Powerful

Overrated and overhyped

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

There are some similarities between Sai yau gei and Matrix: first, it is not very easy or even impossible to understand what on earth is the plot really; second, maybe a extension of the first, both are relative to the idea of time-space; third, both are belong to phenomenon level. The release date of Sai yau gei and matrix are 1995 and 1999 respectively;I did not watch Matrix in a cinema and I don't appreciate the performance of Keanu Reeves in matrix very much--maybe as he is more handsome than me. But the Matrix is more energetic than Sai yau gei...

Yes, it's not just the best movie ever from Stephen Chow but the best movie ever!You have to watch the first part before fully appreciate all the trivial details in the second part. If we consider the first part as the usual comedy product of Stephen Chow, then surprisingly the second part not only continued the comedy routine but every funny element eventually turn into something much deeper, richer and tragical, which made this movie absolutely cult icon in the next decade in China. The story is based on the classic Chinese Novel 'Xi You Ji', in which the rebel Monkey was tamed by the Budder and helped a Monk to go to India. Stephen Chow's contemporary adoption of the story is one of his trademarks by mixing the modern elements with the ancient context. It not only added the funny material into the movie, but also the irony and insanity on top of it which younger generation is so addicted to.At the beginning this movie looks just like another Stephen Chow's typical box office hit but with the stories go on, audience started to feel increasing sadness and later on realised the unavoidable tragical ending.It's a tough movie for Westerners to understand and appreciate because it requires quite bit Chinese culture knowledge and lots of loss in translation but I would still encourage everyone to give it a go simply for it's such a wonderful and creative movie.

It is unfair that there is no thorough review on this masterpiece: Chinese Odyssey I-II (1994).Someone would dare to say this is THE BEST movie ever, to me it is certainly clear that there is no other movie can compete with this in making tearing eyes of audience at the end of movie on which they really don't know whether the tears came from too much laughing or from the pathos of epic love story. As many other great cult movies this one also has difficulties to deliver its greatness to audience especially to non-Asian (due to lack of background and missing points in translated caption etc.), however this difficulties can be overcome and I strongly recommend trying this movie since it is worth your time and effort. One simple way to overcome the plot complexity and its hidden meanings is to watch repeatedly, this way will work on this movie just as it does upon the movie like 'Mulholland Drive (2001)'. These two movies belong to completely different genres but they have one thing in common that you have to watch multi-full time to get it.Let's get into the detail of Chinese Odyssey I-II, it has at least four aspects to discuss, (1) Background story and its twist of Chinese great classic novel 'Journey to the West'; You don't need to read the book thoroughly and you can get information from internet,Or you may only need to know that the novel was written basis of the real event of a Chinese monk Xuanzang (602 – 664) who went to India to get the Buddhist bible and get it to the Chinese King in order to bring justice and peace/love in the world. The author gathered folk tales and even mingled with traditional fantasy mythology into a classic.The content of novel includes 81 episodes of adventures while the protagonist Son WuKong (Monkey King) guides Xuanzang with two friends. This story generated many modern versions of twist such as the international big hit of Japanese Manga "Dragon Ball" The movie Chinese Odyssey I-II covers Wukong's troubled mind between earthly desires and righteous job (getting the scripture) with nice mixture of romantic love story.(2) Peculiar sense of humor; The first thing the audience can notice on this movie may be the unusual sense of humor some times goes behind the tolerance of normal people. It is because Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer 2001, Kung Fu Hustle 2004) once you get his sense of humor you will really enjoy it, this is same for Mike Myers, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey. He is as good as these American actors for comedian and romantic hero so it is fair to say that without him this movie would be impossible, but this movie has more than just Stephen Chow.(3) State of martial art; From the typical Hong Kong martial art style, well known by legendary Woo-ping Yuen (who worked in Matrix and Kill Bill series), you can enjoy fantastic fighting scenes in this movie. Woo-ping Yuen has worked with actors; Jet Li, Stephen Chow and director Hark Tsui (if you don't like Stephen Chow's style it will be worth to check 'Chinese Ghost Story (1987), and The Legend of Zu (2001)). By the way the director covering martial art of this movie is the other legend Xiaodong Cheng.(4) East-West culture confliction (Christianity vs. Buddhism); One of the reasons that those great Chinese movies such as 'Chinese Ghost Story (1987)', 'The Legend of Zu (2001)' and 'Chinese Odyssey I-II (1994)' don't get right reputation in western world is they have basis of reincarnation which is from Buddhistic or generic eastern idea. As for me I regularly attend church and follow guidance of Jusus, but I have no problem with reincarnation idea in movies. Many American movies also have imposed reincarnation idea such as in 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968), The Big Chill (1983) and The 13th Floor (1999).(snake legs) : The plot of Chinese Odyssey I-II is very complicated which is different from normal Hollywood movies, I recommend to watch two parts (I and II) straight..

You need to watch Part I to understand Part II! This film is absolutely not a faithful adaptation of the original Chinese Myth, rather, it is a much more personified version of the Monkey King's story.I've seen most of Stephen Chow's films, and this one stands above all his older films. It has a well-rounded script and much deeper characters.Possible spoilers------------------------------------------------ Continuing from part one, chow uses the magic box to go back into time in order to save his wife from death, but the box accidentally brings him back 500 years instead of 5 min. On the spot where he last saw his wife, he meets Zixia, a goddess on the run to seek her true love.As a token of their meeting, Zixia gives him three moles on the bottom of his foot, which completes the prophecy of Chow becoming the Monkey King again.However, Chow is reluctant to fulfill his fate, instead, he wants to go back to the future and save his wife. Zixia takes away the magic box, and Chow is forced to follow her in order to get the box back.From here on, he is torn between time, love, and his unavoidable fate.End of spoilers----------------------------------------------------- There is a big gap between how he transitioned from his previous love relationship into the new one with Zixia, but beside that, this is a great film. Stephen Chow has done something different here, for there are moments of very raw, touching, and honest emotions rarely seen in most of his films.I also highly recommend the original Cantonese Version of the film, even if it means you have to read the sub, because the best line in this film doesn't deliver in the Mandarin dub.