You won't be disappointed!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

For me, what's make the movie called 'great' is if the movie's genre is romance, we can feel the soul of love. If horror, we can feel the fear. If comedy, we can laughing out loud all the way. Drama? We can cry.But, for this family drama movie, honestly is just an average movie that we always see and I'm not really feel anything, you know I was crying with "Titanic". For the cinematography, yeah its really great and beautiful! I never see any malaysian production did something like this, the air balloon, the background color. Congratulation for the art camera team! The story, its just okay. Maybe its release on the good timing or the right time, Chinese New Year celebration and all Chinese want to watch at least something local in the cinema so they got this one.So, "The Journey" are the lucky one, because of all their hardwork, I think they deserve this box-office. The highest grossing Malaysian movie of all time until now.

After a long wait, finally there is a local production that utilizes life as the main theme for a film. While at first it looks like a familiar plot which begins on family relationship problems, the detailed screenplay gradually expands into the issue of cultures conflicts, hope between parents and children, love and friendship appreciation as well as unity which is one of the most precious thing in life. Good direction and cinematography are not only successful in presenting great scenery across 6 states in Malaysia (without any effects) and the unique Chinese cultures and local multi-races tradition; but the good performance from unfamiliar cast, hilarious mixes heartfelt moments and amazing scores has successfully delivered audiences a clear message: it's sometimes just a coincidence that it makes those involved to be unhappy and misunderstood at the same time in life, but actually deep in heart everyone is cherishing each others. It deserves local people to be proud for being one of the best local production and to aim as the highest grossing local Chinese production.

The Journey is a cross-continental Malaysian comedy drama film with a simple story but full of depth and meaning. The story is about Bee, who returns from Britain to Malaysia to seek her conservative and stubborn father's blessing for her marriage with a Caucasian, Benji.However, due to Benji's lack of cultural understanding of Chinese culture and traditions and the issue of language barriers from both parties further complicates the situation, which results in Bee's father, Chuan strongly opposes the union. But, due to a series of unexpected events happening at that time, Chuan reluctantly agrees to give his blessing, with some terms and conditions.Soon, the journey begins with Benji and Chuan riding a motorcycle together to deliver the wedding invitations to Chuan's ex-primary schoolmates all over Malaysia. Throughout the journey, the two learn valuable lessons about love and accepting each other's differences.The film successfully depicts the Malaysian Chinese culture and tradition, the love between father and daughter, life-long childhood friendships that transcend time and culture, the liberal views of our current young generation on screen, the unpredictability and fragility of life...all in one film. The script is genuinely funny at times, emotionally poignant and relatable to all Malaysians. It's incredibly rare to see a local production of this quality. It's a tremendous accomplishment for the Malaysian movie industry and it's something we, Malaysians should be proud of.Moreover, the cinematography is surprisingly stunning for a local production and the film is shot on various locations in Malaysia: Cameron Highlands, Ipoh, Penang, Kedah, Melaka, Sabah and Johor. The film captures the beautiful sights of the country...the hills, paddy fields, beach, bridges, etc. The props used in this film...the old furniture and decorations in Chuan's or any of his other ex-classmates' house provides a feeling of authenticity.The Journey is a character-driven story, the film shines because of its wonderful casts. Lee Sai Peng is wonderfully cast as he managed to provide a great performance as the mopey and grumpy old man. On the other hand, Joanna Yew Hong Im and Ben Andrew Pfeiffer both provide a convincing performance as the interracial couple, managed to convey believable character emotions for certain scenes in the film.Overall, it's one of the best Malaysian Chinese film ever made, don't miss it. It's a film for the young and old, a film that exceeds my expectation. It's better than many of the trashy and pointless foreign Asian productions out there now. Highly recommended.http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/02/movie-review-journey.html

Before I first went to watch THE JOURNEY in the cinema, I have little knowledge about this movie at all. But to my surprise, this locally-made production has totally exceeds my expectation, at which THE JOURNEY truly deserves its recognition as one of the best Malaysian-Chinese movies ever made. And bear in mind, this is only Chiu's (his full name is actually Chiu Keng Guan) third directing effort following his back-to-back success of 2010's WOOHOO! and 2011's GREAT DAY.WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?After spending a decade living with her aunt to study art in England, Bee (Joanne Yew) has finally returns home to Cameron Highlands. She also brought back her British fiancé, Benji (Ben Andrew Pfeiffer) to introduce him to her conservative father Uncle Chuan (Frankie Lee) and hoping to seek his blessing for their upcoming marriage. At first, Uncle Chuan opposes to his daughter's marriage because he doesn't get along with Benji well. However, he ends up agreeing anyway except with one condition -- their wedding ceremony has to be done in the Chinese tradition. Soon, Benji is tasked to bring along Uncle Chuan on a long motorcycle journey across the country to deliver the wedding invitations to Uncle Chuan's 11 ex-primary schoolmates.THE GOOD STUFFChiu's direction is sharp and meticulous to detail, especially the way he depicts the Chinese culture and tradition with such authenticity. His regular screenwriter, Ryon Lee, successfully combined the universal themes of culture, hope, love, friendship and unity within his screenplay that everyone can relate to. Eric Yeong's cinematography, which is shot on locations across six states in Malaysia (Cameron Highlands, Ipoh, Penang, Kedah, Melaka and Johor) are wonderfully captured with such sheer beauty it's like watching a travel channel. The panoramic and idyllic view of the Cameron Highlands setting is especially worth a special mention here.For the acting department, Chiu has certainly took a huge gamble by casting actors with little or no experience in acting at all. However, his gamble proves to be surprisingly rewarding. 73-year-old retiree Frankie Lee is perfectly cast as the conservative and stubborn father Uncle Chuan. He pairs well with Australian stage actor Ben Andrew Pfeiffer, who delivers an impressive performance as Benji. Watching the way they argue against each other because of their cultural and ideological differences are simply both entertaining and heartfelt. Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant 2007 Joanne Yew, in the meantime, is not only photogenic but also acted well as the estranged daughter Bee. As for the rest of the supporting actors, all of them have their equal share of limelight.MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT(S)The brief but wonderful scene where Bee uses a black marker to draw caricature of her father, Uncle Chuan and her fiancé, Benji riding motorcycle together on the car window.THE BAD STUFFThroughout the duration, I was surprised by the mesmerizing result of this movie. In short, THE JOURNEY is pitch perfect that I hardly find a flaw within.FINAL WORDSLike the title itself, this is one cinematic journey worth exploring for. No doubt THE JOURNEY is a rare gem of a local movie not to be missed this Chinese New Year. By the way, make sure to stay for the end-credits music video featuring Ben Andrew Pfeiffer singing a wonderfully cheeky song that combines English and Chinese languages.