- A father uses a potentially fatal test to challenge the loyalty of his children using three magical monkey statues.
- A man who has one of the objects they seek, offers to give it to them if Jack and the others help him retrieve something he is searching for. And they are three monkey figures that resemble the "see no evil", "hear no evil", and "say no evil". They are in the possession of an old man who gives them to each of his children so that they can prove their worth. When some of them misuse them, they have to pay the consequences.—rcs0411@yahoo.com
- Tokyo 1945
A man, Young Mushashi, runs through the woods, carrying a katana. In a nearby house, Tanaka sets down three monkey statues, representing See, Hear, and Speak no evil. The running man enters the house and finds a woman dead. As Young Mushashi holds her in his arms, Tanaka comes in wearing samurai armor and draws his katana.
Young Mushashi vows to kill Tanaka, and Tanaka says that his daughter died because she had no honor. The nearby monkey statues moves on their own and laugh, and young Mushashi says that he and the woman will be together in death. He kills himself with his sword and falls to the floor. Tanaka removes his mask and looks at the dead couple, while the monkeys laugh.
The Present
Micki, Johnny, and Jack go to Mushashi's Bushido Kendo club, and watch the students spar. Mushashi fights with one of his students, then talks with the trio. Jack introduces himself and reminds Mushashi that he called him earlier about an antique black tea set.
Mushashi brings the trio to his private quarters and serves a meal. Mushashi asks why the trio want the tea set, and says that he knows about the magic it possesses. When he bought it, he discovered that the tea set turned ordinary tea into poison. The student he served it recovered. Jack says that they have a place where they can secure the tea set, and Mushashi says that they must first prove their trust.
The older man describes the legends of the three Monkey statues, and says that those who master them have great power. Those who fail, die. The Tanaka clan has them, and Mushashi wants the trio to get the statues because he has prior commitments.
In Tokyo, a now-elderly Tanaka uses an oxygen tank to breath. He writes on a scroll, then calls in his servant Shohei and asks if "they" are there. Shohei confirms that they are, and Tanaka tells Shohei to prepare the monkey as he stamps the paper with his signet.
In the next room, Tanaka's children Hitoshi, Koji, and Michiko wait. Hitoshi complains that he has a business meeting to attend, and doesn't share his sister's concern that their father might be dying. The businessman worries that their father might sell the company out from under them. Koji is busy listening to music on earphones, and only takes them out when Tanaka comes in. Shohei has the monkeys on a tray, and the three children kneel before their father.
Tanaka says that the company is founded on traditional values, particularly honor, and when he dies they will inherit the financial empire. He says that a person without honor is nothing, and his children agree. Tanaka says that he's devised a test to determine if they understand the meaning of honor. He explains that the monkey statues contain a specific test for each of them.
Each monkey is wrapped up and has a piece of paper with it. Tanaka tells his children not to open them until they return home, and says that whoever fails their test will not be named in his will. After he leaves. Koji takes his package and goes, upset that he came all the way from NYC just to get a bundle. Hitoshi figures Tanaka is cheating them out of their inheritance. Michiko defends their father, but Hitoshi threatens to have Tanaka committed.
Later back in NYC, Koji sits in his division office and opens the bundle. The Hear No Evil monkey is inside, and Koji pushes it aside and reads Tanaka's note. It says which monkey he has received, and Koji's stubbornness and arrogance prevents him from understanding what he hears from others. Tanaka writes that Koji must learn to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Koji tosses the note away, disgusted. A secretary comes in, and as the statue animated and moves its paws from its eyes, Koji "hears" the secretary thinking that he should sign the papers so she can leave. She thinks that things ran more smoothly when Koji was in Tokyo, and Koji tells her to get the detail sheets. Once the secretary leaves, the monkey goes back to its normal pose.
