Journey to the West 1: Conquering the Demons (2013)

It started of as a demon hunting tale and seemed to continue that way for a bit. To be quite honest I found the first demon tale a little scary lol. Later got used to it, I think because I sorta had an idea of what to expect from then on. Maybe the first tale just caught me off guard? Still it made me wonder whether or not horror should be tagged as one of its themes. Anyway I applaud the fact that it grabs your attention and is mixed with lots of comedy. At least it wasnt a movie that'll loose your interest at the beginning because its boring, nope. This movie was awesome! Hope anyone reading this checks it out cause you'll probably love it too! Maybe? Hehe...

Later on, you get some "unique" romance since the main female lead is...interesting? And pretty much everything is mixed with comedy so you'll get enough laughs and chuckles throughout the whole journey.

The important special effects are well done and you get some martial arts mixed in but its not alot. I think the action in this movie was balanced between martial arts and special effects. But since its such a good story with great production, great ost/music and awesome actors, you dont really mind such details no matter what your preferences are between martial arts and special effects.

The movie as a whole felt like a tease because it left me wanting more. Wish it was at least a 2hr movie. It kinda reminded me of KungFu hustle (though that movie is probably funnier. The lead in KungFu Hustle is the director of this). It adds new content to the Journey to the West story that most are familiar with so if you are one of those then its a reason to definitely check this one out! (And if you arent it dosent really matter!)

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This movie contains a lot of different genres. It starts with something creepy, then they add a dose of humor and suddenly there is a hint of romance. And then they mix it all up. Wait, what?

While this may seem weird, it actually worked for me. I'm not a fan of scary movies but if they would be like this, I would watch them. I'm not saying that Conquering the Demons is like a horror movie, far from it, but I have to say that I didn't expect the demon hunting to be that... demonic. But then something funny happens and it's not so scary anymore.

I'm not sure why Show is in the middle of the poster, since his part wasn't that big. But it was still fun to watch him doing what he does best: being dorky! I also loved how Shu Qi portrayed a tomboyish fighter, instead of being just a pretty face.

Judging by the end scene, there might be a part two. If it will be with the same genres, I'll definitely watch that one too!

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