Journey to the west: Conquering the demons

Can any earnest Stephen Chow fan be blamed for eagerly anticipating his "Journey to the West"? Aside from the fact that it marks his first movie in four years, it promises a return to the inimitable blend of slapstick comedy, kung fu and romance which Chow had so successfully parlayed into a winning formula in the duology "A Chinese Odyssey: Part One – Pandora's Box" and "A Chinese Odyssey: Part Two – Cinderella" – never mind that Chow does not reprise his role as the "Monkey King" or for that matter have any starring role in this new movie.

Fortunately, Chow's fans can rest easy – despite not having any physical presence in the movie, this "Journey" is classic Chow from the acting to the writing and to the directing, the latter two roles of which he is credited for in addition to producing the movie. And perhaps the best news of it all is that Chow returns to the sheer inspired inanity and hilarity of "Shaolin Soccer" and "Kung Fu Hustle", so be prepared to be rib-tickled silly by the misadventures of Miss Duan (Shu Qi) and Xuan Zang (Zhang Wen) in demon country.

Those familiar with the classic "Journey to the West" novel will know that Xuan Zang is also known as Tripitaka, who would be entrusted by Guanyin with the mission of recovering the sacred texts together with three disciples – Monkey King, Zhu Bajie and Sand Monk. Chow leaves that tale for the inevitable sequel; rather, in this movie, he fashions in essence a prequel, where Xuan Zang is no more than an amateur demon hunter yet to attain enlightenment, Monkey King or Sun Wukong (Huang Bo) is a conniving demon imprisoned in a cave by Buddha, Zhu Bajie is a pig demon called KL Hogg (Chen Bing Qiang) who especially kills women who lust after handsome men, and Sand Monk (Lee Sheung Qing) is a half-fish half-beast water demon who wrecks havoc on fishing communities living near the water.

You'll do well to remember that each demon you see on screen is of significance; otherwise you may be wondering why the screenplay, credited to Chow and seven other writers seems to dwell too excessively on each particular demon-slaying encounter – beginning with Sand Monk, then KL Hogg and finally to Sun Wukong. Indeed, the movie is really made up of these three distinct sequences, with the exception of one more that builds on the budding romance between Xuan Zang and his much more skilled and experienced fellow demon hunter Miss Duan.

Within that narrative structure, Chow constructs four elaborately staged battles that combine his brand of quirky humour, choreographer Ku Huen Chiu's imaginative action and production designer Bruce Yu's richly conceived sets with some truly impressive CGI that rivals anything you have seen so far in Chinese cinema. Thankfully, Chow doesn't get caught up with putting on the best visual effects show; in fact, with an inspired and confident directorial hand, he balances all these elements deftly, never forgetting that his audience is expecting nothing less than his signature brand of laughs.

Right from the start, you'll know that Chow's comedic sensibilities are at his sharpest. He takes his time to set each scene – for instance, in the first sequence, a charlatan is seen tricking the villagers that a giant sting ray he had blasted dead in the water was responsible for one of their own's death, so much so that when the real culprit (i.e. the water demon) appears, that entrance is even more dramatic. Ditto for the appearance of KL Hogg and Sun Wukong, whose appearances in full glory are again preceded by red herrings that make the 'coming-out' more impactful.

Chow again demonstrates an exceptional ability to juggle comedy and tragedy – here, in engineering humour amidst the deaths of others by the respective demons – and it is to his credit again that placing these two elements side by side in every sequence does not make the movie any tonally jarring at any point. And of course, as with all his films, this one features his unique brand of exaggerated slapstick - like the obscenely over-sized woman who comes to save the day (think "Kung Fu Hustle" and "CJ7") or the occasional gross joke that involves some inappropriate kissing – and his cheeky tendencies of confounding genre stereotypes.

