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Based on the 16th-century Chinese classic The Monkey King, the two-night event begins tomorrow at 9 p.m. on CITY TV and NBC and concludes Monday night.
Gibson plays Nick Orton, an archeologist who has been digging through relics in China. After a chance meeting with a beautiful goddess (played by Bai Ling from Anna And The King), he finds out that he's been chosen as the "Scholar from Above" who must rescue a famous manuscript within three days or the world will end. Yikes!
Helping him out is the furry-faced Monkey King, who Orton rescues after 500 years in captivity.
The 38-year-old Gibson shot the Robert Halmi miniseries this past summer in Singapore and Prague.
"I'm fighting demons and wooing goddesses," says the usually buttoned-down Gibson. "It's not bad."
There are some neat characters and effects in the series, as well as some fun chop-socky action scenes. It's no Indiana Jones, but my kids stayed with it -- except for the yucky stuff.
"They kissed five times," says the boy. Good thing he didn't watch Temptation Island.