Without a doubt one of the most hysterical films to come out of Hong Kong, this would be the first of many Monkey King tales to come from the brilliant Chow Sing Chi and director Jeff Lau - although some separately - and is still one of the very best!
Chow plays Joker, the leader of a gang of desert bandits - the oddest bunch of people you will ever see, and also plays the Monkey King in what I believe is the best adaptation of him in a movie, to date. At his hideout, Chow and his men are visited by two very beautiful and seductive women (Karen Mok and Lam Kit Ying) who turn out to be the Demon Sisters - with one of them turning into very large, and very well done, demon spiders.
When the sisters know that Chow is the reincarnation of the Monkey King, they try to get him to take them to his master, the Longevity Monk, so they can feast on him. Chow and his bandits however - including the hilarious Ng man Tat - soon find out about their scary side, which leads to some outrageous attempts at escape, trapping them, or trying to kill the sisters.
This results in big laughs, including a couple of scenes when Chow's crotch gets set alight and his friends attempts to put it out, mean stamping on his bits as much as they can! I honestly can't stop smiling (if I'm not already laughing hard) when I watch this film...
Director Jeff Lau gets a fun cameo as an immortal monk who appears to Chow as a bunch of grapes, with the great Law Kar Ying playing the Longevity Monk. While the film may be all about the typical 'no-nosense' mo lai to style of comedy, there is some genuinely smart comedy throughout the film also!
The film's action and fight choreography is handled by the fantastic Ching Siu Tung, who makes the most out of the more fantastical creature fights such as the spider women and the Bull King, who is just brilliant. The fights are mainly weapon based, with plenty of wire-fu and high flying action. One such fight takes place inside the Bull King's body, bouncing around his veins and cutting up arteries.
Towards the end, Chow finds Pandora's Box - a time travel device that he uses to jump back in time about 30 seconds in a attempt to save Karen Mok from killing herself. This in itself is very funny. Eventually though, the box sends him back 500 years to where he meets the beautiful Athena Chu, and comes one step closer to becoming the Monkey King once again...
Cliffhanger!
The one thing that really made this series stand apart from other adaptations - and more so the most modern ones - is that they were never bogged down with CGI (and bad CGI at that), but instead, impressed with fantastic practical effects that came across much better.
Overall: One of my favourite Chow Sing Chi movies and also, Journey To The West adaptations, this never fails to make me laugh or entertain!!
Chow plays Joker, the leader of a gang of desert bandits - the oddest bunch of people you will ever see, and also plays the Monkey King in what I believe is the best adaptation of him in a movie, to date. At his hideout, Chow and his men are visited by two very beautiful and seductive women (Karen Mok and Lam Kit Ying) who turn out to be the Demon Sisters - with one of them turning into very large, and very well done, demon spiders.
When the sisters know that Chow is the reincarnation of the Monkey King, they try to get him to take them to his master, the Longevity Monk, so they can feast on him. Chow and his bandits however - including the hilarious Ng man Tat - soon find out about their scary side, which leads to some outrageous attempts at escape, trapping them, or trying to kill the sisters.
This results in big laughs, including a couple of scenes when Chow's crotch gets set alight and his friends attempts to put it out, mean stamping on his bits as much as they can! I honestly can't stop smiling (if I'm not already laughing hard) when I watch this film...
Director Jeff Lau gets a fun cameo as an immortal monk who appears to Chow as a bunch of grapes, with the great Law Kar Ying playing the Longevity Monk. While the film may be all about the typical 'no-nosense' mo lai to style of comedy, there is some genuinely smart comedy throughout the film also!
The film's action and fight choreography is handled by the fantastic Ching Siu Tung, who makes the most out of the more fantastical creature fights such as the spider women and the Bull King, who is just brilliant. The fights are mainly weapon based, with plenty of wire-fu and high flying action. One such fight takes place inside the Bull King's body, bouncing around his veins and cutting up arteries.
Towards the end, Chow finds Pandora's Box - a time travel device that he uses to jump back in time about 30 seconds in a attempt to save Karen Mok from killing herself. This in itself is very funny. Eventually though, the box sends him back 500 years to where he meets the beautiful Athena Chu, and comes one step closer to becoming the Monkey King once again...
Cliffhanger!
The one thing that really made this series stand apart from other adaptations - and more so the most modern ones - is that they were never bogged down with CGI (and bad CGI at that), but instead, impressed with fantastic practical effects that came across much better.
Overall: One of my favourite Chow Sing Chi movies and also, Journey To The West adaptations, this never fails to make me laugh or entertain!!