The Monkey King is a 2014 Hong Kong-Chinese action-fantasy film directed by Soi Cheang and starring Donnie Yen as the titular protagonist Sun Wukong. Donnie Yen also serves as the film's action director. The film co-stars Donald Chow, Aaron Kwok, Joe Chen and Peter Ho. Production began in Beijing on 18 October 2010 and was filmed in 3D. The plot is based on an episode of Journey to the West, a 16th-century Chinese literary classic written in the Ming Dynasty by Wu Cheng'en. It was released on 31 January 2014 and received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel, titled The Monkey King 2, was released in February 2016. Plot During an attack on Heaven, the Bull Demon King battles and loses against the Jade Emperor, the ruler of Heaven. The Emperor's sister and Bull Demon King's lover, Princess Iron Fan, convinces the Emperor to spare him and banishes him, Princess Iron Fan, and the rest of the demons to Flaming Mountain. The goddess Nüwa sacrifices her body to rebuild Heaven with crystals. The Jade Emperor appoints his nephew Erlang Shen to guard the Southern Gate, despite Erlang's resentment of the task. One of the crystals falls to Mount Huaguo, taking the form of a monkey over time. A nine-tailed fox is scarred after touching the crystal and whisked away by a mysterious force. Years later, the monkey is taken in and trained by Subhuti, naming him Sun Wukong. The Bull Demon King plans to invade heaven again by using Wukong and preying on Erlang's anger towards the Jade Emperor. Erlang agrees to help the Demon King in exchange for getting to kill his uncle and take Heaven's throne. The plan is kept secret from Princess Iron Fan, who is pregnant with the Demon King's child. Wukong travels to the palace of the Dragon King to find weapons for the Mount Huaguo monkeys. After defeating the Dragon King, Wukong becomes intrigued by a staff planted in the sea. He removes it, causing a violent storm. The Bull Demon King asks a young Vixen if she'd like to meet her old friend again. She is revealed to be the nine-tailed fox and the Demon King as the force that whisked her away, claiming to have saved her life. After the Dragon King informs Heaven of Wukong's destruction, Erlang sends Nezha to arrest him. The Vixen, who reveals her name to be Ruxue,