The Great Sage Equal to Heaven was seen wearing a battle robe wreathed in flames, his entire body blazing like a moving volcano, exuding endless heat and majesty.
He stood suspended in the air, holding his Ruyi Golden Cudgel, looking awe-inspiring, his gaze as cold as frost on a winter night, devoid of any warmth as he looked down at the Chaos Beast still flailing its claws and roaring below.
Although Chaos was still menacing and emitting deafening roars as its maw opened and closed, attempting to salvage the situation with this final frenzy, anyone with a discerning eye could see that victory was already decided; its fate was merely to struggle in the impending destruction.
In an instant, the invincible, defiant, and solitary aura once again gathered around the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, like a king returning, proclaiming his dominion over this world.
His figure, illuminated by flames and light, appeared exceptionally tall, as if he could support the entire firmament.
As Chaos stubbornly resisted, attempting a final struggle and launching an attack towards the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s lips curled slightly into a disdainful sneer, then he waved his arm, and a dazzling golden light swept across like lightning, clean and swift.
This single strike was earth-shattering; it not only shattered the body of Chaos but also tore and pulverized the ground wherever it passed, as if an invisible giant hand had ripped it apart, causing earth and stone to fly, and dust to billow, as if the end of the world had arrived.
Chaos, who had once been so arrogant and unbridled, mocking the Great Sage Equal to Heaven with every “useless monkey,” now appeared so small and fragile before the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, even more vulnerable than the ants he spoke of.
In the scene, a huge close-up shot of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was given at this moment, every detail on his body was meticulously clear, every strand of hair distinctly visible, so real as if he stood right before the audience.
And his raised Ruyi Golden Cudgel gave an even more impactful sense of breaking through the screen and rushing towards the viewer, scaring many first-time 3D viewers into screaming, exclaiming that the picture was too realistic, as if they were truly there.
The indestructible Golden Cudgel seemingly fell casually, yet it carried world-destroying power, bringing ultimate disaster to Chaos.
This final battle was as fleeting as a white colt flashing past a crevice; there were no cliché plots of evenly matched sides going back and forth, nor any hackneyed tropes of dangerous situations leading to a narrow victory.
Chaos died swiftly and cleanly, almost in an instant, struck by the Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s cudgel until its soul scattered, completely disappearing from this world.
After all, in front of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven in his complete form, annihilating it was merely a matter of one effortless strike, like squashing an insignificant ant.
“With this strike, you shall turn to dust,” this domineering line seemed to be the best interpretation of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s invincible strength.
This battle after the transformation was more like a complete release of the previously stifled, suppressed, and helpless emotions in the plot, a thoroughly satisfying catharsis.
So, the final battle’s presentation was designed to be as cool, explosive, and exhilarating as possible.
At least the audience at the premiere was ignited by the spectacular visuals and thrilling plot, each one reaching an extreme high, feeling incredibly refreshed, as if all their worries had vanished with this battle.
In the scene, the battle had ended, and everything returned to peace.
Bajie looked up at the invincible figure in the sky, his eyes full of awe and emotion, murmuring, “Great Sage!” His voice was soft, yet it seemed to carry endless emotion.
The old monk Faming also looked up at the sky in disbelief, tears of excitement glistening in his eyes.
“Great Sage!”
Then, everyone heard that incredibly familiar, childish voice—it was Jiang Liuer’s voice!
This cry, like a celestial melody, instantly broke the silence, making everyone’s heart tremble.
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven suddenly turned his head at this moment, his resolute gaze seemingly carrying endless stories, and the scene froze, as if time itself had stopped at this instant.
The cinema lights also came on, and the main feature of “monkey king: hero is back” officially ended.
It’s over?
The audience in the cinema was still immersed in the exciting plot they had just witnessed, genuinely feeling a sense of not having had enough; they simply felt the movie was too short, they hadn't seen enough, so why was it over?
However, even though the movie had ended, no one got up to leave; they were all still waiting, hoping there might be an easter egg or some surprise at the end of the movie.
Unfortunately, there was clearly no easter egg, but the ending animation made the audience feel very interesting.
The end credit animation adopted a unique paper-cut style, showing a heartwarming scene after the great battle where everyone rode on colorful clouds, starting to send the captured children homecoming.
On those white clouds, everyone was surprised to see Jiang Liuer’s figure, his body covered in bandages!