In place of his mug, Chow has found his proxy in the form of Mainland actor Zhang Wen. It is said that Chow shows his actors just how he expects them to act in every scene, and in the case of Zhang Wen, we are sure Chow must have showed Zhang the way he would have played the role himself. You can almost see Chow through Zhang's rubber-faced mannerisms - and the same goes for Huang Bo, who plays the mischievous Sun Wukong with more than a hint of Stephen Chow.

Chow also fashions the love story between Zhang and Shu Qi the way he and co-star Athena Chu used to in the 'A Chinese Odyssey' films, and there are certain recognizable shades of similarities in the relationship between Xuan Zhang/ Miss Duan and Monkey King/ Zixia in the latter. Nonetheless, Shu Qi isn't simply a stand-in for Athena Chu – fearsome when fighting demons like an oriental Tomb Raider and yet amorous when it comes to romancing Xuan Zhang, she is thoroughly alluring from start to end in the very sexy and sassy manner we would expect from her.

So really, there's little to worry even though you won't see Stephen Chow in the movie – every bit of it is quintessentially Chow. Like his 'A Chinese Odyssey' movies, this "Journey" has action, comedy, romance and the additional ingredient of CGI to ensure an alternately amusing and suspenseful and thrilling ride from start to finish.

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.

Truth be told, I wasn't quite impressed with the idea that Stephen Chow had to revisit one of his greatest films, and do another version of it. But Chow had proved me wrong, and had some nifty creative ideas behind what he had wanted to do with another Journey to the West tale, hardly rehashing the earlier Jeff Lau effort. He had managed to keep the strengths of what he is well known for in irreverent comedy, and crafted his best in years, while coming up with yet another new spin to keep things engaging even for the most jaded amongst us on the tale of Monkey King. The trailer, while keeping things really short, now on hindsight was a brilliant little piece of a short prologue, while teasing the audience on a Monkey King appearance that's never been portrayed nor seen before in this form, which does take some getting used to.

But this film, co-directed with Derek Kwok, sets its sights on Tripitaka the monk, or Xuan Zang, instead, before he got preordained into monk-hood. In this re-telling, Xuan Zang (Wen Zhang) is a novice demon-hunter, and a hopeless one at that. He believes that every demon should be shown compassion, and is for non-violence as much as possible, in order to rehabilitate demons that he found, using his book of nursery rhymes which his master claims to be one of the best sutras around for subduing of spirits. Xuan Zang embodies all that is benevolent, consistent in spirit (pardon the pun) what you know of the character, except that he has that thick mop of hair. But despite his lack of skills other than a stout heart, help comes in the form of Ms Duan (Shu Qi), the expertly skilled demon hunter, with her own posse to allow some cameo appearances, who has the hots for Xuan Zang (again playing to the tune that he is someone desirable, as any Journey story goes), and pops up almost always at the right time to save his hide.

Elements from Journey stories include the individual encounters with all his disciples and their tweaked back stories, which credit has to be given to the screenwriters for improvements that worked within the confines of this alternate story they wanted to tell. The highlight is of course how Xuan Zang's first meeting with Sun Wukong (Huang Bo) went, which is as comical and witty as can be, which extended to the big battle finale that had as much heart, a key winning element from Chow's A Chinese Odyssey films, to move when themed against the notion of sacrifice. The final twenty minutes was a fitting climax, building up upon a series of very smart episodes, which included, on a higher level, how scriptures are based on love.

And this romance between Xuan Zang and Ms Duan forms the crux of the story, like in A Chinese Odyssey, that drives the narrative forward. Shu Qi plays the much tomboyish demon hunter with aplomb, who has to dig deep to find her femininity in wooing Xuan Zang, and who would have guessed she looked so comfortable and credible in executing many of her martial arts scenes. Wen Zhang like others before him who have played the kind monk, was right at home with his performance, a little bumbling mixed with that tinge of innocence, and sheer determination in wanting to do good despite only having the best of intentions, and none of the skills. And amongst the other characters, all eyes are perhaps on Huang Bo's rendition of the Monkey King, which I can only say it's extremely different to begin with, and I'm sure some find the character design a little bit bewildering.