At Curious Goods, Micki confirms that the monkeys aren't in the manifest. Jack and Johnny have confirmed that Tanaka is reclusive and hasn't been seen in six years, but his three children run company divisions in NYC, Hong Kong, and the city they're in. Johnny wonders how they can trust Mushashi, but Jack figures that Mushashi is honorable. Jack has also found a scroll in Lewis' files, showing the legend of the monkeys. The Tanaka seal is on the scroll, and Jack figures Lewis was looking for them. He tells Johnny to go to NYC while he has Mushashi translate the writing on the scroll and then sees Michiko. Micki will go to Hong Kong to see Hiroshi.
As a worker, Harmon, tells Koji that they have other commitments to a bigger account. Koji hears Harmon's thoughts about how they could have prevented a buyout using insider information. Outside, Johnny comes in but the secretary refuses to let him see Koji without an appointment. As Johnny leaves, he bumps into a takeout delivery man and gets an idea.
Koji calls his father in Tokyo, and asks if he should act on the rumor he's "overheard". Tanaka merely says that a wise man knows when to hear and when to be deaf. Koji calls and tells his buyer to purchase stock in their rival, and spread it out so no one knows they're buying. Once he hangs up, the statue animates again and laughs. Koji is teleported to Tanaka's home, where Tanaka is waiting.
Tanaka tells Koji that the monkey sent him, and he provided Koji with power but it leads both to heaven and hell. He gives Koji a katana and says that his son must commit seppuku and die with honor. Tanaka warns that if Koji doesn't, his death will be one of great suffering. Koji refuses, and a wind springs up and the nearby hanging gong bangs. The noise overwhelms Koji, causing his ears to bleed. He collapses to the floor and dies.
Johnny takes the delivery man's uniform and barges past the secretary, holding the bag up in front of his face. The secretary follows him in, and they discover that Koji is gone. The lights fade out, and when they come back up Koji is behind his desk, dead. The secretary goes to call an ambulance, and Johnny confirms that Koji is dead. When Johnny turns around, Shohei appears, takes the monkey statue, and leaves. Johnny sees him and chases after him as he walks out, and the older man disappears.
In Hong Kong, Hitoshi discovers that he's been given the See No Evil monkey. Tanaka's note says that Hitoshi is blind to his own deceptions, and must become a truthful man of honor. Hitoshi is furious that his father questions his honor, and shreds the note.
Jack returns to the shop after failing to see Michiko, and gets a call from Johnny. Johnny tells him what happened to Koji, and that he apparently died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He says that Koji appeared, and how Shohei took the monkey statue there.
Micki approaches Hitoshi at his office, and offers her condolences on Koji. She follows him outside and he gets in his car, ignoring her. Micki asks him if his father knows about any monkey statues, and Hitoshi says that he doesn't. She gives him her card and asks him to call her if he thinks of anything, and says he can call her at her hotel.
Jack goes to Mushashi's studio and asks him to translate the scroll. The scroll talks about how the monkeys were brought from the underworld to test man's virtue. Jack explains that Koji died, and Mushashi says that those who fail the monkeys' test are killed, while those who succeed are rejuvenated. Mushashi refuses to explain further, only saying that men live through their children.
Tanaka tells Shohei that he's feeling better, and gives him his pills and his oxygen tank. Shohei knows that someone talked to Hitoshi about the monkeys, and Tanaka tells him to find out who Micki is. Once Shohei goes, Tanaka pens another scroll.
Hitoshi goes to a Tanaka construction site, and Micki follows him. A customs inspector arrives and goes to the truck where Hitoshi is inspecting the contents. The inspector notes that Hitoshi is importing ivory and it's illegal. Hitoshi has the monkey in his briefcase, and it animates as the inspector tells Hitoshi that they know he's been smuggling ivory into the country. Micki watches from outside and sees the statue, and Hitoshi tells the inspector that things aren't what they appear to be. The monkey transforms the ivory into a plate, and confused, the inspector leaves.
The plate turns back into an ivory statue once the inspector leaves, and both Micki and Hitoshi see the transformation. When Hitoshi picks the statue up, it animates in his hands and teleports him to Tanaka. Tanaka tells Hitoshi that he must kill himself to restore his honor, and Hitoshi takes the sword but then refuses and puts the sword to Tanaka's throat.
