Line #18 Film/AChineseOdyssey


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e87fa2f3ca4541fda7e1cd1e233b231c.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The journey of 108,000 miles began 500 years ago.]]
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4	''A Chinese Odyssey'' (大話西游) started as a two-part 1995 Hong Kong fantasy-comedy film directed by Jeffrey Lau, and starring Creator/StephenChow. [[AffectionateParody Very loosely]] based on the Wu Cheng'en novel ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', the story of the two parts are as follows:
5	* ''A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box'' (西遊記第壹佰零壹回之月光寶盒, ''Journey to the West: Chapter 101: Moonlight Treasure Box''): Some point during the pilgrimage to India, the Monkey King (Stephen Chow) rebelled against Tripitaka (Law Kar-ying) for the monk's constant nagging. The goddess Guanyin subdued and sealed him as a result of his actions against his master, and Tripitaka pleaded for mercy and sacrificed himself to atone for Monkey's crimes. 500 years later, Monkey is reincarnated as Joker (Stephen Chow), leader of a bandit gang. When two mysterious women (Karen Mok and Lam Kit-ying) show up at Joker's bandit hideout, who are actually demons in disguise thinking that Joker holds the clue to Tripitaka's whereabouts, HilarityEnsues for Joker and his gang. But not before a saint shows up as a bunch of grapes and an old archnemesis of the Monkey King returns, and that's when Joker discovers his past life and true destiny...
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7	* ''A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella'' (西遊記大結局之仙履奇緣, ''Journey to the West Grand Finale: Cinderella''[[note]]Chinese dub title for {{WesternAnimation/Cinderella}}. Go figure[[/note]]): Having travelled back in time 500 years thanks to the Moonlight Treasure Box, Joker encounters a woman with the split personalities of Zixia and Qingxia Fairies (Athena Chu), and enters an unwilling relationship with her. He then reunites with Tripitaka (Law Kar-ying) and his other two disciples, but the Bull Demon King (Lu Shuming, i.e. Guan Yu from the 1994 ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' TV series) shows up and captures Tripitaka, with the intention of making a banquet out of the monk's flesh and forcibly making Zixia/Qingxia his concubine. Now, Zhu Bajie (Ng Man-tat) and Sha Wujing must find a way to rescue their master from Bull, while Joker has to contend with whether to continue the relationship between him and Zixia/Qingxia, or take up his true destiny as the Monkey King.
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9	A third film, ''A Chinese Odyssey: Part Three'' (大话西游3), was released in China on September 14, 2016. Han Geng replaces Stephen Chow as the Monkey King.
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11	In 2017, the TV series ''A Chinese Odyssey: Love of Eternity'' (大话西游之爱你一万年) which further explores and combines all three films was released.
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13	Not to be confused with ''Chinese Odyssey 2002'', which stars Creator/TonyLeungChiuWai, Faye Wong, Creator/ChangChen, Creator/ZhaoWei and Athena Chu.
14	!! This franchise contains examples of the following tropes:
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16	* AdaptationalHeroism: Part 3 [[spoiler:introduces the fake Sun Wukong from the original text, the Six-Eared Macaque - due to Joker not being ready to resume the duties of the Journey to the West (having been flung back in time before his sentence was up), the Macaque takes his place in the legend proper.]]
17	* AffectionateParody: Of Literature/JourneyToTheWest. At one point, the movie questions why would demons go through great lengths to consume the sought after "divine" flesh of Tripitaka... by having someone pretending to be Tripitaka and naming their child after Tripitaka!
18	* AutobotsRockOut: "Dagger Group Prelude".
19	** TropeMaker: started the trend of playing whenever something really epic in a Literature/JourneyToTheWest film happens.
20	* BaitAndSwitch: Joker's second-in-command, who is mind controlled by the Spider Demoness, steal the pouch that seals demons, and bluffs at Joker as the she and Jingjing prepare to whoop their bare asses, only to reveal that he is actually Grandpa Buddha in disguise and then seals the two demons, revealing that the real, mind controlled guy is already caught by him and the bandits.
21	* {{Brainwashed}}: The Spider Demoness hypnotizes Joker's second-in-command to do her bidding, and attempts to sabotage Joker's attempt to seal the two demons by burning the invisibility talismans provided by Grandpa Buddha. Fortunately, Grandpa Buddha manages to catch him being mind controlled by the demons off-screen.
22	* TheChewToy: Joker and his crew sneak into a dinner between Jingjing and the Spider Demoness, then accidentally cause a fire, which the guys helpfully stomp out. Then some guy's clothes catch fire. Cue stomping. Then Joker's ''pants catch fire.'' Yes, right ''[[GroinAttack there]]''.
