Synopsis
In a world plagued by demons who cause great human suffering, young demon hunter Xuan Zang risks his all to conquer a water demon, a pig demon and the demon of all demons, Sun Wukong. Adhering to his firm belief in giving of one’s self for the greater cause, he embraces the demons as his disciples. However, in order to atone for their own sins and save the common people, the four of them must embark on a journey to the West that’s full of challenges.
The film starts out with a Chinese village/port that is under attack by a demon fish. The fish, which is absolutely relentless, ends up killing several of the village folk and almost ends up killing everyone, if it weren’t for the efforts of our selfless hero, Xuan Zang (Zhang Wen). Zang, with the help of a beautiful demon hunter, Miss Duan (Qi Shu), take out the demon and go their separate ways.
Zang goes on a quest to stamp out other demons, while Duan does the same, but with a bit more aggression. Armed with a children’s rhyme book and his faith with the great Buddha, Zang goes from place to place trying to not only teach love and respect for everyone, but also to dispose of further demons along the way. Of course, Duan does her best, when they cross paths, to not only beat him to the punch, but also convince Zang that she is the one for him (a notion he rejects fully, as he thinks love for a woman is a selfish act).
The adventure for both demon hunters becomes greater when they meet up with other demon hunters and eventually an evil monkey demon that is as vicious as he is invincible.
I know, I know, that breakdown sounds like a complete mess, but it’s very reflective of the film. Director Stephen Chow generally does a great job with keeping his stories tight and intact. This can be seen in Shaolin Soccer and the methodically put together Kung Fu Hustle (probably his best of the bunch). Journey to the West seems like a film that can’t find an identity. It doesn’t know if it wants to be a warped romantic comedy, a comedy or a serious film about Chinese religious history with some humorous undertone. It feels like it’s all over the place.
Chow starts out with a good amount of action with the fish demon terrorizing the village. He introduces Zang perfectly and appropriately as the protagonist of the story. He inserts Duan at the right moment as a competitor/potential partner for Zang’s plight. After that, Chow starts Zang’s adventure to destroy interesting and unique demons, and that’s pretty darn good in the scheme of things.
But then Chow takes a wrong turn. He brings his typical comedy flavor into the mix of a serious, sometimes grotesque adventure. He then decides that he’s going to try and force some sort of love between Duan and Zang, which doesn’t really work — even at the end of the film when their love is at a giant, out-of-nowhere climax. He ends up wasting too much time creating something out of nothing and tries to pull it all back together by introducing other demon hunters that have zero background to explain their existence. To further throw it all off, Chow gives us an intriguing ‘end boss’ that should have been a bit more developed, but isn’t. Sure you’ll hate this demon’s guts until the end of time, but he seems randomly placed at the end without much build up to him.
By the end of the film, Chow does find a peaceful moment that is respectable, but the trip to get there is just a garbled mess. I’m a huge fan of Chow’s work, but Journey to the West absolutely didn’t do it for me. I felt like it was a poor effort in the story department and getting his characters properly developed and moved along between plot points. The script definitely needed more time to grow while the weeds of loose ends getting pulled in the process.
On a positive note, Chow does create fantastic characters with Zang and Duan. They’re both very likable in a strange way. Actor Zhang Wen really has fun with his character, as he’s out of the ordinary whacky. He has lots of physical comedy as well, which really points back to who Stephen Chow wants Zang to be, while adding some typical Chow comedy to the mix.
Opposite of him is actress Qi Shu, who takes the toughness of Miss Duan up to eleven. She’s a cool character with tomboy attributes, but also a very lovable person by the end of the film. Both her and Zang really are the best parts of this film. It’s sad that they’re both wasted on a story that need a lot more work to keep it tightly knit.
As for the look and feel of Journey to the West on Blu-ray, it’s darn gorgeous. The opening scene with the demon fish will make you want to go jump in a pool, as the water and area are pretty stunning to see in HD. Lots of gorgeous Chinese costumes and traditional outfits really shine in this movie. The blues, reds, yellows and even pink stand out in stunning HD. You won’t find any compression issues with this, no color banding at all. The whites and blacks stand out quite well in this movie. It’s really a very pretty Blu-ray.
As for the features, here’s what you should expect:
– Stunts/Special Effects
– Cast/Characters
– The Laughs
– Director Stephen Chow
– Choreography
– Trailer
Chow’s last few Blu-ray/DVD releases have been pretty solid in this category and Journey to the West is no different. You get a good bundle of features for a movie like this. They definitely add to the overall value.