Peter Fong: Journey To The West 2. You already know the story so I'll just leave this one open.

Part 2 of this serie has a new lead actor as the monkey king, Chan Ho Man. His acting skills... well, he CAN act. That's for sure. But I didn't like his part as the monkey king. Of course I'll be lying if I'd say that seeing part one's monkey king, Dicky Chueng has infulenced my opinion, but I've tried to review Chan Ho Man's performance without prejudice. And still then... if I look at him. I would say, he doesn't have "that extra touch". He tries very hard to do as good as he can, but he misses his own "style". He's extremely stiff in the beginning, completely outplayed by his colleagues Chu Pak Kai and Sand Monk. Near the end he loosens up, but it's still not enough. He doesn't has enough energy to be the powerful and playfull monkey king. It's the way he looks I think. I personally don't think the mightiest and most playfull god in Chinese legends would have such a sad look in his eyes.
Chu Pak Kai (Chan Yiu Cheung?), Sand Monk and Tong Sam Chong (Kong Wah) are just like part one. No comment on them.

But even if you don't look at the actors, part 2 of Journey of the west is destined to fail. The stories are just crap. There's no other word for it, crap, waste, junk! I wouldn't expect a fairy tale to be consistent, but the writers could at least TRY to do so. The monkey king who shooked the heavens and trembled the earth is afraid of water???!!! Then how did he got his weapon in the first place???? I believe he got his Kam Kong Pang in the ocean.
Or how the narrator tells. Every story is named as "Ng Hung's greatest challenge!!". Jeez, now wich of the 99 is "the greatest challenge"?
The storyline itself is not attractive too. There is just nothing good I can tell about them. They just doesn't stand out on themself. What should be an interesting story (another monkey king) is dragged and pulled into a boring, neverending, dull tale.
The only story that was OK was the one with Joey Leung Wing Chung as a beardevil. His performance totally saved the complete show. Too bad he only got three episodes concentrating on him.
The special effects TVB is so proud about is simply child's play. Watching that is like watching "Power Rangers or something. And they just repeat it and repeat it over and over again.... 

Ah well... all I can say is. This serie is not worth your time. There are better things to do in life. 

You said Monkey was kinda whoosy , well, I think for the first time, he meets his most powerful foe and Goddess Of Mercy wasn't able to help and Monkey had to rely on himself. In part 1, everything MOnkey gets into trouble, Mercy is there so this chapter dealt with how Monkey had to rely on himself. Tho this chapter was a little long, the actor and actress were very good. 

Yes, I did watch the chapter with Tony Leung as the Black Bear taking back of the robe. It was entertaining and now I am up to the next chapter - Mm Hung sam hei yee long sung - monkey makes fun of the yee long god( the guy with the 3 eyes) - so far this one isn't bad. Does the series get better? I agree with you that Tung Bei Yun How was a little bit too long - I have to find out if these are made up or what. 

I know definitely part 1 is not but right from the novels. Part 1 brought back childhood memories so the stories were fresh and plus we know more about the stories in part 1 than in part 2. Most movies done are based upon Monkey KIng fighting the snake, skeleton or spider demons. Dicky Cheung is still the best and Iam sure he is laughing in TVB's face - they lost a gold mind there
 

The stories generally were pretty light hearted and mostly playful rather than dramatic. But they are also very fun to watch if you just want to get away from everyday life for a while and enter a world of magic and monsters. The biggest reason why I liked this one a bit more than the first one is the fact that there were a lot more computer affects. I guess I'm a sucker for colors eh? Also, this series had a lot less dragging than the first one, so I personally found it more exciting to watch. 

Benny Chan's version of Suen Ng Hung was way more human like than monkey. Many people were upset that his monkey role looked nothing like Dicky's, but to tell you the truth, Benny had enough charisma that I didn't even care if he was a monkey or a dog. He did do a very good job of portraying Suen Ng Hung's impatience and hot tempers, in which Dicky Cheung looked more stone-like.

Chu Ba Kai, of course, was just as remarkable as in the first one. Maybe it's because they were played by the same actor, Lai Yiu Cheung, whom I find very very adorable. I especially love how he flings up a finger at people whom he was upset with. And the part where he dressed up as a woman to get information on the King's disease was way cool. Shows what a great actor he is :-)
 

Sa Ng Jing by Mak Cheung Chun was more annoying than ever. Now that he has more screen time and more lines, I had to suffer through even more of his crying and whining and stupidity. But I do have to admit, he was GOOD in acting out that role. Tong Tsang...like what I said in the first one, Kong  Wah does not fit the role. He looks too strong to not be able to stand up straight when the wind blows, he looked too old to be a smooth skinned man, and he most definitely is not that beautiful.
 

A few other stuff I liked better in this series was the new Kun Yum. Now
that's what I call a Buddha! Much better than looking at that little girl who hasn't even gone through puberty.
 

It's a sad thing that many people couldn't accept this series like the first
one because of the exclusion of Dicky Cheung. Because I think it was
definitely worth the time and the money!