Opening with the beautiful Athena Chu entering an abandoned desert village, we are treated to a quick but fun fight when a gang of Heaven's guards attack her, in true Ching Siu Tung style of course!
This leads us back to the end scene of part one, where she meets Joker (Chow) and makes him her slave, as well as stealing his Pandora's Box. His attempt at trying to open the cave door to retrieve it is hilarious, and once in, does what he has to in an attempt to get the box and save Jing Jing back in his own time.
They set off soon after, from towns (where we see the hilarious Ng Man Tat back as Pigsy) to the desert, where one night, Chow witnesses the Monkey King arguing with a Goddess; a return to the very first opening scene of part one...
And then it all comes together. Chow, who has now seen via the magic mirror that he is the Monkey King reincarnate, gets an insight to who he is going to become. Seeing that his former self has the Pandora's Box he attempts once again to get it from them, of course, with hilarious results that shake the storyline up in crazy ways!
Cinderella cranks the comedy and madness up to 11, with more demons (the soul sucking scene is just too funny), more Bull King, and of course, more Monkey... But it also has heart that seems to blend flawlessly with the ridiculousness of it all - one of those scenes has Longevity Monk, Law Kar Ying, giving a painful rendition of the Platters song 'Only You'.
That's followed by a crazy body swap which leads to more hilarity, from a fight with the Bull King, to a botched fake suicide attempt that results in a rescue mission. Then the return of Karen Mok's character Jing Jing, spins Chow into a comedic flashback as he very quickly goes over their story in part one, to try and convince her who he really is!
Madness!!
The last 20 minutes is a total delight as Chow takes full Monkey King form, facing off against the Bull King and his army with his own team of monkeys in an all out battle of weapons and wire-fu, big set pieces and stunt work, while breaking the heart of his beloved and suffering the pain of love lost. All of that, while the piece of earth they are fighting on is flying into the sun... and then some.
A Chinese Odyssey 2 is something else - and both films are well worth seeing. All in all, this is a fantasy love story which delivers in every department and is one of the legends finest adaptations. It's beautiful, hilarious, touching, action packed, and well worth seeing!
Overall: I only wish Chow had stuck around to continue the story, but nonetheless has helped give us another amazing piece of Hong Kong cinema!
This leads us back to the end scene of part one, where she meets Joker (Chow) and makes him her slave, as well as stealing his Pandora's Box. His attempt at trying to open the cave door to retrieve it is hilarious, and once in, does what he has to in an attempt to get the box and save Jing Jing back in his own time.
They set off soon after, from towns (where we see the hilarious Ng Man Tat back as Pigsy) to the desert, where one night, Chow witnesses the Monkey King arguing with a Goddess; a return to the very first opening scene of part one...
And then it all comes together. Chow, who has now seen via the magic mirror that he is the Monkey King reincarnate, gets an insight to who he is going to become. Seeing that his former self has the Pandora's Box he attempts once again to get it from them, of course, with hilarious results that shake the storyline up in crazy ways!
Cinderella cranks the comedy and madness up to 11, with more demons (the soul sucking scene is just too funny), more Bull King, and of course, more Monkey... But it also has heart that seems to blend flawlessly with the ridiculousness of it all - one of those scenes has Longevity Monk, Law Kar Ying, giving a painful rendition of the Platters song 'Only You'.
That's followed by a crazy body swap which leads to more hilarity, from a fight with the Bull King, to a botched fake suicide attempt that results in a rescue mission. Then the return of Karen Mok's character Jing Jing, spins Chow into a comedic flashback as he very quickly goes over their story in part one, to try and convince her who he really is!
Madness!!
The last 20 minutes is a total delight as Chow takes full Monkey King form, facing off against the Bull King and his army with his own team of monkeys in an all out battle of weapons and wire-fu, big set pieces and stunt work, while breaking the heart of his beloved and suffering the pain of love lost. All of that, while the piece of earth they are fighting on is flying into the sun... and then some.
A Chinese Odyssey 2 is something else - and both films are well worth seeing. All in all, this is a fantasy love story which delivers in every department and is one of the legends finest adaptations. It's beautiful, hilarious, touching, action packed, and well worth seeing!
Overall: I only wish Chow had stuck around to continue the story, but nonetheless has helped give us another amazing piece of Hong Kong cinema!