Wu
Cheng’en’s classic Ming era novel is a big thick multi-volume work that has
inspired many film adaptations drawn from various points throughout its epic
time frame. Still, you might not find the exact story of Stephen Chow’s latest
comedic spectacle in there, but several of the characters will certainly be familiar.
The Monkey King and his fellow demons will tangle with a young and awkward Xuan
Zang in Chow & co-director Derek Kwok’s Journey to the West (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
As
a novice demon hunter, Xuan Zang hardly seems likely to reach enlightenment.
However, he will do his best to fight the water demon plaguing a provincial
fishing village in the go-for-broke opening sequence. While he is more
effective than the charlatan that took the first crack at the creature, he is
no match for the prowess of Miss Duan, a demon hunter extraordinaire. She does
not think much of his use of a collection of nursery rhymes to appeal to the
demons’ inner youthful goodness. Nevertheless, she falls for Xuan Zang hard,
which confuses the devout Buddhist no end.
While
Miss Duan handles the Water Demon with relative ease, KL Hogg (the Pig Demon)
turns out to be elusively slippery.
Their pursuit of the latter will bring them into uncomfortably close
contact with Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. At this point, all bets are off.
Wen
Zhang (recognizable from Ocean Heaven)
is appropriately wide-eyed and innocent as Xuan Zang, but the film is
completely dominated by Shu Qi. As Miss Duan she shows all kinds of moves and a
flair for physical humor we never knew she had in her. Watching her kick demon
butt is a sight to behold, but it demonstrates the superior action opportunities
for actresses in Chinese language cinema, especially when contrasted with their
Hollywood counterpoints.
The
prospective Expendabelles film is a
case in point, with the embarrassing casting rumors centering around Meryl
Streep (all dingos beware), Geena Davis (because nobody could ever get enough
of Cutthroat Island), and Linda
Hamilton (granted, T2 was great
action film, over twenty years ago). On the other hand, every major Chinese language
star takes on action roles throughout their careers, as a matter of course.
Recent examples include Gwei Lun Mei in Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Zhou Xun in the same film, as well as The Great Magician, Michelle Yeoh in
nearly all her films, with Reign of Assassins being a recent example, Angelababy in Tai Chi Zero, Ziyi Zhang in The Grandmaster, and Mi Yang in Wu Dang.
Now its Shu Qi’s turn and she makes the most of it.
When
Shu Qi does her thing, Journey is
wildly fun. Nevertheless, Chow did not return to the Monkey King character that
made his name and reputation in A Chinese
Odyssey just for a quick paycheck. As a
reboot/prequel/film-within-the-margins, Journey
starts as a massive beatdown and explodes on a cosmic scale, ending with
more divine retribution than you will find in the entire Left Behind franchise. The message is simple—do not tick off
Buddha.
