The Monkey King Netflix Review: Is It Worth Watching?

The Monkey King on Netflix is the 2023 animated take on China’s most retold legend, and I finally sat down with it expecting either a gorgeous surprise or a forgettable dud. It landed somewhere in between.

This is my full review of The Monkey King Netflix movie, and I am giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Let me walk you through what works, what does not, and a few things about it you probably do not know.

What Is The Monkey King About?

The story follows a cocky monkey born from a stone who wants one thing above all: to become a god and live forever. Voiced by Jimmy O. Yang, he snatches a magical, sentient staff from the Dragon King, then sets out to defeat 100 demons to earn his place among the immortals.

Along the way he picks up Lin, a village girl with her own quiet agenda, who becomes the heart of the whole film.

The Monkey King Netflix movie only adapts the first seven chapters of the classic novel Journey to the West, so it works as an origin story, ending right where the famous quest truly begins.

My Review: Is The Monkey King Netflix Movie Worth Watching?

Short version: yes, it is worth a watch, and my 3.5 out of 5 comes down to a film that dazzles the eye more than it grabs the heart.

Here is what I loved:

• The animation is the real star. It is fast, fluid, and packed with detail, and the fight choreography has a bounce most streaming toons cannot touch.
• Bowen Yang steals the movie as the Dragon King, a vain, theatrical villain who gets a ridiculous musical number about moisturizing. It is the funniest thing in the film.
• Stick, the Monkey King’s silent magical staff, is a surprisingly expressive sidekick, and Lin gives the story the emotional core its hero lacks.

And here is what held it back for me:

• The Monkey himself is the weak link. He is loud, arrogant, and his arc from raging ego to humility feels rushed, so it is hard to care about him the way the movie wants you to.
• The Dragon King is the best character and barely gets any screen time, which is a real waste of Bowen Yang.
• It leans on jokes over stakes. The villain is more comedic than threatening, and the plot sprints between goals so fast that nothing gets room to breathe.

It is a satisfying, good-looking watch that does not reinvent anything. If they make a sequel that follows the actual Journey to the West, I would happily press play.

The Monkey King 2023 Cast and Characters

One of the film’s biggest strengths is its cast, a deep bench of Asian American talent. Here are the main voices behind the characters:

• Jimmy O. Yang as the Monkey King
• Bowen Yang as the Dragon King
• Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Lin
• Jo Koy as Benbo
• Ron Yuan as Babbo
• Nan Li as Stick
• BD Wong as Buddha
• Stephanie Hsu as the Mayor’s Wife
• Hoon Lee as the Jade Emperor and the Monk
• Andrew Kishino as King Yama
• Jodi Long as Wangmu, the Queen Mother
• Andrew Pang as the Mayor
• Sophie Wu as the Red Girl and Child Monkey
• Robert Wu as Pigsy
• James Sie as the Elder Monkey
• Dee Bradley Baker as the Baby Monkey King

What the Critics Said

I am not alone in landing in the middle on this one. On Rotten Tomatoes the film sits at 59 percent from critics, with Metacritic close behind at 59 out of 100, which puts it firmly in mixed-to-positive territory rather than must-see or disaster.

The general read from reviewers matched mine. Most praised the energy and the eye-popping animation while noting the story leans on familiar, well-worn archetypes.

The Guardian gave it three stars and called it lively. A few critics felt the visuals were so frenetic they bordered on exhausting, and others pointed out that the central character, one of the most famous figures in Chinese literature, ends up strangely underwritten here.

So if you were wondering whether The Monkey King was a hit or a flop, the honest answer is that it was a solid, mid-tier crowd-pleaser, not a knockout.

Things You Might Not Know About The Monkey King

Even as a fan of the legend, a few of these surprised me while I was digging in.

• The production was a mess behind the scenes. The animation passed between studios, and Tangent Animation shut down partway through before Reel FX’s Montreal team stepped in to finish it.
• Comedy legend Stephen Chow served as an executive producer, lending the project some serious pedigree.
• Director Anthony Stacchi previously co-directed The Boxtrolls, so the offbeat visual sense is no accident.
• It premiered as the closing film of the New York Asian Film Festival before hitting Netflix, and was later on the eligibility list for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, though it did not score a nomination.

Is the Monkey King a God or a Demon?

This question comes up a lot, and the answer is neither, exactly. In the legend and the film, the Monkey King is born from a magic stone as a supernatural being, then spends the whole story clawing his way toward godhood by becoming immortal.

He is a trickster spirit, not a demon, though plenty of gods in the story treat him like one because of the chaos he causes.

And yes, Buddha does stop him. When the Monkey King grows too powerful and drunk on his own strength, Buddha challenges him and traps him beneath a mountain, where he stays for 500 years until a monk, a pig, and a river spirit free him to begin the real Journey to the West.

That is the exact setup for the centuries-old story this movie is based on.

Is The Monkey King Appropriate for Kids?

For the most part, yes. This is a family film through and through, pitched right at kids and the whole household.

There is plenty of fantasy action, some monster peril, and a few scary demons, but nothing graphic or truly disturbing. I would happily put it on for most children around seven and up, and younger kids will likely be fine with a parent nearby for the bigger battle scenes.

Final Verdict

The Monkey King Netflix movie is a gorgeous, breezy, funny adaptation that is absolutely worth a family movie night, especially if you are new to the legend. It just never quite solves the puzzle of making its own hero as likable as everyone around him.

That is why it lands at 3.5 out of 5 for me: a very good time that stops just short of great. Give it a watch and tell me in the comments whether you would rank the Monkey higher or lower than I did.