(Phoenix)

I am writing to express my opinions and feelings on this newest Hong Kong 
film instalment of Journey to the West 1 and Journey to the West 2. I have 
recently watched these series and have extensive comments to make.

Commendation

I have firstly, many praises for this new Journey to the West ­ all of which 
are directed at the first series. Notably, the casting was excellent with 
the actors perfectly suiting each of their roles. I would particularly like 
to commend Dicky Cheung Wai Kin for playing Suen Ng Hong’s part in Journey 
1. His flexibly cheeky mannerisms and actions, as well as his portrayal of 
the character as a blend between arrogance, due to his supreme powers, and 
humility, due to his devotion to his master, were absolutely marvelous. As 
the audience, I was held completely spellbound by his interpretation of the 
Monkey’s character.

Of course, he is well supported by Lai Yiu Cheung, Mak Cheung Ching and Kong 
Wa. Lai, as the Pig, is wonderfully funny with his whimsical lip jerking, 
exasperated finger pointing and his over-fondness for women, leading him to 
many funny troubles. Mak, the Sand Monk, is just as good, fitting 
appropriately into his role (although perhaps he is overly susceptible to 
bawling his eyes out). And Kong, playing the master/monk, maintains the aura 
of purity, perfection and unworldliness with faultless talent. The 
witticisms of each individual character were clever and definitely enhanced 
the viewing experience.

The sound and visual effects were the very best that I have ever seen in any 
Hong Kong production ­ especially in the fantasy genre. Certainly, I believe 
that the meagre pool of fantasy TV series produced in the USA (eg. Hercules, 
Xena) pale significantly when compared to Journey. The music, consisting of 
cheeky, bouncy, sad, tranquil and holy tunes, was great in its simultaneous 
enhancement of and adaptation to the action of the story. Not only this, it 
was also exceptional in its seamless fusion of traditional Chinese 
instrumentals with modern overtones. It captures the flowing depth of 
oriental music with the intensity of modern beats.

I also realize that unlike the Mandarin version, which faithfully followed 
Wu Cheng-en’s prose, this new instalment has been greatly modified. I do not 
find this a bad point ­ not in Journey 1 anyway. To tell the truth, the 
funny side-action provided enjoyable comic relief from the general 
seriousness of their mission to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures. I 
immensely liked the incorporation of Suen Ng Hong’s catch-phrase ­ “Yo! 
Fighting demons! What’s to fear?” (though this English translation certainly 

knocks out all the power that the Cantonese language allows). The phrase 
contains an irresistible magnetism, which exudes total defiance of all 
adversity and an outstanding confidence to face down all odds. This serves 
brilliantly to accentuate Suen Ng Hong’s status as the hero of the story. It 
had me barracking for him all the way.

Criticism

As with positive comments, there are bound to be negative ones also. Most, 
if not all, of my criticisms can be drawn to Journey 2. The most prominent 
is the casting, that is, the change of actors for Suen Ng Hong and Goon Yum 
(Goddess of Mercy), among several others although these two stand out the 
most. Cheung was the perfect, the absolute perfect actor for playing the 
Monkey King. He had the maturity, the strength, the energy and the charisma 
to make his forceful, yet also deliciously saucy presence felt in every 
scene he was in.

In comparison, the acting of Benny Chan Ho Man as Suen Ng Hong in Journey 2 
is lack-lustre, colourless, and insubstantial. His attempts to maintain 
consistency in the mannerisms and unique characteristics of Cheung’s Suen Ng 
Hong appear weak and incompetent. He does not sustain the same perfect 
balance of comedy and gravity. How can one change actors, especially for the 
protagonist, the hero, the most important character, in the middle of the 
story?

There is additionally the change of actresses for Goon Yum’s role. One of 
the most important minor characters, the actress playing Goon Yum in Journey 
1 gave an impeccable performance as the benevolent and virtuous Goddess. Her 
resonating voice added that genuine touch of holiness and her face promised 
a sacred sanctity that did not belong to the misery of this world. I find 
all these features thoroughly lacking in the second Goon Yum. She does not 
speak with that gentle understanding nor does her shrewish face connote much 
kindness or empathy as she is supposed to have. Again, another disappointing 
change in roles.

