It’s been a long time since Stephen Chow has released a feature film, six years since his last one hit the states and I haven’t even seen that yet. As a fan of Chow’s slapstick martial arts infused comedies like Kung Fu Hustle, I was eager to see how he and co-director Derek Kwok would adapt the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West for the big screen. Their new film, titled Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, is a whimsical and adventurous romp that has its ups and downs but certainly finds a way to entertain its audience while easily setting the stage for a sequel.
Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons follows a fearless and young demon hunter named Xuan Zang (Zhang Wen), a buddhist who lives to serve the greater cause, protect people and wake the inner goodness inside the demons he hunts rather than killing them. Though his methods are unorthodox and usually fail, his master tells him that he’s missing that “something” and when he discovers what it is he’ll be a great demon hunter. In the meantime, he’ll have to manage as a failure as the attractive demon hunter to Miss Duan (Qi Shu) continually saves him. At the same time, Xuan Zang must resist her aggressive advances and she believes the two were meant to be together even though he feels he must resist these selfish urges. Eventually, Xuan Zang must venture to find the demon known as the Monkey King (Bo Huang) in order to learn a special move that will help defeat the powerful pig demon.
I’d like to start off by saying that Journey to the West is joyous, stupid and wacky fun that’s made for a certain breed of audience. In fact, this is one of those films that I feel works a thousand times better in its homeland of China than it does here in the states. I say this particularly because the martial arts wirework fused with the crazy slapstick comedy is very much suited to mainland China’s humor. This is what also defines a Stephen Chow film, which is a good thing as it feels like a shotgun blast of color and action but somehow manages to keep its story focused on the quest. The film focuses on two things, the relationship between Xuan Zang and Miss Duan and the relationship between Xuan Zang and himself, the demon hunting is simply a means to an end for both parties.
This is an action adventure comedy and one of Chow’s trademarks is fun fight scenes and this film certainly has them. From the get-go when Xuan Zang fights the wter demon there are laughs and ridiculous attempts to take down the demon. Chow continues this throughout the film and with each battle, infusing at least a little humor into each quirky fight. From a visual level the film is a trip and the action only adds to it.
There are some epic scenes and there are some silly scenes, not all of which are good, throughout the film. Some of these scenes rely on CGI characters or animation and when they look good, they look great but there are times when you can see the flaws and it seriously takes away from the scene, becoming a distraction. There are also instances where the two directors don’t show restraint and the fantasy gets a bit excessive, particularly at the end when the Buddha Sutra is used on The Demon King, things just got a little too epic if that’s even possible.
Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons isn’t Chows best film to date but it certainly feels like his largest and most ambitious. It’s not nearly as funny as some of the previous features he’s directed but it certainly has the potential to go places if a sequel is made. There are some laugh out loud moments and fans of Chow will be entertained but just don’t go in expecting the hilarity of Kung Fu Hustle but you can certainly expect its outrageousness.
Rating: A fantastical and adventurous romp that falls slightly short of its comedic expectations (6/10)
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