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A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella

A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella (西游记大结局之仙履奇缘; released in Taiwan as 齐天大圣西游记) is a 1995 Hong Kong fantasy-comedy film directed and written by Jeffrey Lau (刘镇伟) and starring Stephen Chow, the second part of a two-film adaptation of the Ming dynasty novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, following A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box1 • 2. The two films are also known in Chinese as 大话西游 ("Journey to the West in Brag")3. Part Two continues the story of Joker, the reincarnated Monkey King played by Chow, who is stranded 500 years in the past and must reclaim his divine identity to save the woman he loves1. Though a modest performer on release, the film became an enduring classic of Hong Kong comedy cinema, and a 4K restoration was completed in 20254.

Key factDetail
Original titles西游记大结局之仙履奇缘 (Hong Kong); 齐天大圣西游记 (Taiwan); English title A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella2
Director and writerJeffrey Lau (刘镇伟), screenplay credited to 技安 (Kei On), Lau's pen name5 • 6
ReleaseHong Kong, February 1995 (4 February 1995); sequel to Part One: Pandora's Box, released the same year2 • 1
Running time100 minutes (Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles)7
Principal castStephen Chow (Joker/Monkey King), Athena Chu (Zixia), Ng Man-tat (Pigsy), Law Kar-ying (Longevity Monk), Karen Mok (Bak Jing-jing/White Bone Demon)1 • 8
AwardsGolden Bauhinia Best Actor 1996 (Chow); Hong Kong Film Critics Society Best Actor and Best Screenplay 1996; Golden Kite Grand Prize 1995 (China)6
Later box office2017 Chinese re-release grossed $25,960,664; tracked worldwide total $25,987,4319
Audience ratingIMDb 7.8/10 from about 9,700 votes10

Spoilers

Plot

The film picks up where Pandora's Box ended. Joker, the bandit who is the reincarnation of the Monkey King, uses the Pandora's Box to travel back in time in repeated attempts to save his lover Bak Jing-jing (Karen Mok), the White Bone Demon; his last attempt carries him 500 years into the past, before his imprisonment at the start of the first film7 • 8.

There he meets the fairy Zixia (Athena Chu), who has seized the Pandora's Box and who carries a sword that can be unsheathed only by the man she is destined to marry. Joker draws the sword, and Zixia recognizes him as her destined love, but his heart remains set on Bak Jing-jing, and he fakes affection for Zixia only to win back the box8 • 7. The feigned courtship becomes real love. The Demon Bull King (Lu Shuming) reappears, kidnapping Zixia and the Longevity Monk (Law Kar-ying), and Joker is forced into a marriage arrangement with the Bull King's sister8.

The resolution turns on renunciation. To save his true love, Joker must relinquish worldly desire, put on the golden headband, and resume his true identity as the Monkey King, pledging to guard the Longevity Monk on the scripture-seeking journey to the west7. The Hong Kong Film Archive describes the irony at the film's center: the false affection becomes fated love, and saving the beloved requires abandoning love7.

Production and release

The film was produced by Choi Sing (Color Star Films) with the Xi'an Film Studio, produced by Yang Guohui (杨国辉), photographed by Poon Hang-sang, and distributed by Media Asia1 • 5. It opened in Hong Kong on 4 February 1995, followed by Taiwan in May and mainland China in November 19952 • 1. Incorporating a complex love story into the Journey to the West material was a deliberate choice by Lau and Chow to broaden the films' demographic reach and commercial appeal11.

The production blends mo lei tau (无厘头, "nonsensical") comedy with romance. Law Kar-ying's Longevity Monk, with his idiosyncratic speech rhythm and his rendition of the English song "Only You", became one of the film's signature comic elements7. The theme song "Love in a Life Time" (一生所爱) runs through the film and is tied to its closing scenes7.

Reception and awards

On release the film earned industry recognition in both Hong Kong and mainland China, with 7 wins and 6 nominations recorded across bodies6.

Audience ratings have remained strong decades later: the film holds 7.8/10 on IMDb from about 9,700 votes and 7.7/10 on TMDb10 • 1. Commercially, the film's most lucrative run came long after release: a 13 April 2017 re-release in China grossed $25,960,664, accounting for nearly all of its tracked worldwide total of $25,987,4319.

Legacy

The film is regarded as a defining take on the Monkey King. The Asian Cinema Critic's retrospective review judges that Cinderella "does vital work in establishing the Monkey King in a way that would influence the story for years", and identifies the closing scene of Wukong walking away with his fellow travelers as the moment that "gave Wukong a heart"8. The Hong Kong government's press release on the archive program describes the diptych as "an enduring legend in Hong Kong comedy cinema", in which the Monkey King is "embroiled in a doomed romance that pulls at the heartstrings"12.

Chow's climactic cry and his signature line, "If there is an expiry date to this love we have, I hope it could be…10,000 years!", have passed well beyond the screen; the Hong Kong Film Archive calls the line, together with "Love in a Life Time", a perfect encapsulation of the doomed romance spanning 500 years7. The film also demonstrated Chow's dramatic range: the Archive notes that his heartrending cries at the end show the "King of Comedy" is also a great actor7.

Restoration and canon status. Both parts are included in the Hong Kong Film Archive's "100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies"4. In 2025 the Archive completed a 4K digital restoration of both films using the original negatives, Cantonese soundtracks, and subtitle negatives supplied by the copyright holder, Media Asia, repairing scratches, flicker, and stains, reducing background noise, and re-subtitling in Chinese and English4 • 13. The restored versions received their world premiere as the opening screening of the Archive's "Journeys to the West: Cinematic Dialogues Across Time" program, with further screenings marking UNESCO's World Day for Audiovisual Heritage12 • 13.

References

  1. A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella, Cinegraph
  2. 齊天大聖西遊記／西遊記大結局之仙履奇緣, Stephen Chow fan site 星樂園
  3. The Performance of Identity (core.ac.uk)
  4. Cultural HK: Stephen Chow's "A Chinese Odyssey" Films to Return to the Big Screen, Beyond Headlines
  5. 西遊記大結局之仙履奇緣 = A Chinese odyssey. Part two, Cinderella, WorldCat
  6. A Chinese Odyssey: Part 2 - Cinderella (1995) - Awards, IMDb
  7. A Chinese Odyssey Part Two - Cinderella (4K Digitally Restored Version), Hong Kong Film Archive
  8. A Chinese Odyssey Part 2: Cinderella, The Asian Cinema Critic
  9. A Chinese Odyssey: Part 2 - Cinderella, Box Office Mojo
  10. A Chinese Odyssey: Part 2 - Cinderella (1995) - Ratings, IMDb
  11. Jeffrey Lau's journey to the mainland: strategic hybridization in Hong Kong-mainland film co-productions
  12. Film Archive to present screening programme "Journeys to the West: Cinematic Dialogues Across Time", GovHK
  13. 聯合國教科文組織「世界視聽遺產日」──《西遊記第壹佰零壹回之月光寶盒》及《西遊記大結局之仙履奇緣》（1995）（4K數碼修復版）, Hong Kong Film Archive

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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