house, and it was obvious that he was singing.

Shen Santong made some changes compared to the original model.

Because he is a young monk, his bald head has not changed.

His face is round with round eyes, and when he grins, he is missing a front tooth, making his expression more natural and cute, yet also a little rebellious.

He was wearing a short, grey-brown monk's robe with patches all over the knees and buttocks, and a faded rag monkey tied with a hemp rope around his waist.

Jiang Liuer was lying lazily on the tile roof, holding a piece of dogtail grass in his mouth, and his crossed legs were swinging back and forth.

Totally unruly.

We can tell from the weird songs he made up that he dares to make up songs for Bodhisattvas, so he is no ordinary monk.

Jiang Liuer jumped up and down, causing the tiles to shake and making a crisp sound.

"Which bastard is tearing down the tile roof? Get down right there!" Under the eaves hung a sign of "Chen Ji Tao Su". The old bridesmaid was holding a feather duster, furious.

However, there was nothing on the roof, and Jiang Liuer had already slipped away.

Below is a set of dynamic long shots.

Jiang Liuer, holding a puppet of the Monkey King, was running on the roof accompanied by the sound of acrobatics and singing. The stones he stepped on hit the head of the blind fortune teller below.

The frightened old Taoist hurriedly picked up the dustpan, but knocked the banner down, and the fallen banner fell in front of three young women who were shopping.

The three young women were frightened and staggered. One of them had candied plums in her mouth. Her throat was choked and she spat out the plums.

The spitted plum fell into the bowl of a man who was eating wonton. The man was startled at first and stepped back, causing the chef who was cooking to have his face blackened by the smoke from the stove. However, when the man looked in the direction of the plum, he was delighted.

Jiang Liuer ran along the street, imitating the voice of a storyteller: "Hey! Wait till I, Old Sun, overturn this Lingxiao Palace!"

The sudden movement startled the stonemason who was carving the stone sculpture. He didn't control the strength well and broke the lion ball.

This plot borrows from the original version and also sets up foreshadowing in a light-hearted and carefree manner.

The audience's perspective was shifted from the lofty battle between gods and demons to the streets of Chang'an, focusing on the seven-year-old child Jiang Liuer.

Shen Santong likes to approach the story from the perspective of ordinary people, laying out the story line bit by bit, rather than escalating it on its own.

In terms of the historical background, it did not follow the historical timeline, but created a brand new world after Journey to the West. Five hundred years later, it was still the Tang Dynasty.

The biggest change is in Jiang Liuer's character, which is almost the opposite of the original version. Jiang Liuer has become a problem child.

The movie continues.

Act Two, the “Big Devil” Monkey King.

The running Jiang Liuer has his own destination, which is to go to watch the shadow play.

The content of the shadow play is his favorite story of the Monkey King.

He likes to listen to stories about strong people, especially the stories about the "big devil" Monkey King.

In the west alley of Chang'an, a three-foot white cloth was set up under a locust tree.

The shadow puppeteer held a straw in his mouth and three bamboo sticks between his fingers, making the shadow of the monkey-faced creature look like it was waving its claws and baring its teeth.

"Let's talk about the stone monkey who was born. He didn't worship heaven and earth or respect gods!"

A golden-armored monkey jumped out from the cloth and stabbed through the paper-made Lingxiao Palace with a stick. The Jade Emperor's shadow shrank into a ball and rolled under the table.

"You're too gentle! The Secret Records of Heaven says that he braided the Jade Emperor's beard into a braid!" Jiang Liuer somehow got in.

"Little monk, go away!"

The craftsman glared at him, but with a poke of the bamboo stick, the monkey actually grabbed the Jade Emperor's long beard and tied it into a bow, which caused the audience to laugh.

On the journey to the West, Xuanzang is twirling his Buddhist beads.

"The monkey handed me tea and rubbed my shoulders, smiling flatteringly like a waiter in a tavern."

The craftsman pushed Jiang Liu'er down, stretched his voice thinly, and on the cloth, the Monkey King was half-kneeling with a peach in his hand.

