by Brian Hioe
語言:
English
Photo credit: Film Poster
PIGSY IS AN inventive, CGI-animated take on Journey to the West.
The movie is set in a futuristic city-state in which a technologically advanced “New World” development scheme is soon to be launched, and which selects those who contribute the most to society to become its residents. Protagonist Pigsy works for the developer of the “New World” but is not selected himself. This leads him to cooperate with Bull Demon King, the constructor of the “New World”, who was also himself not selected, with Pigsy promising to use his friendship with developer Sanzhang to obtain the password to the selection system if Bull Demon King gets him to the New World.
As it transpires, there has been a series of mysterious disappearances in the “Old City” where Pigsy lives. This leads to Sanzhang being sent to the Old City along with Wukong, the chief of security for the company that they work for, to get to the bottom of the mystery. But Pigsy increasingly finds himself conflicted between his desire to get to the New World and his loyalty to his friends.
As a science-fiction take on Journey to the West, Pigsy draws from a number of science fiction tropes about a futuristic city-state with a striated class system. The science fiction setting keeps the adaptation of Journey to the West interesting enough, even if many elements are derivative. In particular, Sanzhang figures as something of a Steve Jobs figure in how he is depicted, while also having Buddhist elements. The world is one in which humans, animals, and robots coexist side by side.
It proves an interesting choice to assign many of the trickster elements that traditionally belong to Sun Wukong in Journey to the West to Pigsy. Sun Wukong is depicted as an unstoppable martial force in Pigsy, driven by a strong sense of justice but also an inability to control his temper. The moral conflict present in Sun Wukong between his loyalty to Xuanzhang and his arrogance is also shifted primarily to Pigsy.
There are some plot and setting elements of Pigsy that do not totally cohere. For example, Bull Demon King’s motivations seem to be caught somewhere between a desire to get to the “New World” himself as well as a desire to live forever, with it later introduced in the plot that he is dying. It is also unclear why there are sentient robots in the world of Pigsy, but they do not seem to have any rights, and this goes without much discussion. Similarly, the work sometimes seems slightly conflicted about the message that it wants its young viewers to take away from the story.
Still, on the whole, Pigsy is a capably told story and likely an entertaining view for young people. Even if it breaks no ground when it comes to animation or design, it is at least competent and entertaining.