Starring Stephen Chow, Ng Man-Tat, Athena Chu, Ada Choi, Yammie Lam Kit-Ying and Karen Mok. Directed by Jeffrey Lau for Color Star Films and Xi’an Film Studio.

In this sequel to A CHINESE ODYSSEY PART ONE: PANDORA’S BOX we follow the comedic adventures of Joker/Monkey King (Chow) after he is sent 500 years into the past. Here he once more encounters characters like Longevity Monk and King Bull.

In this Hong Kong action-comedy-fantasy flick our hero is torn between two loves in a story that relies on a lot of body-swapping humour, such as when a female character switches bodies with Pigsy (Man-Tat). There’s also a running joke concerning Longevity Monk, who is portrayed as such an insufferably irritating chatterbox that bovine warriors would rather kill themselves than listen to him!

This time around we’re introduced to Princess Iron Fan (Choi), a bat-eared villain called Old Black Mountain Devil that can sniff away a person’s life, and King Bull’s many minions, who have visages resembling dogs, lizards and birds. 

With Joker finally becoming Monkey King, he battles King Bull, who uses a magic fan to cause earthquakes and winds, sending the city and everyone within it hurtling towards the sun! Monkey King saves the day, helps the new incarnations of Joker and his lover Zixia find romance, then heads off across the desert with his master.

Part two, directed by Jeffrey Lau, who also made OPERATION PINK SQUAD II and SAVIOUR OF THE SOUL, is certainly a mad ride, but A CHINESE ODYSSEY PART ONE: PANDORA’S BOX (also directed by Lau) is funnier, with better-handled set pieces compared to this follow-up.