"Demons from outside the realm? They are just guard dogs raised by Sun Wukong!"

Jiang Liuer stamped his feet behind the curtain and touched other people's paints. Before he was kicked out, he shouted, "Keeping it next to the alchemy furnace in Tushita Palace! It's written in Volume 3 of Lingshan Debate Commentary!"

Even after being driven away, he held up his puppet and swore: "The Monkey King is invincible."

It looks like fans in later generations holding signs for their idols.

The story of the Monkey King told by the shadow puppet troupe is different from the traditional Monkey King.

The story of the Monkey King was seriously distorted and tampered with five hundred years after Journey to the West.

From the birth of Sun Wukong, the demon king who relied on his own abilities and acted arbitrarily made countless mistakes;

After being conferred Bi Ma Wen by the Heavenly Court, he had an extraordinary desire for power and position, and constantly wanted to rise to the top;

Later, he got what he wanted. The journey to the West was a career gilding, allowing the Monkey King to obtain the fruition in a short period of time.
Suppressing the extraterritorial rifts is just an excuse for the Monkey King to seize power. The Monkey King deliberately created and exaggerated the extraterritorial threats and even colluded with the devil.

The Monkey King took advantage of the crisis to consolidate his power, suppress opponents, eliminate dissidents, and promote his cronies.

The film deconstructs the image of the Monkey King from a conspiracy theory perspective, which is full of the bizarre temperament of historical tampering and folk rumors.

Behind these stories, there are full of characteristics of stories in the corners of Lingshan Mountain and under the Jade Emperor's bed, and they are supported by fictional historical materials such as "Secret Records of Heaven" and "Commentary on the Lingshan Debate".

The purpose of stigmatization was achieved through various tricks such as tampering with historical materials, taking things out of context, and making malicious remarks.

The relevant scale is well grasped.

It is talking about the stone monkey demon monkey, who is at most the Monkey King, and does not mention the Fighting Buddha, who has the power of attaining enlightenment.

The stigmatized story gave the Monkey King the characteristics of a "tragic hero".

Here, the source of Jiang Liuer's weird song and the Monkey King he worships are explained, which seems to be wrong.

Jiang Liuer worships the "big devil" Monkey King, and likes to study the secret of how he "successfully" rose to power.

It also further demonstrates Jiang Liuer's personality traits.

Shen Santong endowed Jiang Liuer with distorted values ​​and a sense of decadence.

What he worshipped was not the majestic Monkey King who could exorcise demons or monsters, nor was it a hero, but the Monkey King's status, power and fighting ability.

Jiang Liuer doesn't want to be a hero, he just wants to have the status of a hero.

The kids in the cinema, like Jiang Liuer, were playing and frolicking.

Adults can appreciate the story inside, which seems to contain many metaphors.

The theme of The Return of the Great Sage begins from this moment.

The Monkey King, who fought against heaven and earth and exhausted his essence for the sake of billions of living beings, has been severely distorted, severely deconstructed, and is covered in dirty water.

Is this right?
Since it is wrong, the real Monkey King should return.

There is no problem with motivation and logic.

Regarding metaphor, Shen Santong has downplayed it, but it is inevitable.

It is similar to belittling Qin Shi Huang, Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang. The people they want to belittle are not them, but have other purposes.

The same is true of the image of the Monkey King, which is unavoidable.

Shen Santong tried his best to bury what he wanted to say in the story, paying more attention to the plot of the film and focusing on Jiang Liuer's growth instead of letting it steal the show and leaving room for interpretation to the audience.

The movie continues.

Act Three, Jiang Liuer's life experience.

Jiang Liuer, who was driven out of the shadow puppet troupe, waved his "golden hoop" and played with the puppy.

While running, Jiang Liuer bumped into the old monk and immediately calmed down.

Like a mouse seeing a cat, his tone also softened: "Master."

The old monk looked at his wooden bowl, then looked at Jiang Liu'er who was dressed as Sun Wukong, and said helplessly: "Liu'er, what are you doing?"

