If you want to have a good understanding of the movie's lines, plot and characters, you first need to understand the original Journey to the West, including the characters, the story and what Wu Chengen is trying to tell the readers. Secondly, you need to watch Journey to the West, because Journey to the West 2 is designed on the basis of the original and Journey to the West 1. Without these two bases, it is difficult to understand the way of presentation in the movie.
Secondly, pay attention to the recurring details in the movie
When you have watched Journey to the West 1, you should know that the Tang Monk has already realized the Rulai Divine Palm in the True Scriptures of the Great Sun, so that among the four masters and disciples, the Tang Monk is the most powerful. The Tang Monk has the ability to recognize demons, which means both the Tang Monk and the Monkey King can tell who is a demon. At the beginning of Journey to the West 2, the Tang Monk dreamed of getting the Lifetime Achievement Award, which is the highest award given to an actor, and the Tang Monk volunteered to join the circus troupe. Immediately afterward, the Tang Monk has his disciples perform for the villagers, while Wukong turns the whole village upside down, and Wukong keeps holding back the emotions he can't let out. After the performance, a dwarf rewards the monk with a candy cane. The Tang Monk begins to whip Wukong for overdoing it, and learns that this is not the first time through a conversation between Wukong and Wujing. At the mouth of the Pan Silk Cave the Tang Monk encounters a spider spirit and then lets his disciple enter to eat with him, seeing through Wukong's eyes that they are all spider spirits, the Tang Monk drinks the spider spirit's poison. After Wukong catches the Spider-Spirit the Tang Monk is thinking of penitentizing her, while Wukong kills her. The fake king of Bhikkhu Kingdom, Red Child, is holding a sugar gourd in his hand, the Tang Monk goes and returns asking to take Xiao Shan away, the Tang Monk is beaten up by Wukong, Xiao Shan tells the truth, which in turn leads to the final boss, Jiu Gong Zhen.
Three, through the details of the movie to analyze the connotation of the movie
In combination with the details, we ask the question. Why does the movie start the Tang monk dream to get a lifetime achievement award, which is the highest award for actors, shows that the Tang monk feels that he is the best actor, and he wants to perform a play. And this play needs Wukong, Wuneng, and Wujing to work together. The Tang Monk is an exorcist, so what is the purpose of volunteering to join the circus troupe? There is only one possibility, to subdue the demons. And the Tang Monk's to the master's teachings, to subdue the demons to remove the demonic nature to retain the goodness, so the disciples have been holding their breath to cooperate with the master to ambush the demons. And after the show, the dwarf gave the tang monk a sugar gourd, here to tell the audience, this person is short and holding a sugar gourd, not normal human beings, and then you can look at the circus people dress up, you can confirm that these are not human beings. The Tang Monk is warning these demons not to harm people or he will have to subdue them. This is the goodness of heart. And then the Tang Monk went to the Pansi Cave to see the beautiful women go out to meet them, at this point the Tang Monk already knew that they were not human so he let his disciple go in to eat and the disciple knew that going in was not to eat but to help the master ambush the demons. Sun Wukong direct and spider spirit said, hit me. Because the Tang monk voodoo demon philosophy is not to use force, to probation them, unless the other side to use force. When he went to the country of Bhikkhu, Red Child was also holding a sugar gourd in his hand, the same as the circus, which means they are the same person. Goku provokes Red Child to transform and subdue him. The real king appears and asks Xiao Shan to do a dance, which is the same as the dance of Ms. Journey to the West 1. The Tang Monk already feels something is wrong at this point. Going and returning to ask Xiao Shan to follow him, the Tang Monk contacted Xiao Shan, the purpose is to know her origin and purpose, why she knows his conversation with Miss Duan, she will dance Miss Duan's dance. At this point, attentive viewers must remember that when the Nine Palace Realist greeted the Tang Monk, he once touched the Tang Monk's chest. The Tang Monk also thought of this, and the audience came to a realization when the Nine Palace Realist finally appeared.
Four, the Tang Monk designed to draw out the Nine Palace real
Through the above details and plot, string together we found that the movie Tang Monk from the beginning is to accept the Nine Palace real. And joining the circus, entering the Pansi Cave, and walking to the country of Bichun is a step-by-step planned approach to the Nine Palaces by the Tang Monk. Because the Tang monk is an exorcist. The Nine Palace is a god, not a demon, and if a god harms people, then the god becomes a demon and has to ambush the demon. Nine Palace is a god, so Wukong and Tang Monk can't see his real body. Xiao Shan is a white bone spirit, but Xiao Shan hasn't harmed anyone, so he's not a demon. In the movie the demon-shining mirror, the Tang Priest, and the Wukong do not see that Xiao Shan is a demon, but they know that Xiao Shan is not human. Through the affection Xiao Shan develops for the Tang Monk, it leads to the eventual Nine Palace Realist. The whole thing is about the Tang Monk leading the way, with the apprentice assisting. More than once in the movie, the Tang Monk says that he has to go and touch up his makeup, which has clearly told the audience that they have been acting for the final boss they are trying to find out.
Westward Journey to Voodoo, the whole story is still very subtle, the presentation is relatively difficult to understand, but careful viewers can still find the problem. You think about it, Tsui Hark, Stephen Chow through decades of movie shooting creation, do they even have a thing to explain? Investing hundreds of millions of dollars, spending several years, making a movie for the audience to curse? Let peers look at the joke, is it possible? In fact, this movie also has a lot of shortcomings, the hints are hidden too inconspicuous, it is difficult to make a connection. At the very least, it should be guided so that the audience can imagine in the right direction. Xiao Shan's role is the turning point, but also the most important role of the movie, I think we should let Xiao Shan in the circus when the appearance, to make up for the Tang Monk in the West 1 feel afraid to do the love experience.