The New Legends of Monkey is thrillingly magical

By Michael Idato
Updated January 12 2018 - 11:48pm, first published January 10 2018 - 1:10pm

In Chinese literature only a handful of texts are the equal of Journey to the West, written in the 16th century by Wu Cheng'en. The basic - slightly mangled - premise: the monk Xuanzang embarks, accompanied by the spirits of a monkey, a pig and a fish, on a pilgrimage to find the sacred texts of Buddha.