Jiang Liuer didn't dare to talk nonsense in front of the old monk, but he still said perfunctorily: "I'm begging for alms."

At this time, someone donated a penny, and Jiang Liuer immediately became excited. He loved money the most, and he chanted a sincere Buddhist name to the donor who was walking away.

The old monk saw this and felt even more exhausted. He warned him, "Liu'er, I just hope you can be down-to-earth. I can't take care of you forever."

As he spoke, he wiped off the Monkey King makeup on Jiang Liuer's face and fell into reminiscence.

The camera inserted into the past scenes and introduced Jiang Liuer's miserable life experience.

many years ago.

The old monk Fa Ming was drinking water when a child floated down from the river. This was the young Jiang Liuer.

On a mountain road, a group of people were moving in a hurry. Jiang Liuer's parents were among them and were attacked by a mountain monster.

The father died in battle first, and the mother jumped off a cliff under the siege of mountain monsters.

As a child, Jiang Liuer watched a horrific scene as his parents were killed by a mountain monster. This directly affected Jiang Liuer's body and mind, causing him to become withdrawn and perverse.

Because of fear, he has a desire for power that is far beyond that of ordinary people, and he is extremely eager to become stronger and become a strong man.

This part of the plot is the same as the original, but some locations have been moved, and some changes have been made to the character modeling of the original.

The original character, at least in Shen Santong's aesthetic, has a weird vibe, a bit wretched, and elongated eyes.

When making facial expressions, especially those that require mobilizing emotions, they are particularly strange and superficial.

The movie continues.

Act 4, The Tyrant King.

Jiang Liuer followed his master to beg for alms, but he couldn't move when passing by a teahouse because the storyteller was telling the story of "The Tyrant of Heaven".

There were tea stains in the cracks of the wooden tables in the old teahouse.

The storyteller slapped the wooden stick, shaking the copper kettle so that white mist came out. "Last time, we talked about how the tyrant Great Sage eliminated dissidents in the name of fighting the devil. Anyone who did not kneel down was denounced as a demon's accomplice. His trusted followers were all high-ranking officials, and many loyal and honest people were demoted to foot soldiers."

"Issuing orders while stepping on the devil's head."

Jiang Liuer leaned against the door frame and swallowed his saliva, unwilling to follow the old monk.

The tea drinkers were cracking melon seeds and laughing while the storyteller tapped his bamboo clapper and recited a passage.

"The golden armor cracked, the Buddhist seal twisted into a wicked smile, the stick pierced through the trembling giant spirit, and the tyrant said: There is a demon here, so there must be a demon!"

"The golden hoop suddenly pierced the top of a disobedient bodhisattva's head, using it to intimidate the gods and Buddhas. He looked around and asked: This is the devil, who objects?"

The storyteller used a metaphor, the Tyrant of Heaven, who was obviously the Monkey King.

In his mouth, the Great Sage is actually a shrewd opportunist. From the Demon King to the Fighting Buddha, his methods are nothing more than killing as a ladder and hypocrisy as a boat.

Jiang Liuer was so engrossed in what he was hearing that the old monk pulled him by the collar and muttered, "Nonsense."

Among the tea drinkers, a young man took a sip of tea and said applaudably: "Now I don't believe in anything, I just want to make more money."

"The tutelary fort said that if someone is infected with evil spirits, they will turn into monsters. Not only will they hurt others, but they will also die easily. They also said that evil spirits are rising, so everyone can only stay at home and cannot go out, work, or do anything else."

"What's that foreign demon?" The man dressed as the accountant echoed, "Look at the Western Paradise, in the pure land of Lingshan Mountain. You can eat and drink as you like, and you don't have to worry about anything."

The fat man in the loose blue clothes wiped his mouth and said, "The old scholar is right! The Great Sage was also born in Lingshan! Are you, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, going against Lingshan? There is singing and dancing at the foot of Lingshan, but we in Chang'an have to lock up the door and put people out?" The young man who spoke first concluded, "So the Great Sage Equaling Heaven or the demons are all liars! There has never been any demonic energy, and there are no demons from outside the domain. Anyway, no one has ever seen them. If you don't do this, there won't be any problems."

