Viagem ao Ocidente: Capítulo Demoníaco

This did not do well. The fantasy has been attempted with a different but poor approach. A combination of traditional powers and modern technology is also attempted but that too on the poor side. The good cards established in the first part are skipped and replaced by inferior elements. The Buddha is introduced abruptly without logical consistency. Comedy is also poor. This did not do well. Disappointed.

Saw this movie on a plane and while it was OK to pass the time with, the film as a whole was pretty bad. The humor was poorly done with unfunny jokes and unfunny slapstick stuff. While the action was pretty intense in some parts, particular the fight between the monks' disciples with the White Bone Spirit, it was too heavy on the CGI.

The monk Tang Sanzang was portrayed like a clueless clown and the three disciples, Monkey King, Pigsy and Sandy, acted pretty useless for the most part. There was too much arguing and bickering among one another, particularly between Tang Sanzang and the Monkey King.

It was hard to believe that the great Hark Tsui directed this movie, but not surprised that funnyman Stephen Chao produced. He really should just stick to acting, as I honestly think his talents are better used on stage.

Grade D-

It is just unbelievable how two parts of a movie can be so extreme. "Journey to the West Conquering the Demons 2013" is a very well made movie that leaves the viewer wanting more. I was really excited about this follow up "The Demons Strike Back (2017)" until I had a chance to watch it... and wasted my time.

The movie seems to be mostly CGI. The CGI is jumpy and almost feels like watching a movie in fast motion. The colour contrast is much too unpleasantly vibrant and sharp.

The storyline... well there is none really. It is more like watching a plotless cartoon of punches. Some parts of the movie even get a little embarrassing and irritating such as watching the emperor throw tantrums.

Overall, I would give this move minus two stars but zero star is the worst I could do.

Journey To The West bored me, the same way that Monkey King 2 bored me. I'm starting to think that maybe the monkey king is not my thing (Although, DragonBall has to be some sort of adaption to the character do to a big likeness between the two (Same way Marvel's Thor is similar but does not full mimic the Norse mythology).

Maybe unlike anime, I can't watch these movies with subtitles . As an American use to Hollywood Blockbusters when I see an actor alone on a screen interacting with characters that were made in a computer, I'm expecting a lot more action adventure to my Fantasy, but all I got here was talk. This may have not been that bad but I feel that the comedy did not translate well with subtitles. Having to read and look at the visuals did not work this time.

Plus the anime style cartoonery did not translate well to live action. Some of the visual gags timing was fine, but it really did not click. I appreciate the attempt but I just thought it was stupid in the long run.

Like with Monkey King 2, my favorite part of this film was the lone epic action scene at the end of the movie that was big and the reason that anyone would buy a ticket to see it in 3D. Although it's not worth the ticket cause that one scene does not make this movie. I've seen films that one part can make the whole movie but The Demons Strike Back is not complex enough for that. It starts slow continues slow and then ends epic but that greatness does not make up for all the slowness.

The visual effects are OK but not good enough for a picture to bore me with them. Very standard an unimpressive (Except for the 3D spectacular that ends the film).

Maybe my knowledge (Or lack of) the Monkey King is steering my judgement, maybe I'm expecting too much from a Chinese Blockbuster (My favorite part was at the end credits when the filmmakers did a bit that confirms that this movie is the Chinese version of the Blockbuster), but this latest adaption of Journey To The West is not doing it for me at all. Maybe I need to see if they do an English dub that might translate better, and change my mine.

http://cinemagardens.com/

Taking over for directing duties for this sequel is Tsui Hark, while Stephen Chow wrote & is producing this, 2 legendary film makers collaborating. Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back, Let me just say this, this is slightly not as good as its predecessor in storytelling but very entertaining, nonetheless. I do believe, this was a risk that Stephen Chow took with this sequel but I fairly enjoyed it. I love the visuals, the action sequences filled with astounding CGI (The special effects were far better than I expected, another instance that I thought was amazing Computer-generated imagery was when Sun Wukong gets into his monkey form), this movie's style definitely has Tsui Hark written all over it. In my opinion, I thought this movie lack the cohesiveness the first movie had. But then there's something about this one that I am very fond of. Maybe it's the unique take on it, I've always liked Stephen Chow's inventiveness for his films, his imagination. Overall, I truly enjoyed it, I thought it was an entertaining movie, get a laugh, a fun & action packed journey, with eye-popping CGI, worth watching.