It is in the second series where gaping holes in the storyline become 
apparent. The first adventure including another giant gorilla causing havoc 
on earth was an upsetting and disturbing deviation from the literature. I’ve 
already praised the minor deviations in Journey 1 as they were necessary to 
create a humourous atmosphere, such as the Spider Demoness’ unrequited love 
for Suen Ng Hong. I thought that such side-actions were beautifully 
constrained and tastefully done. But, in Journey 2, these deviations become 
so outrageous that the former smoothness of the storyline has, to my dismay, 
been disrupted beyond repair.

Further, Suen Ng Hong is the hero who stands apart; he is the hero that the 
audience falls in love with. However, this uniqueness is destroyed by the 
entrance of another giant gorilla which draws too many parallels with Suen 
Ng Hong’s origins. Suddenly, he is not much different from other monkeys if 
another one can reach the same level of power that he can. His status as 
hero is seriously downgraded.

In Journey 1, the plot was well paced and tightly constructed. Both 
excitement and humour had their places. Alas, it is not true for the second 

where there were long periods where the action (or inaction?) hardly engaged 
the audience at all. Trivial moments with an uninteresting, verbose script 
dragged out into hours of boredom, which dangerously alienated the viewers. 
Two of the numerous examples include the Pig’s affair with the Emperor’s 
daughter in the giant gorilla adventure and the successive duplications of 
the Iron Fan Princess, her maid, parents and the Red Boy in a plot by the 
Crow Demoness. Repetitious elements in the story, such as Suen Ng Hong being 
quashed under a mountain again, further pulled down the sparkling 
originality of the film.

I have forgotten to mention how much I liked the opening theme song of 
Journey 1. Exceedingly different to any I have ever heard, its beatiness and 
power has a strangely attractive force ­ it draws the audience to watch on, 
it promises great entertainment and it appeals to the youthful side in all 
of us. The opening theme song of Journey 2 cannot possibly compare with the 
first. Definitely, it is has a more comic quality but it is this very fact 
that makes it lose that attracting force ­ rather, it seems to have an 
opposite effect.

The special effects can be contrasted in both the first and second series. 
In the former, the visual effects were impressive in comparison with other 
Hong Kong TV series (and I was shouting “Go, Hong Kong movie-makers!”). 
However, these effects became excessively overdone in the latter series. It 
was as if the directors, producers and graphics technicians became so 
enamoured with their abilities to create these graphics that they loaded 
them all, without artistic restraint or style, into Journey 2.

A prime example would be the spaceship carrying the heavenly hosts to battle 
the giant gorilla. Why a spaceship? We have seen enough of those in Western 
scifi. Seeing one again in a traditional Chinese story seems to me like an 
overwhelmingly inappropriate anomaly. To add another example is the cartoon 
animation of the pig, when he was frightened out of his wits by a giant Suen 
Ng Hong. It looked very out of place.

Amongst all the above points, the final deflator of my original high 
expectations for the film was how the ending was handled. It appeared rushed 
and hurried as if the series was appallingly eager to reach a conclusion.  
The finale scenes were all film clips of previous action. Also, in the 
literature, the fact that the golden fillet disappeared from Suen Ng Hong’s 
head symbolized that he had at last attained the self-discipline and control 
worthy of being the Buddha Victorious in Strife. This fact was barely 
touched upon in the film when it should have been, because in some emotional 
scenes, the master had explained the reason why Suen Ng Hong had to wear the 
fillet. A result of all these was the general feeling of dissatisfaction and 
disappointment.

Aside: (I do not mean to insult anyone but I feel so strongly about these 
opinions that I must express them.) How could whoever was supposedly 
responsible for this TV series, which initially had so much potential, have 
permitted it to slide deeper into the quagmire? Or to slide into it at all?
 

To sum up, I was very much impressed by Journey 1 and equally disappointed 
in Journey 2. However, to end off on a brighter note, I would like to 
encourage all Hong Kong film-makers and actors to continue doing an 
outstanding job. The fact that Journey 1 was of such an excellent quality 
gives me much hope. So, roll on the entertainment from Hong Kong!