The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra

~::*::*Cast*::*::~
Dicky Cheung as Seun Ng Hung
Edmund Leung as Tong Saam Jong
Sam Lee as Sah Jung
Eric Kot as Jeur Baat Gai
Andy Hui as Loong Mah
William So as Dong Hoi Loong Wong
Gillian Chung as Zhi Mei
Charlene Choi as Zhi Lan
Jimmy Lin as Na Zha
Nicholas Tse as Chung Kwai
Kristy Yang as Bak Gwut Tinh
Sammi Cheng as Guan Yin

~::*::*Plot*::*::~
This serial starts out from the very beginning when Suen Ng Hung (Dicky Cheung) is born. This serial is more adventure/comedy than anything else. I found it to be quite funny throughout. Mainly, they focus on the fighting scenes more than any romantic scenes. In this serial, Bak Gwut Tinh (Kristy) falls in love with Dicky. However, Dicky has no feelings towards Kristy. Instead, Dicky falls in love with Zhi Lan (Charlene). Dicky and Charlene have to endure many obstacles in order to be together. Another love story in this serial is between Na Zha (Jimmy) and Zhi Mei (Gillian). Gillian secretly has a crush on Jimmy but Yuk Dai (the king) finds out and punishes Gillian. Dicky angers Yuk Dai and is sentenced to death. Except one thing, he is indestructible and lives through all of Yuk Dai's "punishments". Finally, Dicky escapes only to be caught Fut Jo (Buddha). Dicky spends 500 hundred years trapped under a mountain. The only way he may be free from the mountain is if Tong Saam Jong (Edmund) frees him, but in return Dicky must journey with Edmund to the west in search for the sutra. Along the way, not only did they meet a few enemies, they also make quite a few friends. Sah Jung (Sam) and Jeur Baat Gai (Eric) are additions to Edmund's "team" to the west.

~::*::*The Couples*::*::~
Dicky and Kristy: They were an okay couple. Although I didn't think that Kristy suited Dicky in this movie at all. Kristy was always nagging at Dicky and it annoyed him incredibly.

Dicky and Charlene: When they first met in heaven, it was so hilarious. Dicky and Charlene had a dispute and Dicky ended up punching Charlene's eyes. Charlene fell in love with Dicky when he punched her. She loves him because of his hair, generosity, and masculine side. Although she loves Dicky, Charlene's sister Gillian has trouble getting along with Dicky, causing frequent trouble between Dicky and Gillian. Apparently, Charlene and Dicky were meant to be. Dicky used to be a rock and Charlene was a seed that grew due to the god's magical water vapor. Somehow, Charlene passed some of it over to Dicky and Dicky was born.

Jimmy and Gillian: I thought that they were a real cute couple! Gillian secretly had a crush on Jimmy and Jimmy didn't even know it. Gillian did everything in her powers for Jimmy, including cleaning his house, etc. She even entered into his dreams and told him that she was his guardian angel. She said that if anyone knew how to recite this poem that she said, that person was his guardian angel. It was a shame though when Jimmy and Gillian had to forget about each other. Yuk Dai found out that Gillian had a crush on Jimmy and punished Gillian. Afterwards, Jimmy was willing to risk his life to help Dicky escape and Gillian was willing to risk her life just to be with Jimmy one last time. In the end, Gillian's kai yeh (step-grandfather) erased both Gillian and Jimmy's memories. I hated that part! Jimmy and Gillian should have stayed together!!

Sam Lee and Lee San San: Lee San San and Sam Lee don't meet until towards the end of the serial. Lee San San is the spirit of a magical umbrella that is owned by Fut Jo. Sam saves Lee San San from an evil spirit that took control of her. Lee San San is very cold towards people in the serial except for Sam. Towards the end, when all the gods/goddess are fighting against this gigantic wicked creature, Lee San San gets killed trying to help out. But, Sam is fortunate enough to have found her again and together they open a little stall on the street selling umbrellas when peace is restored. I thought this couple was excellent acting-wise, but appearance-wise, they looked a bit odd to me.

Hmmm...I don't think that there were too many couples in this serial although there may have been some that I have missed. Those were probably minor ones though.

~::*::*Performance Ratings*::*::~
Dicky Cheung: 5 Stars - He was really funny in this serial. He was very outgoing and active. I love that side of Dicky. It makes him so cool. In this serial his acting was really good.

Edmund: 5 stars - Edmund really brought out the monk in himself. It seemed to me that he really knew what he was doing and saying as he was acting out the monk's part. Even though I thought he looked very young compared to the older version of Monkey King, his acting skills really showed in this serial.

Sam Lee: 3.5 Stars - I don't have much to say about Sam. He was a good actor, though there was something that I thought he lacked. I can't exactly pinpoint in which area he was lacking, but I felt he was lacking something that would complete his character.

Eric Kot: 4.5 Stars - Eric really portrayed the perverted, comical pig well. The only thing that I did not enjoy about his performance was his voice. It really bothered me hearing that high-pitched voice.

Jimmy Lin: 4 Stars - Somehow, I thought that Jimmy didn't seem to have put forth his best effort. I am not sure why. The VCDs I own had Jimmy talking in Cantonese, so that might have been what led me to believe that Jimmy wasn't doing too well in the serial. I also developed the biggest crush on Jimmy as I was watching this serial.

Twins (Gillian and Charlene): 2 Stars - Although I am a gargantuan fan of them, their acting just plain sucked in the serial. I watched their other movies and found that they have really improved since Monkey King. In Monkey King, you can really tell they were new to the acting business because they just didn't express their characters well enough to me. Their acting was pretty lousy!

~::*::*Gillian's Poem*::*::~
I loved the scenes between Gillian and Jimmy! I thought they would have made the cutest couple ever! I rewinded the scene where she recites the poem and watched it over one hundred times until I finally learned it. I will attempt to type up the pinyin as best as I can (in Cantonese):

Jok Yeh Xing Sun, Jok Yeh Fung
Wah Lao Sai Boon Gwai Tong Dong
Sung Moh Choi Fung, Serng Fei Yik
Sum Yao Ling Sai Yit Deem Tung

~::*::*My Opinion*::*::~
This serial was one of the best that I have seen. It was comical and at the same time filled with adventure and a dash of romance. I truly took pleasure in watching it. I loved it so much I watched it again. Although it was pretty long, it was still very excellent. I thought that it deserved very high marks and was truly one of the best serials of 2002. Whenever I get the chance, I will have to watch it again. Overall, this serial was absolutely remarkable. I would describe it as one of Dicky's best series.

~::*::*Minor Characters*::*::~
There were a lot of minor characters in this story. Some only came out for one scene and that was the end of it. When I first bought Monkey King, I expected to see Nicholas Tse in it quite often. Not until later on did I learn that he was just a guest appearance in this serial. Nicholas Tse, Fennie Yuen, William So, Cheung Sai, and Andy Hiu were a few of many stars that came out for a few scenes throughout the entire serial. They were not major characters, but I think they deserved some sort of recognition. There are a lot of other stars that also appeared, but I am unable to name them all.