23	** And while sneaking up on the demons in nothing but (tampered) talismans, Joker's "loincloth" catch fire. And asks for his crew to stomp out the fire on his crotch. And it happens ''again.'' But just as Joker has his crotch on fire for the '''[[RuleOfThree third]]''' time, he decides to [[DefiedTrope take off his "loincloth"]] and just charge at the demons in plain sight.
24	* CurbStompBattle:
25	** When the Monkey King rebels against Tripitaka in the first act and tries to attack Guanyin, she squishes the Monkey King, then wraps him in a leaf and seals him in a vase.
26	** Any time Joker and his bandit gang [[MuggingTheMonster takes on the demons]]. You can tell where is this going.
27	* DrivenToSuicide:
28	** Thinking that Joker could not retrieve the antidote for the Spider Demoness' venom, Jingjing commits suicide rather than to [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled die from the venom.]] [[spoiler: Bull Demon King found her body and resurrected her under his control.]]
29	*** [[spoiler: And then she commits suicide again after the Spider Demoness forced Joker's second-in-command to lie about their child being Joker's. Joker managed to stop her suicide after multiple attempts of using the Moonlight Treasure Box.]]
30	** Played for laughs with one of the Bull Demon King's guards committing suicide out of irritation of Tripitaka's ramblings!
31	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Albeit also a bittersweet one. [[spoiler:After many deaths and one final battle, Joker -- fully transformed back into an atoning Monkey King -- is transported to a timeline where everyone is living happily, including Zixia and another Joker. After helping the two admit their love for one another, the Monkey King properly begins the Journey to the West, accompanied by a less annoying Tripitaka, and a Zhu Baije and Sha Wujing who are actually friendly to each other.]]
32	* FixFic: Part 3 is really a straight-up redux of the first two movies, establishing their conclusion as a case of YouCantFightFate, then retcons said fate so that [[spoiler:the Zixia that dies and the Monkey King that follows Longevity Monk on the quest ''were both impersonators the whole time,'' allowing Joker and Zixia to remain together.]]
33	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Joker has visions of a cave full of monkeys in his dreams. This would eventually hint at his past life being the Monkey King.
34	* FreakyFridayFlip: Exaggerated. Xiangxiang, Bull Demon King's sister, uses this technique to switch Bajie's and Qingxia's souls. A weird subversion, as Zixia's personality retains intact but her Qingxia personality got swapped with Bajie's soul.
35	** One of the few cases where this trope is weaponized [[PlayedForHorror somewhat horrifically]]: Xiangxiang attempts to uses this technique to [[FateWorseThanDeath imprison Wujing's soul inside a rock]], but Wujing managed to [[ThanksForTheMammary grab Xiangxiang]] just in time to swap minds with each other.
36	** Xiangxiang does it again in Bull's festival. While Bajie and Wujing managed to get their souls back, but a dog passing by causes Xiangxiang to be stuck in said dog's body, and Qingxia in Xiangxiang's body.
37	* GameFace / NightmareFace: The White Bone Demon / Jingjing pulls off this in her demon form.
38	* GiantSpider: The Spider Demoness can transform into one. However, it's rendered harmless [[RuleOfFunny for some reason]] when one of Joker's goons grab one, yet the other bandits flee in fear from the guy carrying it.
39	* HeCleansUpNicely: When Joker declares he will no longer be a bandit and become a scholar after meeting Jingjing, he shaves his beard. Then Jingjing complained that he should have [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys continued being a bandit]] and keep his beard, causing Joker to try to paste back his beard.
40	* HurlItIntoTheSun: [[spoiler: Bull Demon King uses the Iron Fan to lift ''an entire demon village'' towards the sun to try to kill the Monkey King.]]
41	* InfoDump: When Joker finally finds Jingjing in the past, and winds up spilling ''everything'' about her future all at once in 2x speed.
42	* InvisibilityCloak: The invisibility talismans provided by Grandpa Buddha makes the holder invisible to demons. So Joker and his gang try to sneak up on the two demons... by [[InvisibleStreaker wearing nothing]] but the talismans around their crotches (while Joker's second-in-command [[FanDisservice wears the talismans like a hula dancer)]], not realizing that Joker's second-in-command tampered with the talismans as a result of being mind controlled by the demons.
43	* IronicEcho: The speech Joker gives Zixia to trick her into believing he loves her so she wouldn't kill him with her sword. [[spoiler: The second time was sincere but he was already dead. At the very end, he finally manages to say "I love you" to her but only by possessing the reincarnated Joker and he can no longer be with her]]. Zixia describes her ideal fated lover as someone who was larger than life and will walk on seven coloured clouds to marry her. [[spoiler: As she says herself, she got the beginning description right but not the ending.]]
44	* MacGuffin: The Moonlight Treasure Box.
