Post by Thai Ladyboy on Nov 16, 2014 15:54:29 GMT -6
By all rights, I should hate this film. It has martial arts scenes performed by people who are not martial artists, it's special effects-dependent, and it banks on Stephen Chow's name even though he's not in the cast (the most notable example of this recipe for failure is Dragonball Evolution.)
However, this film really managed to pull it off. Even without Stephen Chow, it still carries his trademark blend of martial arts, comedy, and drama. If you liked Kung Fu Hustle, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons has the same feel about it. It's arguably better, as the narrative flows better from one scene into the next.
Story-wise, it serves as a loose prequel to Journey to the West (the chinese classical novel about the monk Tripitaka and the three tamed demons - including the Monkey King, the inspiration for Dragonball's Son Goku, but really more of a Lucifer-figure, with a better ending because he at least got redeemed.) and follows the monk that was to become Tripitaka.
The film only has a few of Chow's posse (none of the established ones like Ng Man Tat, boo to that.) and most of the main cast are new faces, but they still managed to make it work. I don't know who the lead actor is - he seems like he'd fit in with a boyband group but he's good enough to play the naive, bumbling idiot. It's the Keannu Reeves effect. He doesn't have a wide range but what he has is exactly what's needed for the role. Hsu Chi is very effective in the role of Duan the Demon Hunter, which is impressive considering that she's not a martial artist. I mean, I never really found her attractive (too thin? She's got The Joker's lips.) but she's completely adorable. She should have received the international acclaim that Zhang Zi Yi got. She can do drama, comedy, action, and her first acting role was in a softcore porn as a hermaphrodite demon with a 3-feet penis. She's done it all. Zhang Zi Yi just did a few kicks and backflips while attached to a wire.
However, this film really managed to pull it off. Even without Stephen Chow, it still carries his trademark blend of martial arts, comedy, and drama. If you liked Kung Fu Hustle, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons has the same feel about it. It's arguably better, as the narrative flows better from one scene into the next.
Story-wise, it serves as a loose prequel to Journey to the West (the chinese classical novel about the monk Tripitaka and the three tamed demons - including the Monkey King, the inspiration for Dragonball's Son Goku, but really more of a Lucifer-figure, with a better ending because he at least got redeemed.) and follows the monk that was to become Tripitaka.
The film only has a few of Chow's posse (none of the established ones like Ng Man Tat, boo to that.) and most of the main cast are new faces, but they still managed to make it work. I don't know who the lead actor is - he seems like he'd fit in with a boyband group but he's good enough to play the naive, bumbling idiot. It's the Keannu Reeves effect. He doesn't have a wide range but what he has is exactly what's needed for the role. Hsu Chi is very effective in the role of Duan the Demon Hunter, which is impressive considering that she's not a martial artist. I mean, I never really found her attractive (too thin? She's got The Joker's lips.) but she's completely adorable. She should have received the international acclaim that Zhang Zi Yi got. She can do drama, comedy, action, and her first acting role was in a softcore porn as a hermaphrodite demon with a 3-feet penis. She's done it all. Zhang Zi Yi just did a few kicks and backflips while attached to a wire.