Journey to the West II

This drama is the sequel to "Journey To The West", which starred Dicky Cheung, Kong Wah, Wayne Lai, and Evergreen Mak. However, due to some changes made by TVB, Dicky Cheung, who starred as the Monkey King in the first part, had been changed to Benny Chan. Although Benny's acting as the monkey may not be as mischievous and playful as Dicky's, I had enjoyed this sequel despite some draggy and boring stories in the show. I recognized Benny's hard work and effort put into the character, also of the other three main casts - Kong Wah, Wayne, and Evergreen.

As with the first part, this sequel continues with the story of the four of them making their way to the West in order to obtain the Buddhist religious texts called Sutras. However, I felt that this second part is much longer and slow-moving than the first part. Despite being so, the whole show is quite an entertaining one and contains some heart-warming and light-hearted stories causing the whole show to be more fascinating and interesting to watch.

THE CHARACTERS
Xuanzang
He is the Master of the three disciples who led them throughout the journey. He influences Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Wu ShaJin to be more benevolent and forgiving. Also, he guides them to the right path instead of going astray.

Kong Wah's acting as Xuanzang: Still remain the same as the first part, his acting and speech still had not convinced me of his benevolence as a monk. However, I felt that in this part of Journey To The West, he seems to care more about Sun Wukong than the previous part (this is just my personal thoughts).
My rating for his acting : 3.5/5

Monkey God
The first disciple of Xuanzang, Sun Wukong is still as powerful and resourceful in this part. He is able to protect his master safely throughout the journey and is able to defeat all the demons easily without any effort spent.

Benny Chan's acting as Sun WuKong: Benny's acting may not be as perfect and natural as Dicky's acting, but I felt that Benny had actually did quite a good job! In Benny's version as Sun WuKong, he is able to deliver the more emotional side of Sun Wukong to the audiences instead of Dicky's version which shows us a more arrogant and confident side of Sun WuKong. He seems to be a more sensible monkey than Dicky's monkey who is always impetuous and harsh. His chemistry with Wayne is also quite good, as their quarreling scenes were very entertaining and amusing. My rating for his acting : 4/5

Pig
Being the same as the first part, he is still the MOST lazy character in the show and is always reciting his favourite love poem in the 'adorable' manner which is very funny and entertaining.

Wayne Lai's acting as Pig : Again, thumbs up for Wayne's acting as the pig. It was as perfect as the first part and was still as convincing and perfectly well portrayed. His chemistry with Benny is still commendable as their bickering scenes were really very cute and funny. However, I felt that in this part they seems to care more about each other (I mean the pig and monkey god) than the previous part where they were really mean to each other. My conjecture was that after this tough and endearing journey, their brotherhood seems to be more united which is really very enjoyable to see with (this is just my wild guess).
My rating for his acting : 4/5

Sand Monk
As the same as the previous part , he is still the most obedient and hardworking disciple among the three. However, he is still as silly as the first part, always bullied by his second senior.

Evergreen Mak's acting as Sandy: I do not see much changes in his acting from the first part, still maintaining the same standard. However, I am quite pleased with his chemistry with Benny and Wayne as it was quite well done.
My rating for his acting : 3.5/5

THE STORIES AND OTHER SUB-CHARACTERS:
This sequel is longer than the previous part and contains much more stories, causing the story to be more draggy and boring. However, the cast's hard work and effort had paid off as they had caused the show to be more endurable and more interesting to watch on. I think the only touching story I was really engrossed with is the part where Sun Wukong powers are lost. This part is really very enjoyable and memorable.

OVERALL:
I am pleased with the show although it may not be as good as the first one. The cast in the show had done a decent job which is really commendable. Therefore, I give this show a rating of 4/5. I encourage those people who have not watched this show to go and give it a try. Well done, actors/actresses!