45	* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: The MagicMirror given by Grandpa Buddha can reveal demons disguised as humans, as shown by Jingjing's [[GameFace demonic face]] being shown on the mirror when Joker takes a peek of her reflection. It also reveals what a person was in his past life, with the Joker's second-in-command being revealed to be Bajie in his past life. [[spoiler: The Monkey King's face does not appear when Joker looks into the mirror until he travelled back 500 years.]]
46	* MuggingTheMonster: Joker and his bandit gang takes on the Spider Demoness and Jingjing. The results are [[DoNotTauntCthulhu predictable]].
47	* NeverFoundTheBody: As Joker arrived with the antidote to heal Jingjing's venom from the Spider Demoness, he assumes that he's arrived too late to save her and caused her to commit suicide to avoid dying from the venom as a result, [[spoiler: not realizing that Bull has found her body and resurrected her under his control.]]
48	* NeverTrustATrailer: A peacock demon is seen during the trailer for Part Two after the end of Part One. That guy is nowhere to be found in Part Two.
49	* OnceMoreWithClarity: Part 3 - [[spoiler:Zixia uses the Moonlight Box and sees her eventual death, [[DyingInYourArmsTonight in the arms of the Monkey King]], but the Six-Eared Macaque has been forced to stand in for the Monkey King the whole time, and in the end, it's actually Qingxia who dies in her sister's place.]]
50	* OnlyAFleshWound: Joker's second-in-command ignores a dagger wound to his thigh by accident (which he then tries to cover the blood leakage). Then got his thigh [[BrickJoke slashed]] by the Spider Woman's blade.
51	* OrchestralBombing: "Dagger Group Prelude".
52	** TropeMaker: ''A Chinese Odyssey'' started the trend of playing this whenever something really epic in a Literature/JourneyToTheWest film happens.
53	* OverlyLongGag:
54	** This incarnation of Tripitaka being ''unnecessarily'' longwinded.
55	** For a given value of 'gag', every time Joker uses the Moonlight Box to jump back in time to save Jingjing always leads to him reaching her a second too late [[spoiler: (in reality, she committed suicide until Joker stopped her suicide attempt after his third time travel attempt)]]. Every. Single. Time. Alongside his second-in-command's reaction to him using the Moonlight Box. [[spoiler: Until an unexplained hiccup causes the Moonlight Box to send him back ''500 years'' instead of the ten or so minutes he was aiming for.]]
56	** A passionate moment when Joker and Jingjing start stripping off for sex... and end up taking way too long.
57	-->[-'''Joker:''' "Shit, who tied this knot?"-]
58	* PlayingWithFire: Jingjing. A running gag involves Joker's hand being burned by her flames.
59	* RuleOfFunny: It's a Stephen Chow movie, so of course there will be ''mo lei tau'' involved.
60	* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: More like [[InvertedTrope Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film]]. The peacock demon in the trailer for Part Two doesn't appear in the proper movie at all.
61	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Once the Bull Demon King shows up and wreaks havoc on Joker's lair, the Spider Demoness and Jingjing retreat back to the Spider Web Cave alongside Joker and his second-in-command as their attempts to repel Bull are useless. Grandpa Buddha retreats on the sight of Bull, saying that he's no match for him.
62	* SplitPersonality: Zixia/Qingxia Fairy. Zixia's personality shows during the day, while Qingxia's personality shows during nighttime.
63	* StableTimeLoop: The first two films are self-contained - Joker goes back 500 years to save his girlfriend Bai Jingjing, only to fall in love with Zixia, go through a lot more shenanigans involving the rest of the team and then have an epic showdown with the Bull Demon King to save Zixia and his master.
64	* StylisticSuck: Tripitaka is played by Law Kar Ying, a veteran Chinese opera singer - and yet his ''horrendous'' rendition of "Only You" reached memetic levels.
65	* TimeTravel: The Moonlight Treasure Box forms the crux of the plot, which combines approximately 500 years of separation from two different points of events. Yeah, time-travel shenanigans.
66	* TheToothHurts: Joker had to knock out one of his teeth with a rock when it gets stuck to the sticky threads of the Spider Demoness.
67	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: After sealing the Spider Demoness and Jingjing with a magic pouch provided by Grandpa Buddha, Joker's pet dog chews off the strings that keep the pouch closed. Cue the two demons [[OhCrap resurfacing...]]
68	* VisibleInvisibility: Played with. Joker and his goons decide to go naked in nothing but invisibility talismans when they attempt to sneak up on the two demons having dinner, but the two demons are still able to notice them as a result of the talismans being tampered by a mind-controlled second-in-command, so they decide to play along with the goons' "unseen" presence.

Context Film / AChineseOdyssey