Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

A young Buddhist monk named Xuan Zang travels a land troubled by demons, hoping to overcome them through compassion rather than combat. His gentle approach meets resistance from Miss Duan, a demon hunter who favors direct force, and the two become entangled as they face a series of threats. Among these is the Monkey King, a powerful demon long imprisoned, whose fate becomes bound up with Xuan Zang's mission.

Stephen Chow directed and co-wrote the film, which stands ninth in the directing filmography listed here, arriving between CJ7 and The Mermaid. The screenplay was written with Xin Huo and Fung Chih-chiang, and Chow also produced alongside Wang Zhonglei and Ivy Kong Yuk-Yee. Wen Zhang plays Xuan Zang, Shu Qi plays Miss Duan, and Huang Bo plays Sun Wukong, with Show Lo, Chrissie Chau and Lee Sheung-Ching among a credited cast of fifty-five.

Released in early 2013, the Hong Kong and Chinese co-production mixes action, adventure, comedy and fantasy. It performed strongly at the box office, taking roughly 208 million US dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.7 from around 15,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7 from roughly 465 votes. A critics' rating of 7.2 from thirty-five reviews places it close to the audience scores.