SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

peefyn The plot of this movie is probably more interesting for those who are familiar with the original story. Basically there's three henchmen, and they're supposed to get a fan from a princess so that they can put out a magic fire that's in the way for them. As I am not familiar with the original story, I have to admit that I thought the three henchmen were supposed to be considered the bad guys (and I'm still not entirely convinced that the movie for some reasons takes the side of the villains).It's interesting that the movie opens with a text saying that it's not a fantastical story, but a metaphorical one. Perhaps the metaphors are more obvious for the audience it was made for.Today, it's the animation that makes this movie interesting. At times it's actually quite good, and with an interesting style. But mostly it's really bad. The rotoscoping is often quite fluid (and nice), but anything that could not be rotoscoped (like the animal faces, or exaggerated movements) is quite jarring. Perfectly understandable (this is one of the first animated features in the world, and the first one from China), and still interesting to watch. It lives up to it's reputation: Obviously influenced by American animation, but still very much Asian.

MissSimonetta This was the first Chinese animated feature film and I must say the animation itself is impressive. The use of rotorscoping added more than it detracted from the movie, and lent a surreal quality to the atmosphere. The story was handled well enough that it makes me wish to seek out the picture's source material, Journey to the West, since the plot here only covers a fraction of the heroes' adventure.My problem with Princess Iron Fan is that it feels more like an overlong short subject rather than a feature. While the slapstick routines are charming at first, they go on for much too long, making the eighty minute running time feel like an eternity. This one is more for animation geeks and fans of Chinese cinema than anybody else.

suchenwi The novel "Journey to the West" (Xiyouji) was written around 1590, and to this day forms an important part of children (and adult) culture in China, possibly also in neighboring countries like Japan. The figure of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, has long been the Chinese equivalent of Mickey Mouse, in toys, comics, animations in TV and cinema.Having read a number of Sun Wukong books, I immediately recognized all the crew members: the monk Xuanzang, riding his white horse; Shazeng, the "sand" monk; pig-headed Zhu Bajie. So even though this animation film is old, black & white, and sometimes imperfectly produced, I immediately felt at home with it - and enjoyed some of the ideas very much, like the beetle trick. I'm not sure how children would react to this movie today, but I had my childish pleasure with it!

crossbow0106 As the DVD jacket states, this is the first full length animated film produced in China. That alone gives it historical significance, while the quality of the film is pretty good. The story has a lot of things going on. It concerns three travelers, a monkey, a pig face (thats the best I can do) and a human male as they try to travel west. They stumble onto the fiery mountain, where the fires can only be quelled if they obtain the iron fan from the local princess (hence the title). She is beautiful, of course, and does not wish to part with it. There are many great images here, but the story itself is not that compelling. Still, it is not very long, and the film, again, is a pioneering one, so I feel it should be watched.