A middle-aged man in a green shirt echoed: "At worst, we can coexist. Lingshan in the West can do that, so why can't the Tang Dynasty in the East?"

Some people also said objectively: "Even if there is demonic influence, it is outside the domain and outside the sky. The problem of the proliferation of monsters is right in front of us."

Your words and my words confirmed that the Great Sage's fight against the extraterritorial demons was just an excuse to seize power.

The extraterritorial rift was released by the Monkey King in order to satisfy his personal desire for power, who took the initiative to break the extraterritorial space. He was the one who attracted the extraterritorial demons, and it was the Monkey King and the garrison that caused everyone to suffer from a bad life.

A scarred man disagreed: "I have been escorting for more than ten years. We are the safest here. The Monkey King is a hero, and the garrison is also protecting us."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar.

Provoked sneers and insults.

"Haha, another lackey, another lackey!"

"I'm crazy about becoming an official!"

Anyone who has a different opinion will be immediately besieged, so that even those who have a different opinion dare not speak out.

The scarred man was so angry that his beard stood up straight. He threw down a few copper coins and left.

"Let's go, Liu'er." The old monk felt the same as Mingjing, these people were organized.

There are quite a few people who support the Monkey King. When the topic came to this, some people were already paying their bills in the teahouse.

But the shopkeeper did not stop them, which shows that they were not making money from tea.

"No!"

Jiang Liuer stood up and opposed those who slandered the Monkey King: "Mountain monsters are scary and they eat people! Who killed the pig monster in Grandma Liu's house in West Market half a month ago? It was the monster hunter from the garrison! And the Monkey King is the great devil who stands tall and proud!"

The appearance of the "great devil who stands tall and proud" shocked many people, especially the old monk.

Ok.

Jiang Liuer is not against these stories, but against "degrading the Monkey King."

He does not think that the Monkey King in the stories of conspiracy and stigma is negative, he thinks they are all heroic deeds.

The movie continues.

It further depicts Jiang Liuer's distorted values.

The broom-carrying man drove the master and his apprentice away. Jiang Liuer asked the old monk, "Master, do we become monks just to fill our stomachs? Then how can we become stronger? What's the difference between us and ordinary people?"

"What ordinary people are? They are all ordinary people. We are also ordinary people."

The old monk corrected Jiang Liuer's obviously distorted worldview: "Begging for alms is just the beginning of becoming a great monk. You need to meditate, chant sutras, and practice Zen."

"Meditation, chanting, and Zen." Jiang Liuer was tired of hearing them.

"Not arrogant or impatient, and at ease. Don't you think your teacher is doing well now?"

As he spoke, the big toe of his right foot emerged from the rotten shoe.

Jiang Liuer raised his own doubts: "There are mountain monsters outside, can't chanting sutras drive them away?"

The old monk asked: "What do you want to do?"

Jiang Liuer took out the Monkey King puppet, his eyes gleaming with determination: "I want to learn how to beat the mountain monsters with my fists and feet. I want to be the chief garrison commander. I want to be the number one person under the Monkey King!"

Jiang Liuer wants to become an immortal, a god, and a Buddha, but due to what happened when he was born, his heart is like a hedgehog.

I always fantasize about being able to overpower someone and kill a monster with just one finger.

It will be a success!

I don't care if countless people die! As long as it's not me who dies, that's enough!
Jiang Liuer became more and more excited as he spoke, jumping up and down, firmly believing that the Great Sage would command the three realms and rule the world.

All the Jade Emperor and Buddha had to obey him, and he, Jiang Liuer, had to be the great guardian of the human race, second only to the Great Sage and above everyone else!

Jiang Liuer, who has liked darkness, depth and cruelty since childhood, has great respect for the "big devil" Monkey King.

Bang!
"Shut up!"

