Plot

Inspired by an epic Chinese tale, translated into an action-packed comedy, a Monkey and his magical fighting Stick battle demons, dragons, gods and the greatest adversary of all - Monkey's ego.

THE MONKEY KING is an action-packed family comedy that follows a charismatic Monkey and his magical fighting Stick on an epic quest for victory over 100 demons, an eccentric Dragon King, and Monkey's greatest foe of all -his own ego. Along the way, a young village girl challenges his self-centered attitude and shows him that even the smallest pebble can have a big effect on the world.

One night, a monkey (Dee Bradley Baker) is born from a stone atop a tall mountain and disturbs the Jade Emperor (Hoon Lee). Just as the Emperor gives the order to eliminate the cub, Buddha (BD Wong) appears before him and tells him to let him find his purpose. Jade Emperor is the ruler of Heavens, while Buddha is the guiding light of the entire Universe.

Monkey finds a troop of other monkeys, but his unruly nature keeps him from fitting in. One of his escapades causes a feared demon to pounce from his mountain lair and grab one of the troop's cubs for food; as a result, Monkey is banished. To prove his worth to the troop, he trains to fight the demon. After many years, when he deems himself ready, he confronts the demon, but his training proves ineffective, and another cub is snatched. To fetch a more suitable weapon, Monkey dives into the sea realm of the Dragon King (Bowen Yang), where he finds the latter gloating over a glowing column which he means to use to eradicate all life on the world's surface. Communicating with the column, Monkey turns it into a staff and escapes.

With the staff in hand, Monkey returns to the demon's lair, defeats him, and rescues the cub. Then he crowns himself King of the Monkeys (Jimmy O. Yang). The troop's elder (James Sie) cautions that his staff should only be used by the gods. The new Monkey King decides to kill 100 demons, thus gaining the right to enter the Heavens and become a god. The Monkey King travels all over the world and kills 99 demons. Eventually, he comes to a village terrorized by the Red Girl. With the endorsement of a girl named Lin (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport), Monkey King defeats Red Girl, and Lin pledges herself as his assistant. But despite the 100 demons vanquished, the Immortal Ones do not descend from heaven to welcome the Monkey King to their realm. The Dragon King emerges from the nearby sea during the victory celebration to reclaim his prized weapon. The Dragon King cannot stay outside of water very long. After fighting him and retaining the stick, Monkey King leaves the village; Lin tags along, even though he treats her condescendingly. Unknown to him, Lin is an agent of the Dragon King to help him reclaim the staff in return for saving her drought-stricken village.

The stick tells The Monkey King that to become an Immortal, he needs immortality. The Monkey King needs Lin as he cannot read.

The duo reaches a graveyard, where Monkey King opens a portal to Hell to get to the Archive of Souls and strike his name off his Scroll of Life and Death, thus gaining immortality. King Yama (Andrew Kishino), the ruler and chief judge of Hell, recognizes them as outsiders and fights them. With Lin's help, Monkey King succeeds in erasing his name, but is only made ageless. He steals Yama's Book of Everlasting Life and learns that he must eat a peach from the Orchard of Everlasting Life to gain full immortality. The Dragon King subtly guides Monkey King and Lin to a peach tree laced with an intoxicating poison, but accidentally ends up eating one himself and running off.

After realizing that the peaches are fake, Monkey King learns from the book that Wangmu (Jodi Long), the divine Queen Mother, brews an immortality elixir for the gods. He and Lin infiltrate the Jade Palace's pharmacy to create a sample of the elixir. Wangmu catches them in the act and attacks them, but Monkey King succeeds in consuming the potion, thus becoming fully immortal. Although Lin has several chances to steal the staff, she repeatedly returns to help Monkey King. Monkey King also demonstrates that despite his rude behavior, he cares about her too. Monkey King and Lin flee the Heavens, and in a following heart-to-heart, Lin admits that she longs to make a difference in the world and tries to encourage Monkey King to do the same. The Monkey King refuses to part with his stick to help Lin with her village.

When Monkey King remains aloof and boisterous, Lin outwits him and delivers the staff to the Dragon King. As soon as he has it, the Dragon King reneges on his deal and prepares to drown the world in a mega-storm, but Monkey King challenges and attacks him. Realizing her mistake, Lin tricks the Dragon King into blasting Monkey King with lightning, thus making him stronger and enabling him to beat the Dragon King. However, Monkey King becomes power-drunk and attacks the Heaven itself. Buddha prepares to intervene, but Lin wants to give Monkey King another chance. Acting as Buddha's voice, Lin challenges the Monkey King to leap off Buddha's hand to win ruler-ship over Heaven, or suffer a period of penance if he fails. Monkey King fails as the entire Universe resides on Buddha's palm. The Monkey King is imprisoned in a mountain. Before the mountain is fully closed off, Lin is allowed to say goodbye to Monkey King, who finally admits how important Lin has become to him, and leaves him his staff for company.

Five hundred years later, an enlightened Monkey King is freed from his prison by a monk, a pig, and a river spirit at Buddha's behest. They invite him to join them on a journey to the West, to which he happily agrees.