【电影简介】

大唐年间妖魔横行，一小渔村因为饱受鱼妖之害请来道士（冯勉恒 饰）除妖，年轻驱魔人陈玄奘（文章 饰）前来帮忙却被误认为骗子，幸亏职业赏金驱魔人段小姐（舒淇 饰）帮助玄奘制服了鱼妖真身（李尚正 饰）。二人又在高家庄为制服猪妖猪刚鬣（陈炳强 饰） 而再次相遇，这次除妖没有成功 ，但是段小姐却对玄奘二见钟情。玄奘求助师父，得知除妖的办法是去找被压在五指山下的孙悟空（黄渤 饰）帮忙，于是他准备前往五指山，途中又遇到段小姐和手下五煞，段小姐连蒙带哄想与玄奘在一起却屡次遭拒，在四妹（周秀娜 饰）调教下想变得更有女人味却适得其反。二人决裂后玄奘独自上路，与此同时降魔师（释延能 饰）、天残脚（张超理 饰）、空虚公子（罗志祥 饰）也一同前往除妖。经过千辛万苦玄奘终于找到孙悟空，段小姐又再次出现并交给玄奘一件重要的东西，猪妖终于被降服，但是更大的危机又出现在了玄奘面前，原来孙悟空与传闻中不一样，玄奘的除魔之路能否继续？

【音频文本】

One can't possibly watch "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" without comparing it to the 1995 movie "A Chinese Odyssey." Both are based on the classic Ming Dynasty novel "Journey to the West." "Conquering the Demons" is a much more vivid rendition of the story, but less attractive.

Although actor-turned-director Stephen Chow made his name playing so-called losers in comedy films, he is now assisted by perhaps the best computer-generate imagery technology available to Chinese directors. Withthe most horrifying computer-generated demons, he has created a fantasy film that is the most faithful to the original novel and certainly the most profitable of any "Journey to the West" movie so far.

Ming Dynasty novelist and poet Wu Cheng'en wrote a fictional story about a hellish world where people livein ignorance of Buddhist teachings,and cannibalistic demons lurk in every mountain and river. So during his quest for Buddhist scriptures, Xuanzang encounters many demons that test his faith. He manages to conquer three of them and turns them into helpful escorts. Stephen Chow reproduces Xuanzang's triumph over the three demons, but adds a romantic dimension to the monk's spiritual awakening.

So it was with "A Chinese Odyssey," only the lead character was one of the conquered three demons – the monkey king. The only difference was when the romance ended intragedy, the monkey king learned about destiny and responsibility, while Xuanzang learned about the power of faith and universal love.

"Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons"is the first Stephen Chow movie without Chow in the cast. But this is not the reason for its difference in style. Actors Wen Zhang and Huang Bo are no less geniuses than Chow in inducing laughter, and their efforts make the film as hilarious as any other Chow comedy. However, the director must have put away some of his sarcastic ammo, because there is a noticeable absence of the irony that wasso commonplace in his previous works. This change has causeddiscontent among some of Chow's fans who pose as intelligent viewers.

Meanwhile, Chow's new production has also stirred the nerves of some sensitive viewers who claim the movieis too horrible to be a comedy. Since the film premiered on the first day of China's Spring Festival, manymoviegoers took their children to see it, hoping to share some hearty laughter with their families. But when the movie showed a child being devoured by a fish demon, they soon realized that maybe it wasn't such agood idea to have brought the kids. As a result, complaints were made both on Chow's indiscretion and the lack of a film-rating system.

Stephen Chow movies used to please simple-minded, compassionate and thoughtful viewers alike. But now, with the paw of irony well hidden and the weight of scare in full swing, the new film might generate as much in complaints as in box office earnings. On a scale from one to 10, I give it a 6.5.

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