In this film, which is based loosely on the ancient Chinese novel Journey to the West, South Boston teenager Jason Tripitikas is a fan of martial arts films and he awakens from a dream of a battle between the Monkey King, played by Jet Li and celestial soldiers in the clouds. He visits a pawn shop in Chinatown to buy Wuxia DVDs and discovers a golden staff.
On his way home, Jason is harassed by some hooligans, whose leader Lupo
attempts to use him to help them rob the shop-owner Hop. Hop tries to
fight the thieves with the staff, but is shot and wounded by Lupo. He
tells Jason to deliver the staff to its rightful owner and Jason flees
with the staff. He is cornered on the rooftop by the hooligans and
almost shot too, but he is pulled off the roof by the staff and falls
backwards onto the asphalt.
When Jason regains consciousness, he finds himself in a village in ancient China that is under attack by armored soldiers. The soldiers see his staff and attempt to seize it. He is saved by the inebriated traveling scholar Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), a supposed "immortal," who remains alert and agile even when drunk. Lu brings Jason to a teahouse and tells him the story of the rivalry between the Monkey King and the Jade Warlord. The Jade Warlord tricked the Monkey King into setting aside his magic staff Ruyi Jingu Bang and transformed him into a stone statue, but the Monkey King cast his staff far away before the transformation. Being an immortal, the Monkey King did not die, but got captured inside the statue. Lu ends the tale with a prophecy about someone, a "Seeker", who will find the staff and free the Monkey King. Just then, they are attacked by the Jade Warlord's men again but manage to escape with the help of Golden Sparrow, a young girl who refers to herself in the third person. She reveals that her family was murdered by the Jade Warlord, against whom she has therefore sworn revenge.
Meanwhile, the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou), upon learning that the staff has been sighted, sends the White-Haired Witch Ni-Chang to help him retrieve it in exchange for the elixir of immortality. Jason, Lu Yan and Golden Sparrow meet a strange man dressed in white, also played by Jet Li, who takes the staff away from them. Lu Yan fights with the man (later revealed to be the Silent Monk) for the staff until the latter realizes that Jason is the prophesied Seeker, and he joins them in their quest to free the Monkey King. As the four travel to Five Elements Mountain, Lu Yan and the Silent Monk teach Jason Kungfu along the way. After crossing a desert, they encounter Ni-Chang and her henchmen and a battle ensues, in which Lu Yan is mortally wounded by Ni-Chang's arrow. The protagonists take refuge in a monastery, where they learn that Lu is actually not an immortal as he failed the test to become one. Only the Jade Warlord's elixir can save his life. In desperation, Jason goes to the Warlord's palace alone to exchange the staff for the elixir.
When Jason regains consciousness, he finds himself in a village in ancient China that is under attack by armored soldiers. The soldiers see his staff and attempt to seize it. He is saved by the inebriated traveling scholar Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), a supposed "immortal," who remains alert and agile even when drunk. Lu brings Jason to a teahouse and tells him the story of the rivalry between the Monkey King and the Jade Warlord. The Jade Warlord tricked the Monkey King into setting aside his magic staff Ruyi Jingu Bang and transformed him into a stone statue, but the Monkey King cast his staff far away before the transformation. Being an immortal, the Monkey King did not die, but got captured inside the statue. Lu ends the tale with a prophecy about someone, a "Seeker", who will find the staff and free the Monkey King. Just then, they are attacked by the Jade Warlord's men again but manage to escape with the help of Golden Sparrow, a young girl who refers to herself in the third person. She reveals that her family was murdered by the Jade Warlord, against whom she has therefore sworn revenge.
Meanwhile, the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou), upon learning that the staff has been sighted, sends the White-Haired Witch Ni-Chang to help him retrieve it in exchange for the elixir of immortality. Jason, Lu Yan and Golden Sparrow meet a strange man dressed in white, also played by Jet Li, who takes the staff away from them. Lu Yan fights with the man (later revealed to be the Silent Monk) for the staff until the latter realizes that Jason is the prophesied Seeker, and he joins them in their quest to free the Monkey King. As the four travel to Five Elements Mountain, Lu Yan and the Silent Monk teach Jason Kungfu along the way. After crossing a desert, they encounter Ni-Chang and her henchmen and a battle ensues, in which Lu Yan is mortally wounded by Ni-Chang's arrow. The protagonists take refuge in a monastery, where they learn that Lu is actually not an immortal as he failed the test to become one. Only the Jade Warlord's elixir can save his life. In desperation, Jason goes to the Warlord's palace alone to exchange the staff for the elixir.







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