Fire shoots out of the nearby fire pit and into Hitoshi's eyes. He screams in agony and falls dead to the floor. In the truck, Micki goes for the statue and Shohei appears behind her and knocks her out. She wake up and sees Shohei teleport away with the statue. Hitoshi's corpse is next to Micki, his eyes burned out.
Later at the shop, Micki calls and tells Jack what happened. She figures that something is killing off the Tanaka family, and suggests the monkey teleported Shohei there. Jack tells Micki to take the next flight back while he tries to see Michiko.
In her office, Michiko opens the bundle and reads her father's note. She finds the Speak No Evil monkey, and her father's note tells her to speak for herself but speak only the truth.
Shohei meets with the recovering Tanaka and gives him Micki's card. Tanaka burns the card
At the kendo studio, Jack tells Mushashi that Hitoshi is dead. Mushashi refuses to provide him with more info, and says that he's forbidden to assist. He takes Jack to his office and says that Tanaka stole the monkey from a temple in Burma. The clan suffered accidents that wiped out the coming generation, six centuries ago, and the patriarch is always revitalized after his children die. The monkeys let him live on as long as he sacrifices his family to them. Mushashi tells Jack that he was a samurai who was sent to kill Tanaka and return the monkeys to the temple. He fell in love with Tanaka's daughter and when Tanaka killed her, Mushashi performed ritual suicide. But he didn't do it properly, and now he lives a humble life of shame.
Jack asks how the monkeys operate, and Mushashi says that he has to accept what has happened. He refuses to answer Jack's questions, and Jack leaves.
When Jack goes back to Michiko's office, he'd told by the receptionist that Michiko will see him shortly Meanwhile, Michiko calls in an engineer and asks why he's missed 30 days of work. The engineer says that he's had some family problems, and the monkey animates and tells Michiko that the man has a mistress and he's lying. The monkey tells Michiko to fire the man, and she tells him that they'll work something out.
Once the man leaves, Michiko tells the monkey that she'll never use its powers. She's teleported to her father and screams as she goes. Jack and the receptionist hear Michiko's screams, and Jack runs in only to find the woman gone. Jack grabs the statue and leaves.
Michiko appears before her father, and he says that she's the only one who has proven that she has honor. She has mastered the monkeys, and Tanaka can go on knowing his empire will be led with wisdom and integrity. Tanaka gives her a katana and says that she must kill him, and her children when they inevitably dishonor her. He insists that it's the only way and bares his neck, but Michiko kills herself rather than kill her father. Dying, Michiko tells her father that she's sorry.
In his office, Mushashi takes out his former katana and examines the blade.
At the shop, Jack puts the monkey in the vault. He goes upstairs and finds the shop door open. and Shohei steps out of the shadows and demands the monkey statue. When Jack claims that he doesn't know what it is, Shohei knocks him and leaves.
Later, Johnny and Micki return to the shop and finds a note from Tanaka saying that he has Jack. Tanaka wants to trade Jack for the statue. They go to the vault and find the statue, and take it out of the vault so it can teleport them to Tanaka. Upstairs, Micki and Johnny finding Mushashi waiting. Micki tells him that Jack has been kidnapped by Tanaka, and Mushashi says that he came there to help Jack recover the statues.
The monkey comes to live and teleports the three of them to Tanaka's home. They find Jack tied up with Tanaka, and Tanaka tells them to hand over the statue or he'll kill Jack with his katana. Tanaka insists that the statues aren't evil, and when he tries to kill Jack, Mushashi steps in and parries his blow. Micki and Johnny get Jack away, and Mushashi says that his love for Tanaka's daughter kept him from killing Tanaka before.
The two men fight, and Mushashi drops his katana and lets Tanaka run him through. Jack picks up Mushashi's katana, and tells Tanaka that a samurai who kills an unarmed man has no honor. The monkeys come to life and kill Tanaka, and Johnny grabs the monkey statues. They teleport back to the shelf as Tanaka dies in agony.
Later, the trio put the three statues in the vault. Johnny goes to the studio to get the tea set, and they figure Tanaka couldn't win so he kept on killing his children.
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