Then again, it's a retelling, so some decisions made may not sit well with others, but I thought it was a breath of fresh air, especially since it's probably the first time (in a long while maybe) that it took the stance of all the disciples being enemy combatants and demons. I can't rave enough about the finale that dealt with how the Monkey King got that golden headband of his, as it touches on the virtues of love and forgiveness all in one fell swoop, conspicuously making the deities of Journey missing and unnecessary in this story.

Chow as a director has somehow imparted his acting techniques from the many demeanours he had portrayed in the past, to probably each and every character here, so much so that everyone has shades of Chow's easily recognizable persona, especially when dealing with comic timing, and style. And like his recent lavish productions, this one is no different, which is full of CG effects, but polished and more of a tool to tell the story rather than drawing attention to themselves. But that doesn't mean that Chow has lost touch with his more humble beginnings, at times opting for practical gags that had served him well in the past, and low brow humour still ever-reliable in eliciting laughter.

Given a subtitle in this film, one can only hope there's a follow up of sorts, because the baseline has been set, the origins told, and what lies ahead are the countless of episodes in the troupe's perilous journey westwards to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures, which anyone could be taken and given a new narrative spin in similar treatment as this one. Stephen Chow once again showed that he still has that creative flair and streak within him, that even if he doesn't appear in front of the camera, he has what he takes behind it to deliver the best of his hey-days. One of the best films out of this Lunar New Year season!

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons marks the very first Stephen Chow directed movie without him acting in it. So, what can I properly expect from this movie? The idea of a Stephen Chow movie is always exciting. However, I was concerned that it might be the start of an new era in which Stephen Chow will only direct movies and not act in them anymore. For that, I was both excited and scared to see this film. But finally, I decided there probably wasn't anything to expect and just walked in without expectations.

Fortunately, that ended up being the best way to seeing this movie. I ended up being really surprised and taken away by it.

It's clear that Stephen Chow's passions are now set into directing. He has improved a lot as a director; his films have become more cinematic experiences. There's less reliance on comedic dialogue, more emphasis on telling a story with stronger imagery, and has an improved sense of setup and payoff. He's much more interested in storytelling mechanics and more invested in where he can take an audience emotionally besides just laughs. With the way he structures some of his story, there's a symbiotic relationship between comedy and tragedy that he's very interested in exploring.

Wen Zhang delivers that exact balance between tragedy and comedy in his performance as Xuanzang. He is a charismatic leading man and he shoulders the film with both its funny and heartbreaking moments. When he was playing for humor, I laughed. When he was crying, I found it moving. I am buying him at every moment and he was playing me like a squeeze toy. The story gives a genuine pathos as he becomes the Xuanzang we know from the story.

Shu Qi is very affable in this role and it's nice to see her play a character with more cartoonish sensibilities. I especially liked her psychotic expressions when she was killing off demons. And yes, I can see how hard it is to reject Shu Qi if she threw herself at you like she did in this movie.

Huang Bo is a fun Monkey King and makes a very engaging antagonist. This version of Monkey King is richly complex. It's an interesting take on the character because it highlights a key point about Sun Wukong that's often glossed over: He never had a choice to join Xuanzang on his journey to the west. The Monkey King goes only because he is tamed by the magical torture crown that's he is forced to wear on his head. In this interpretation, he's not completely good or evil. Huang Bo does not play it too over-the-top by enhancing the animalistic sensibilities. Instead, what really stuck with me was how he convincingly played the desperate pain of being trapped under a mountain for five centuries.

The film's gags are executed with much discipline. The gags are zany but not random. They are all building character and moving the story forward each step of the way to it's final conclusion. It's masterful how Chow is able to use comedic moments to build towards moments of sadness and loss.

The thought of no more Stephen Chow roles anymore aches me a bit but his presence is felt here. He has delivered a well-made film. Fortunately the film is done well enough to help me get over my aching and accept him now as only a film director. I look forward to seeing him continually improve as a storyteller and to the next installment in this series.

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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.