Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2014)

Journey to the West adapted extremely loosely from a very famous 16th-century Chinese novel is one of those movies that dares to mix unspeakable horror with laugh-out-loud slapstick, high- minded themes with dumb humor. Stephen Chow, who also made a name for himself Stateside with the hits Shaolin Soccer and Kung-fu Hustle, specializes in this kind of gonzo action comedy, and this is the most ambitious and the spectacular movie he's made yet.

The very unique film, Journey to the West, directed and filmed by Stephen Chow, was one of the weirdest and most quirky films I have ever seen. This film had a ton of cultural references that may have been difficult for some of us viewers to understand because the Chinese culture and traditions are so much different than ours here in the United States. This very much included the different forms of comedy presented in the film. Although wacky, I somehow liked the film for all the action and adrenaline it contained. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys Chinese culture, or mythological beings and magic.

Journey to the West is a Chinese film that focuses on the Buddhist traditions and beliefs. This was a very interesting and entertaining film. I liked the way that it used the concept of Buddhism in the movie, and made things science fiction, resembling to American films. In the beginning of the film there is a village and they are being attacked by a demon creature.The main character Chen presents himself as a demon hunter, and tells the village that he will protect everyone from the demon, but yet fails to do so. In replacement to his position is a woman named Duan who presents herself as a demon hunter as well, and yet she succeeds at turning the fish creature into a toy. After this scene Duan always finds Chen and comes to his rescue in the troubling times, when he does not know how to protect himself. Duan showed her love for Chen in the film, but Chen never did and this was the main conflict. My favorite character was Chen, because at the end of the film even though he failed at protecting Duan from the monkey king, he admitted to have loved her all along. After this overview, I would rate this film a 4/5.

I seriously love the damn crap out of Kung Fu Hustle. So, after I saw that, I wanted more. Therefore I have watched a couple of the other Stephen Chow's movies. I saw that alien robot movie of his, and did not really like it. But then this turns up! Another kung-fu-movie!Whoop!Expectations were a little high, but I still came out liking it. The style is a little more "Asian" this time, (Kung Fu Hustle was a little more Western, as in western part of the world, not cowboys) but I think Asian humor can be quite fun, although pretty strange.(Don't hate me for saying Asian. I am aware that Asian is not just Asian, I say Asian for convenience sake)Anyway, this movie is one hell of a ride. I mean, this is fantasy, over-the-top, weird action. Towards the end there is a scene that is so grandiose, so "big" that it is almost touching, in a sense.A thing with some Asian movies is that they mix together genres in a very peculiar way. Suddenly some strange joke, or an element of horror just pops out of nowhere. Adds some randomness to the experience.So, the movie is entertaining, has some good fighting, some humor that works and a couple of quite strange elements.