Monkey Goes West, the first film in the series, is the film that introduces the world to the viewer and sets up all the recurring characters — the Tang priest (Ho Fan), who is on a holy pilgrimage to India to collect scriptures, and his motley trio of companions. The focus is squarely on the journey, however — unlike the novel (or the Japanese TV series) we don’t see any of Monkey’s exploits before he’s imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha. Instead, the first we see of him is his first encounter with the priest, as he entreats him to free him from the rock and make him his disciple. Further on their way they collect a Dragon Prince, who becomes the priest’s horse as penance for eating the original one; Pigsy (Peng Peng), the disgraced Marshal of Heaven who becomes the second disciple; and Friar Sand (Tien Shun), a water demon who also becomes a disciple. Yueh Hua does an excellent job as the Monkey King in what was probably quite a tough assignment, taking on such a beloved character in only his second feature.
