Journey to the West

The funniest man in the cinematic world (Stephen Chow Sing Chi) stays behind the camera (unfortunately) as writer and director for this epic and hilarious retread of his amazing films; A Chinese Odyssey 1 & 2.

That said, and as a fan of Zhang Wen (which has grown more so after seeing this), the film is a solid Chi film that is worthy of a place in any fans collection!

With dark humour akin to that of 'From Beijing With Love' and others, the comedy elements are fast and clever, matched by the tense moments of horror that sometimes even left me (a fan of HK cinema for over 30 years), with my mouth open.

But it was awesome!!

Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons is a hit. Its also great to see Shu Qi in an ass kicking hilarious role which I think suits her much better than the serious dramas. Lets hope there will be a few sequels spawning from this, and all being well, a return in front of the camera for the incredible Chow Sing Chi!!

The style of the movie immediately brings to memory Kung-Fu Hustle, also written and directed by Stephen Chow, but its target is a reinvention of the Journey to the West story.

Unfortunately, much of the symbolism used in the film is lost on me, since I know nothing of Chinese mythology. I am sure much of the characters and word games that I suppose mean a lot to a Chinese person, to me are just wacky and incomprehensible. That being said, the film is very nicely done, combining drama and comedy in a way that is mostly foreign to western cinema, good acting and cool special effects.

I have to admit that the movie makes me want to read some translation of Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels, so, if that was Chow's purpose, the film is a success. I also have to admit that I liked the movie, considering whether to keep it for later viewing or not. As such, it is clearly above average, but the nagging feeling that a lot got lost in translation makes me rate it only so: above average.

An absolute breakthrough...! From the refreshingly inventive script ("X-MEN Origins" of Pigsy, Sandy etc.), mind-boggling CGI, dazzling Kungfu, beautiful cinematography, belly-aching comedy (look out for the hilarious fish demon purification scene), to the evocative moment when your heart is touched and your eyes streaming wet; which explains why it broke China's box office records, reaching USD$100 million (over RMB$0.6 billion) in 8 days (the fastest ever), and taking in USD$12.5 million (RMB$78 million) on the opening day alone (another first).

Stephen Chow has been honing his skill as a highly specialized film-maker par excellence, notably with Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7 and now Journey to the West - Conquering the Demons; injecting photo-realistic CGIs, comic innovations and content with a moral thread. Speaking of which, the key message that loving-kindness (Metta / Ci Ai / Universal Love) for all sentient beings is a transcendental quality that ultimately conquers ignorance, ego and hatred is conveyed pretty succinctly.*

Having watched it in both 2D and 3D, I must say that the stereoscopic version certainly heightened the virtual realism that gave James Cameron's Avatar an extra oomph.

The bad thing about this movie is - it leaves you hungry for even more, despite the running time being nearly 2 hours (110 min) in its cinematic version. Hopefully, Stephen Chow decides to produce a sequel, which would almost certainly need to feature a celestial dragon, perhaps like the magnificent one from Sam Neill's The Dragon Pearl.

*See Dhammapada (Ancient Collection of Short Sayings by The Buddha) Verse 5 - Hatred is never appeased by hatred. It is appeased only by loving-kindness. This is a timeless law.

Editing the review after having rewatched the film (in addition to having watched parts 1 and 2).

First, it's important to say that I don't consider it necessary to watch the previous ones to appreciate this masterpiece (but I recommend it if you're interested in the story as a whole).

The leap in quality of script, acting, special effects and message is huge compared to its predecessors and even today (August 2024), the experience is very pleasant and has not been harmed by the "aging" of the film.

This film, unlike the previous ones, finally inserts Buddhist elements into the story in a more precise and non-parodial way, which in my opinion was a great benefit.

Drawing a comparison, it is very common in film production for the protagonist to be driven by hatred and desire for revenge and all the elements in the film justify such conduct.

In this film, on the contrary, the protagonist is driven by the desire to help all beings, including demons. Oh! This practically sounds like heresy to many of us, doesn't it?

Furthermore, the film shows that the greatest power has nothing to do with physical strength or superhuman powers, while delivering great fight scenes and great special effects (taking into account the natural aging of an 11-year-old film).

More than ever, I highly recommend this film to any human being who seeks to be better and to free themselves from suffering and the causes of suffering.

A great take on the classic Chinese legend, and director Stephen Chow does it with his usual finesse and sense of mixing up comedy with action.

I must admit that I was a little bit skeptic at first, given the synopsis and the legend to which the movie is based upon. But with talents such as Stephen Chow behind the wheel, it just had to be experienced. And of course, also with the lovely Shu Qi in the movie it is not one to be missed.

There is a good amount of action throughout the movie matched up with good choreographed fighting and wire stunts. But it all comes together for an enjoyable end result, which is what matters. And the comedy throughout the movie was great. If you enjoyed "Kung Fu Soccer" or "Kung Fu Hustle", then you will also enjoy "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", no doubt about it.

The costumes and sets were great and really added a lot to the movie. But also hats off to the special effects team. They really managed to pull it off quite nicely, and these demons were quite interesting to look at, yet convincing enough to appear real. So thumbs up for that.

There is a nice continuous flow to the movie, where the alternation between comedy, action and romance is a good change of pace and makes for a great roller-coaster experience.

It should be said that "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is the type of movie that you will only fully enjoy if you have an interest in Chinese cinema and more or less an interest in Chinese mythology.

The cast was good, and there was a great chemistry between Shu Qi and Zhang Wen on the screen, both in a comedy way, but also during the action sequences.

"Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" scores an easy 7 out of 10 stars from me.