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Tripitaka (Nicholas Tse), a devout monk and his wacky companions Monkey (Chen Bo-lin), Sandy (Steven Cheung) and Piggy
(Kenny Kwan) are attacked by the Tree Demon and his insect acolytes while traveling west to recover the Buddhist scriptures.
Before being captured, Monkey gives Tripitaka his magic golden staff, which brings him to the lands of lizard people. Ugly outcast Meiyan (Charlene Choi) rescues Tripitaka from being eaten and eventually falls in love with him. A potpourri of scenes follow as Tripitaka finds ways to rescue his friends and Meiyan tries hard to win his love. Several persons are killed along the way as Meiyan defends Tripitaka. But she constantly receives rejection because of her despicable looks and her crude ways. When her adoptive mother gives her a magic ball, she is transformed into a beautiful winged lady. She rescues Monkey and his companions and surrenders herself to the Emperor to save Tripitaka from punishment. Tripitaka realizes he loves Meiyan after all and wreaks havoc on heaven to save her from death. Buddha appears and rules that they must start again as Tripitaka is not yet ready for the unconditional love of Meiyan.
The film is an eye-popper with all the ostentatious Computer Generated Images (CGI), poetic cinematography and engaging
music. However, the narration is so hard to follow as it constantly shifts focus and introduces scenes and characters with no solid logic.
The dialogues are equally confusing with some apparently good points about true love, peace and courage which sadly seem to just pop out of nowhere and make no real impact. The performances are at most cute, but the plot does not demand much from the actors. Over all, the film is merely an aimless display of CGI expertise that makes you feel like watching a computer game. Writer/director Jeffrey Lau should have gotten someone else to write the script.
In the hodge-podge plot development, the film tries to convey the Buddhist's values about peace and love. Tripitaka
frequently emphasizes value of negotiating and communicating to avoid violence. He talks about beauty in the heart and scolds Meiyan for lying and being deceitful just
because she is ugly. The film also discusses true love. How one should learn to sacrifice for the beloved and give without asking anything in return.
It makes a beautiful commentary on true love when we see Tripitaka and the transformed Meiyan going through the journey again even if fate had decided they cannot be together. Lessons on non-violence, real beauty and true love could have been better highlighted with tighter storytelling. The film is decent and adequately enjoyable but not recommended for viewers who value their money.
(Date Reviewed: 7 April 2006)
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