Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

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.

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.

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.

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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I enjoyed this thoroughly. It is well acted, scripted and the costuming is great. All the settings were visually engaging and the action scenes were well thought out and wonderful to watch. I love movies that are vibrant, giving the viewer a reason to keep watching the screen.

Check this out it was amazing.