Si jou ťi

Journey to the West seemed rather weird to me (or, even, very weird) when I saw it as a child. It is complete nonsense, but for some mysterious reason I liked to watch it, over and over. It wasn't until years later that I figured out what the magic of Journey to the West consisted of. It gave me the realization that it's better to watch something outrageously stupid which you enjoy (even at the creators' expense) than a thousand and one uninterestingly mediocre variations of the same thing. (06/11/2006)

A colossal madness, where nostalgia works like in very few projects. Even today, I see myself as a clueless nerd, staring fascinated at the screen, not understanding what it was about and yet - losing even a single episode was a disaster. (16/11/2006)

If I evaluate a piece with a long time gap, it happens that after a new viewing, the rating shifts up or down by one star. I saw Monkey King in the early 90s and I'm sure that if I saw it now, I would seriously consider discarding it. Two stars are for the heavy bizarreness that was oozing from this piece. At the time, I considered it an absolutely exceptional trip. Today, I know that similar productions in East Asia are not exceptional at all. From a screenwriting perspective and in terms of technical execution, it does not deserve much attention. I am afraid nostalgia has a great influence on the rating of Monkey King. Overall impression: 30%. (08/08/2007)