The old monk swung a stick from the sky and hit Jiang Liuer on the head.

The beating hurt a lot.

Passersby and the guards of the Demon Suppression Bureau were stunned. The mother with the child covered her daughter's eyes. The blacksmith accidentally hit his own hand.

"No, Master."

The old monk crushed Jiang Liuer's ambition to become a big guard with a stick, and he immediately surrendered and wailed: "Master, I will listen to you."

The old monk took the opportunity to teach him a lesson: "Jiang Liuer, listen carefully."

The master called out his full name, which gave Jiang Liuer a startle.

"We monks want to save all living beings. We must start with small things, concentrate on meditation, Zen, and alms."

"One flower, one world, one leaf, one Bodhi."

"This is how I know, this is how I see, this is how I believe and understand."

Jiang Liuer was almost sleepy after reading this.

“Everything is an illusion.”

The puppy dozed off.

"You make your own destiny, and your appearance is determined by your heart."

The owl almost fell from the tree.

"One stupid thought leads to the end of prajna, so stop fighting and killing all the time."

The old monk asked: "What should you do now?"

Jiang Liuer said perfunctorily: "I know, chant the sutras and meditate."

"Wrong, you should continue begging for alms." The old monk slapped him on the butt.

"Yes, Master." Jiang Liuer didn't dare to talk back for the time being.

These few things gradually established Jiang Liuer's image as a problem child.

Compared to the original version, Shen Santong swapped the core characters of Jiang Liuer and the Monkey King.

Shen Santong gave Jiang Liuer the character traits of the original Monkey King.

Confused, fragile, decadent and self-enclosed, avoiding responsibility, without a sense of power, full of inner struggle and longing for strength.

The three views are distorted and full of utilitarianism.

The plot theme of this play has also emerged.

Shen Santong also swapped the relationship between the Monkey King and Jiang Liuer.

Let the Monkey King be Jiang Liuer’s “mentor”.

The original version had Jiang Liuer teach the Monkey King. Even though Jiang Liuer used the identity of Tang Monk, Shen Santong did not approve.

The image of the Monkey King is not just the Monkey King.

The modern image of the Monkey King has a revolutionary sacredness.

Even if it is endowed with "humanity", it cannot be decadent.

Moreover, in Chinese mythology, the boundary between humans and gods is not clear-cut. It is not a residential boundary, but a class boundary.

In Chinese mythology, people can become gods through practice. If gods make mistakes, they will become humans or even receive more severe punishments.

Therefore, "humanity" and "divinity" are not contradictory.

In shaping the image of the Monkey King, Shen Santong was extremely cautious.

He did not dare, and could not, portray the Monkey King as confused and fragile.

The more you study, the more you will be in awe.

In Shen Santong's heart, he may be confused and fragile, but not the Monkey King. It is completely ignorant and fearless to try to project his own weakness and entanglement onto the Monkey King.

Even from a purely commercial and profit perspective, it is not a good choice.

The biggest star in "The Return of the Great Sage" is not the director. The same is true for Shen Santong's version. His appeal is amazing, but he is still not as good as the Monkey King.

People have self-knowledge.

Shen Santong believes that he still has some.

There are too many unreasonable parts and unreasonable plots in the original version.

Changan's defense is lax and poor, and the characters are all unreasonable.

In particular, the character design of the Monkey King completely deviates from the original work and the Monkey King’s underlying spiritual characteristics.

Whether it is the Monkey King in Journey to the West or the Monkey King in modern memory, they are not the same as the original.

But everyone still finds excuses for "The Return of the Great Sage". Why?
Because that is the Monkey King!

If you change the character IP, the original movie may not fail, but the box office will be at most 100 or 200 million.

In other words, if you make a movie about The Monkey King, as long as you have a little bit of skill, you can increase the results five or six times.

This is the power of the Monkey King’s image and also its narrative advantage.

Even if it deviates from everyone's impression of the character, everyone is willing to accommodate it.

In this regard, Nezha is far from the foundation of the Monkey King.

