Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons Movie Jun 2026

When you hear the words “Journey to the West,” most Western audiences picture the bright, acrobatic spectacle of the 1996 TV series or the goofy, martial arts-fueled chaos of The Forbidden Kingdom . But Stephen Chow—the Hong Kong maestro of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle —has never been interested in a straightforward adaptation.

"Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" is a 2014 Chinese-Hong Kong fantasy adventure film directed by Tsui Hark. The movie is loosely based on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West" by Wu Cheng'en, but it takes creative liberties to reimagine the story. journey to the west: conquering the demons movie

The best example is the Pig Demon (originally Zhu Bajie). Before he was a lecherous pig-man comic relief, he was a betrayed husband who murdered his cheating wife and her lover. His rage is so pure that his demon form is unstoppable. When Xuanzang tries his "singing" routine, the Pig Demon doesn't pause—he charges, nearly killing our hero. When you hear the words “Journey to the

9/10 Watch if you like: Kung Fu Hustle , Pan’s Labyrinth , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Best scene: The Monkey King’s breakout / Duan’s death The movie is loosely based on the classic

This is the "Demon King" of the title. He is chaos incarnate. He doesn't want redemption; he wants revenge for 500 years of imprisonment. Chow reminds us that in the original novel, before the journey, Wukong literally killed ten thousand heavenly soldiers. He is a monster.