Jiang Liuer was indeed not dead!
The adults and children in the cinema all showed relieved smiles at this moment, even thinking that this “mummy” version of Jiang Liuer was actually quite cute, possessing a different kind of charm.
It wasn’t until the final paper-cut animation ended and the movie credits slowly finished scrolling that the screen completely stopped, and the easter egg they had hoped for ultimately did not appear.
Did Su Yu not intend to make a sequel?
That would truly be a pity.
The audience in the various premiere halls then reluctantly got up to leave, yet their enthusiasm remained undiminished; some viewers were even impatiently praising this domestic animated feature film on social platforms, in their friend circles, and other places.
As the first batch of viewers, they were actually fans and netizens who had full confidence in Su Yu.
Perhaps they had been a bit hesitant before, but now, they were truly unreserved in their praise, just blowing it up completely!
And under the promotional text for “monkey king: hero is back” on Su Yu’s Tribe account, it had quickly become the gathering place for film discussions among the first batch of viewers.
“I must rave about it! The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who melted stone into armor and wielded flames as his robe at the end, was simply beyond cool! I’ve already bought tickets for the day after tomorrow, planning a second viewing!”
“Indeed, tickets for today and tomorrow are already sold out. Those who haven’t seen it, hurry up, I believe you won’t regret it!”
“I just want to shout right now: The Great Sage Equal to Heaven will not die! So exhilarating, the strongest animated film of the year! You must watch the 3D version!”
“High-definition wallpaper, please!! Original music from the final transformation scene, it’s so damn exciting!”
“……”
Many fans or netizens who were originally on the fence were somewhat bewildered by these comments.
Is it that exaggerated? Could it be paid shills and stooges hired by Tianxing Entertainment? Otherwise, why are there only positive reviews and not a single negative one?
And the shills nowadays are a bit too ruthless; even their friend circles have been taken over.
Could it be that posting positive movie reviews in your friend circle will get you gifts?
Otherwise, how to explain someone who never posts in their friend circle suddenly starting to promote a movie, and an animated movie at that?!
At this moment, the watching netizens were bewildered, but as more and more people came out of the cinema after watching the movie and wrote largely similar, all-praising comments, they truly believed it!
However, when they also wanted to buy tickets and planned to go to the cinema to see what magic this animated feature film possessed, they were astonished to find that tickets for the 30th were already sold out.
For October 1st, only midnight showings and some scattered corner seats were left.
Tickets for the 3D cinema for these three days—the 30th, 1st, and 2nd—were completely gone!
The speed of sales was simply insane!
It wasn’t until they personally saw the ticket sales situation that some skeptical netizens truly believed that this movie was genuinely popular, and incredibly so.
And then came the reviews from various media outlets and film critics.
These media and film critics provided detailed reviews from three aspects: overall, visual technology, and story script.
Without exception, all were positive reviews.
Some self-media even excitedly shouted slogans like “The Rise of Chinese Animation,” proclaiming “monkey king: hero is back” as a conscientious work of domestic animated films, setting a new benchmark for domestic animated films.
In response, Tianxing Entertainment remained very calm; after the premiere, they did not engage in excessive publicity.
Now is the fermentation period for the movie’s reputation, and the publicity department felt it was necessary to “let the bullets fly” and let the movie’s reputation spread naturally.
Moreover, tomorrow is National Day, and Tianxing Entertainment did not want to make any big moves during this period.
And when midnight on the 1st arrived, the box office results for “monkey king: hero is back”’s premiere day were hot off the press.
127 million! Both Tianxing Entertainment and the outside world had some expectation for the movie to break 100 million on its first day.
After all, pre-sales were already in the tens of millions, so the actual box office would naturally be more.
What they didn’t expect was that this movie could achieve a double harvest of both critical acclaim and box office, realizing the miracle of a double explosion.
Given Su Yu’s and Tianxing Entertainment’s reputation and influence, a large number of fans and moviegoers would enter cinemas on the premiere day regardless.
But the true factor determining whether this movie was a one-off success was actually the quality of the movie itself.
If it could withstand the first wave of audience impact, then needless to say, many viewers who had watched it would also actively help promote it.
If the quality was not good, negative news would spread even faster, but “monkey king: hero is back” clearly proved itself with its strength, successfully winning the hearts of the audience.
