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Review by
Calvin
McMillin: |
The
adventures of the Monkey King continue in The Land of Many
Perfumes, the fourth installment of the Shaw Brothers
live-action adaptation of Wu Cheng-En's popular novel, Journey
to the West. Faster than you can say "Xena: Warrior
Princess," the Monkey King (Chow Lung-Cheung) and his
band of merry monks wander into a community composed solely
of women. Not surprisingly, the men-deprived locals go nuts
when the Tang Priest Xuanzhang (Ho Fan) and his anthropomorphized
pals show up. Furthermore, the monk Xuanzhang, who in nearly
every adventure comes close to either being eaten or deflowered
by a lusty female demon, becomes the object of the Amazonian
Queen's affection. But strangely, the heretofore-chaste monk
doesn't spurn her affections, but instead encourages them,
even going so far as to agree to marriage! How very out of
character for a devout monk, no?
Of course, it's not really the
Tang Priest. Unbeknownst to our heroes, a quartet of nondescript
female demons has used black magic to impersonate our pilgrims
and arrange the taboo marriage pact. And if four devil women
weren't enough, two more enter the fray with an agenda all
their own. Known as the Snake and Scorpion Demons, the two
witches trick the Ru Yi Fairy God, an elderly divinity looking
for a retirement home, into occupying the Monkey King's former
residence, the Water Curtain Cave. Why? They seem confident
that the Monkey King will learn of the unwanted tenant and
evict him, which leaves the Tang Priest bereft of his prize
pupil and therefore ripe for the taking!
Naturally, all sorts of crazy
shenanigans occur when the real monk and his two remaining
disciples, Bajie (Peng Peng) and Wu Jing arrive in town. The
men are forbidden to leave the estrogen kingdom, and in no
time flat, we find that the Empress, the Princess, and the
Prime Minister (Fang Ying) are all lusting after the pious
Monk. At one point, the prime minister even tries to get Xuanzhang
drunk and take advantage of him in exchange for the permits
of transit! In direct contrast to the monk's resistance, there's
the lascivious, skirt-chasing Bajie, who is in a virtual hog
heaven thanks to his "imprisonment" in the Land
of Many Perfumes. And when the Monkey King arrives and the
six demon lovers show up to cause trouble, all sorts of "Three's
Company" style misunderstandings ensue, and the film
finally boils over into a nasty coup d'etat with cat fights
galore. Eventually, the Moon King's Chicken sorts everything
out. No, really.
As the fourth film in Shaw's
Monkey King series, The Land of the Many Perfumes holds
its own. It's a silly movie to be sure, but that's not meant
to be a negative criticism. Unlike many comedies old and new,
the film's humor doesn't rely solely on the mistaken belief
that facial mugging and outrageous behavior automatically
ensure belly laughs. While there's a good share of bawdy humor,
the characters remain likeable and believable, which helps
in taking the movie seriously. Well, as seriously as one takes
a movie about a mystical talking monkey.
As far as being a faithful adaptation,
the film adheres pretty well to the source material, but boasts
some crafty alterations that save it from being just another
rote, by-the-numbers rehash of a classic tale. And as a kid's
movie (well, a kid's movie with lots of PG-rated sexcapades),
the film even manages to squeeze in an unobtrusive life lesson
or two. For example, the Monkey King's show of mercy to the
Ru Yi Fairy God—who, by the way, enslaved Monkey's people
while occupying his home—is paid back in spades, which once
again teaches kids that kindness is always the answer.Well,
it's the eventual answer; the serious ass whooping comes first.
(Calvin McMillin 2003) |
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