Journey to the West 2013 Conquering the Demons: A full Stephen Chow's ride

Stephen Chow. You either love him or loathe him for his take on slapstick comedy. Fortunately, I fall in the earlier category. I absolutely love him in his directorial debut in 008, one of the best scripted Flirting Scholar and of course his younger days Fight Back to School series. Of course who can  forget the tide turning Shaolin Soccer and the meticulously done Kung Fu. However CZ-7 saw his demise and his deterioration. When there is a news that he will have another remake of Journey to the West, I have my doubts. Dozens and dozens of remakes both in movies and series were mediocre and forgettable. Of course this is not the first time Stephen Chow remake Journey to the West. His last attempt was even split into 2 movies. The story was brilliant, mixture with amnesia, time travel and essentially a love story. Alas, it was so-so executed so much so that not many people remember much of the movie except the funny rendition of " Only You".



Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2013 (JTW) probably is another turning point. After waiting so many years we finally see another Stephen Chow's movie, which used to be a staple diet for any Chinese New Year. However, this time he concentrated on the director's chair. Good idea but I really miss him on- screen. Although that most of the facial expression in this movie do mimic his style of over-expression and dead panned humour, noone can do it the way he does.



First, the story is simple. It is a prequel to JTW journey. It tells of a novice monk trying to convert monsters believing that there are still good in them and opt for the rehabilitation path. He met up with another female hardcore counterpart and fell in love. In his inadequacies, his master suggested him to look up Monkey King to defeat the Pig Demon. The problem is Monkey King is the ultimate bad-ass who was imprisoned by Buddha below a mountain. Of course, he is released by accident and the finale is a showdown between the demon catchers and the Monkey King and how the monk gain his 3 disciples. The story, somehow is predictable especially if you have watched Stephen Chow's first JTW. The similar theme of sacrifice is the theme which drive the story.



I cant comment much of the casting, but casting new faces in his movies does have its pros and cons. Wen Zhang do have a lot of similarities with Stephen Chow's expression. Huang Bo really do show his expression in playing Monkey King and ShuQi breeze through her role without any sweat. However I still prefer familiar HongKong faces to play the role but then again, that is my own preferences. ShuQi still cant speak cantonese by the way. I suspect the movie is not meant for Cantonese release so that would explain the whole choices.



Action is expected. The CGI is however, disappointing. With such as big budget, the CGI do look very very cartoonish. The opening rendition of the river monster was really laughable rather than scary. The only exceptions were the CGI sequence of battle which was done nicely. This part of CGI had been the forte of Chinese movies anyway. The humour is really good with abundant Stephen Chow's moment and it will definitely remind you of his earlier movies. One thing to note is certain sequences are rather disturbing such as how people dies in the hand of the demons. It was rather graphical that will leave nightmares in children.



Overall, it is still felt like a Stephen Chow's movie even without him on screen. One will still laugh until the end, which is the whole point of catching a CNY movie. I left the cinema feeling good despite catching it in a late night slot. I can't say that this is the CNY movie of the year since I have not watched the rest but I cant tell you that you would not regret watching this.

ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: extra poink for being a Stephen Chow's movie. For a Stephen Chow fan like me, this is a must-watch to ease the drought for so many years.