From this we can see how powerful Jiaozi is and how smooth the plot of Jiaozi's story is.

After "Nezha 2", some people said that if "Monkey King 2" was released, it would be able to replicate the box office of "Nezha 2".

It’s such a beautiful thought.

If it were at the original level, tens or even hundreds of billions would be good, and that's still thanks to the Monkey King.

In fact, Shen Santong feels that it is difficult to make more than ten billion. As time goes by, the audience will become more sensitive to the external narrative influence in the subject matter.

The success of the original "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" was not mainly due to the quality of the picture. "Deep Blue Sea" was very technically advanced and of very high quality, but its box office was less than 10 billion.

"Deep Sea" is a movie from 23, and its box office performance cannot compare to that of "The Monkey King" from 15. This is because the director has created a filter that makes domestic animated films shine.

When the tide recedes, we can see who is swimming naked. In the final analysis, the audience supports Monkey King more than the light of animation.

Shen Santong's version of "The Return of the Great Sage" wants it all, including the Great Sage IP and the blessing of the light of domestic animation.

So Jiang Liuer became the one who was confused and decadent, and the story was advanced through Jiang Liuer's perspective and character arc.

The camera turned.

The raindrops fell on the leaves, and the water flowed gurglingly.

Mountain goblins are gathering outside the city.

Jiang Liuer followed his master to find a place to shelter from the rain, and the rain soaked their clothes.

"Meow." I met a tabby cat also hiding from the rain.

Jiang Liuer called the tabby cat into the eaves.

Saving the cat shows that Jiang Liuer still has kindness despite his distorted values.

After wandering around, the master and disciple hid under the eaves behind the inn.

I found that several people who had just been in the inn were collecting money.

However, there was no young person who took the lead, but there were a few people who seemed to have not stood out but were in control of the topic.

Jiang Liuer heard what they were discussing.

"Why are you scolding the Monkey King? He didn't provoke us."

"Who cursed the Monkey King?"

"The Monkey King is a million miles away from us, but some people are right before our eyes."

"Throwing insults at someone else!"

On the surface, he was cursing the Monkey King, but in reality, he was pointing his sword at the garrison that governed the Demon Suppression Division and the Monster Suppression Division, as well as the Tang Dynasty.

The garrison is blocking the way of too many people. Only by demolishing the garrison can we take power.

In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to trip up the naval base.

If the tutelage wins one victory after another, how will power come into my hands?
Even though the Demon Suppression Department and the Monster Suppression Department of the Garrison are related to billions of lives, unless there is a major chaos, what is the reason to seize power?

"What a troubled time."

The old monk sighed and quietly took Jiang Liuer away. This matter could be a big deal or a small one.

Shen Santong did not depict the dark side too much, or reflect anything, he was more about creating contrasting jokes, so that children can be entertained and adults can also see the depth.

"Great Sage!"

The person who just distributed the money suddenly saw a mountain monster appear in the distance and exclaimed, "Where is the monster exorcist? Where is the garrison?"

Working illegally is a job, but when something really happens, these people know who to rely on and who they can depend on.

In the cinema.

The children see the retribution in this life and feel happy about it.

Adults can also see what they want to see and think deeply about it.

The theme and main line of the film gradually become clear.

Jiang Liuer's worldview has become even more distorted because of his tragic life experience, inner trauma, and the stigmatized story of the Monkey King.

In this situation, it is reasonable for the Monkey King to come and save the world.

The stigma against the Monkey King should be washed away, so that the Monkey King’s spirit can return and Jiang Liuer can achieve self-salvation.

Jiang Liuer is "me". It is "me" who needs the Monkey King. It is not "me" who saves the Monkey King. It is the Monkey King who saves "me".

Jiang Liuer represents every ordinary person. He needs the salvation of the Monkey King, rather than him saving the Monkey King. The spiritual power of the Monkey King will help Jiang Liuer achieve self-salvation.

At this point, the core of the movie is completely different from the original.

But Shen Santong's ambition goes far beyond this.

(End of this chapter)