The Iron Monkey (DVD)

...movies extends to something along the lines of "well there's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and umm didn't Bruce Lee do some once..." then you'll never have heard of Iron Monkey - nor will you have had any interest in checking it out. You will however be missing one of the most entertaining movies released in recent years which I'm sure you will agree is something ofa shame. It was originally released in 1993, straight to video but has ...
...director Yeun Wo Ping did the choreography for - a fact which will come as no surprise at all after a few minutes of watching Iron Monkey. For martial arts fans that alone ought to be enough of an incentive to watch - for the rest of us who like action movies know also that his work can also be seen on The Matrix and rest assured that this adrenaline fueled kung-fu fest is more than enough to keep you glued to your tv. Its not brilliant in terms ... more

If you are like me and your knowledge of martial arts movies extends to something along the lines of "well there's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and umm didn't Bruce Lee do some once..." then you'll never have heard of Iron Monkey - nor will you have had any interest in checking it out. You will however be missing one of the most entertaining movies released in recent years which I'm sure you will agree is something ofa shame. It was originally released in 1993, straight to video but has recently made a reappearance thatnks to the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a movie which director Yeun Wo Ping did the choreography for - a fact which will come as no surprise at all after a few minutes of watching Iron Monkey. For martial arts fans that alone ought to be enough of an incentive to watch - for the rest of us who like action movies know also that his work can also be seen on The Matrix and rest assured that this adrenaline fueled kung-fu fest is more than enough to keep you glued to your tv. Its not brilliant in terms of plot, hilariously bad in terms of scripting but this is more than made up for by the superb action sequences. Buy this video for pure entertainment value and you'll love every second of it.

The plot is weak, they invariably are. The story opens in the province of Zhejiang, a province ruled by a corrupt governer who is spending his time in office stockpiling food meant for the people so tjhat he can sell it at inflated prices for a huge profit. The people are starving but fortunately there is help at hand from a seemingly invincible Robin Hood type figure known as the Iron Monkey - a vigilante who carries out daring raids upon the governors buildings, taking back that what he has stolen from the people and sharing it out amongst the needy. The Iron Monkey's martial arts abilities are awesomeand no one has yet been able to come close to matching him in combat to the point where the governer is getting desperate. He orders a crack down on anyone at all who could possibly be his nemesis - his guards arresting a street artist with a monkey, a performer showing off his martial arts skills...a guy selling monkey poo(?!)...and a traveller called Wong Kei-ying and his 10-year old son Wong Fei-hong after they go mediavel on some thieves. Naturally upon hearing that innocent people have been imprisoned for his actions the Iron Monkey turns up to free them but Wong Kei-ying(being from out of town) thinks he is nothing but a common thief and being a fighter of much reknown himself fights him off, promising to bring him to justice if the governor will free his son...

...which is how the movie sets up the plot in the opening 10-15 minutes and you'll just have to watch to see the rest. Expect though not too much more in the way of plotting other than the arrival of a bunch of corrupt Shaolin monks and the rest is just action, action and more action - great stuff. If you watch a lot of these types of movies then you might recognise the name of Wong Fei-hong as being that of a folk lore hero seen in other movies by this director such as Once Upon A Time in China and Drunken Master - Iron Monkey continuing his attempts to revive this figure although here most of that action is given to his father Wong Kei-ying and of course the Iron Monkey himself. Played by female martial arts champion Tsang Tse-man, the best scene in the movie is reserved for him though where he(she) fights off a gang of local bullies. Its an interesting casting decision(girl playing a boy) but not one which was done simply to be controversial.

Forget the script, its awful to the point where I would probably recommend that you check out the undubbed version over the dubbed or subtitled version. I saw the dubbed version and the dubbing as just as awful as the kind of dubbed martial arts movies that have become the brunt of jokes for many years - willowy oriental characters talking in deep macho ultra-American voices does nothing for any movie and certainly doesn't add credibilty to an already lame script. Characters announce their moves before they use them with bass cries of "Shaolin Golden Palm!" or "Shadow Kick of the Ancients!" or umm "Flying Sleeves!" and the attempts at humorous exchanges are funny only because of how clumsy and inept the are. Of course, if you like this kind of movie then you'll be used to it, or it'll be one of their many charms...personally it made me giggle as it always does, but this time I totally let it slide because the action scenes are such fun.

One thing that did stand out here for me was the acting which is actually superb...from the principal characters. Putting aside their awsome skills as martial artists for one second(aided by flawless wire-work of course) all of them bring a warm and total credibility to their roles. Wonk Kei-ying must balance the twin burdens of being a warrior with that of a loving father - two sides which often clash unresolvedly and he carries off to perfection. The use of Tsang Tse-man then becomes much clearer because putting a girl in this role affects a much softer performance and draws out much more emotions from both these characters which is highly effective. Yu Rong-guang balances his role of caring physician alter ego Dr. Wang against that of deadly martial artist Iron Monkey, switching between the two seamlessly, whilst Jean Wang who plays his assistant Orchid is equally faultless in her role. The acting is actually top notch which surprised me no end I have to admit. Ummm...the acting of the 4 principal characters is top notch anyway, because the rest are all comedic figures and charicatures - their clumsiness and naff acting actually(and no doubt intentionally) highlighting the grace and nobility of the good characters in the plot. Its seems bizarre to say that cr*p acting actually helps a movie - but it helps this one in some strange way!

The main focus of this movie though is action. Its almost non-stop, and its awesome. The martial arts on display here is smply mindblowing, aided and abetted of course by a little(or a lot) of wire-work at times, although you wouldn't know it to look at it. I'll not spoil the scenes by talking of them beforehand, but expect a range of fisticuffs experiences as well as fighting with swords, staffs and just about anykind of random piece of furniture, all beautifully choreographed and executed to perfection. This may not look and feel quite so polished as Crouching Tiger or The Matrix, but it more than makes up for it in terms of raw energy and sheer exhuberance. Its breth-taking stuff trust me, which has lead many to talk of this as being well up in the top ten greatest martial arts movies ever made. Leaves you wondering why you have never heard of it before doesn't it...

Its difficult to know whether or not to recommend a movie such as this or not. If you like martial arts movies then no doubt it has already raised some interest already, if not then you'll be understandably more dubious. I can't say I am a fan of the genre but I fancied something full of action and someone told me this had Jet Li in at so I gave it a try and loved it. No Jet Li of course(can't rely on some people!) but a superb movies nonetheless - in fact, perhaps better than if he were in it, these are certainly more talented actors anyway. I suppose he bottom line is that if you are looking for an incredibly entertaining action movie then this is one of the finest examples you are going to come across. No big explosions and such like, but the kind of fight sequences and physical stunt set-pieces which leave you gawping pen-mouthed in amazement instead...and a dollop of humour thrown in for good measure as well. I can't recommend it highly enough - and that come from someone who is NOT a huge fan of the genre. Great stuff!

Note:

Its very easy to get this kind of movie confused with others from the East which go by the same name. This version of Iron Monkey is not to be confused with a 1977 movie which also goes by the name of Iron Monkey in the West(or "Ti Ma Liu" / "Bloody Monkey Master") but if you see some of these titles below then its the movie you ARE looking for:

"The Iron Monkey"

"Siunin Wong Fei-hung tsi titmalau"

"Iron Monkey (2001)"

"Iron Monkey: The Young Wong Fei Hong (1993)"

"Shao nian Huang Fei-Hong zhi tie ma liu (1993)" (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Wouldn't it be nice if we just had one title and stuck to it... 

...less