Fresh and Exciting

Admirable film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The Iron Monkey steals from Governor Cheng and gives to the poor. He roams the night helping the defenseless. Bumbling police chief Fox is good-hearted and obsessed with catching him. Dr. Yang treats the poor for free helped by his assistant Miss Orchid. They're both skilled in the martial arts. Yang is secretly the Iron Monkey. Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen) is a principled doctor passing through town with his son. The governor takes his son prisoner until he catches the bandit Iron Monkey. As news spread, Wong is rejected by everybody in town. Only Dr. Yang and Miss Orchid are willing to help him. The arrival of the corrupt Imperial Investigator and his evil minions put everyone in danger.Iron Monkey is reminiscent of Robin Hood. The twist is Dr. Wong and his son. Donnie Yen is terrific. The boy is precocious, acrobatic and surprisingly played by a girl. It's got loads of fun, comedy and action. It is one of the best kung fu action comedy around.

I'm not the greatest expert when it comes to Chinese folklore or whether such incidents depicted here ever existed. If so the issues faced are quite convincing and may hold a place in the annals of Chinese history and literature. The history goes back to mid 1850's when the rich kept getting richer and the poor were become more deprived of any financial gain. To me it the story has a Asian equivalent to the greatest English character in ancient folklore, Robin Hood. The time period was different, but the motives between Robin Hood and Iron Monkey are very similar as both rebels try to outsmart a corrupt government by committing criminal acts for a good cause.In a rather poor slum in China, refugees in the area are being overruled by corrupt governor (James Wong). An incognito hero donning a mask who only goes by the name Iron Monkey (Rongguang Yu) is willing to overthrow this Governor by robbing from him and all the other rich people to give to the impoverished villagers. Governor Cheng lines up possible suspects who may be this mysterious anti-hero. In the middle of this conundrum include a monk Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen) and his young son Wong Fei-Hung (Sze-Man Tsang). Cheng demands Wong to search for Iron Monkey while he holds his young son hostage. Through trials and tribulations, father and son lead themselves to the abode of Dr. Yang (Rongguang Yu) and his assistant Nurse Orchid (Jean Wang). It's quite clear that Dr. Yang is indeed Iron Monkey. This clearly pointed out once the character is introduced.The story is simple and easy to follow through. However it skips through scenes at times which makes the movie feel a bit awkward at times. One minute there's bickering if or if not Fei-Hung may have a roast duck and segues to Dr. Yang and Kei-Ying joining forces to bring down Shaolin Monk Hiu Hing (Shi Kwan Yen) We're familiar with this character and lengths he went through so there's nothing new to inform us about here.Sure the story might be thin and there's a lot of fighting, but that's what you expect to see in an action film. Aside from that the plot of the story actually stands out pretty well. The legend of Iron Monkey has been mentioned in many stories and folklore as he fights corruptions from the Governor who's trying to gather enough money to support his nine wives. The corrupt Monk does unorthodox tricks up his sleeves (literally) that can break through anything. You wonder if these individuals are insured. Like in superhero and police dramas, there will be a lot of property damage and it affects innocent bystanders. One provocation and we all suffer. In a rare occurrence one bystander gets some restitution while the antagonists get what's given to them. The refugees won't expect much left after watching stuff getting destroyed.To me, I felt a little bit of Jackie Chan and Jet Li folded into one package. On the visual format, it's vintage Li. But action wise it has a Jackie Chan flare to it. Sure there's wirework involved and Chan (with the exception of the crappy "The Medallion") refrains from using cheap wirework to his advantage. The set pieces at the end will really set your souls on fire. Knowing that this is a fictional period piece film, that's classic Jet Li. The little girl in the film was adorable, but I'll just stay out of her way when it comes to battle. Let her have her duck.

I love this movie! Don't ask me why, just see it. And you will understand. The fights are most spectacular I've ever seen. The story is almost perfect, it's better than most of the Hollywood action movies. I have seen so many kung-fu movies but this is one of my favorites. If there is a god of kung-fu movies, it should be Yuen Wo Ping. See this movie and you will know why. If you like great fights and great movies, you will like this one. Well, if you expect to see something like "Hero" or "Crouching Tiger Hidden Drgaon", you will be disappointed. You will be disappointed not because "Hero" and "Crouching Tiger..." are better than "Iron Monkey" but because the movies are too different. "Iron Monkey" is a great martial arts action but the other two movies are more dramatic, they are not action movies. Well, that's it. What else could I say?

This movie made me rend my shirt the first time I saw it.It was so thrilling I just couldn't contain myself.The wonderful action scenes sent my head spinning.Though there was some use of wires the ground fights were also the best I've seen(till date).Throughout it's length you're blown away by hilarious comic scenes and the best martial arts any movie has to offer.This movie also provides an insight into Wong Fei Hungs' childhood and his relationship with his father,a feature that adds some more flavour to the story. The storyline is simple and easy to follow thus forming a platform for showcasing all the thrills it has to offer.This is the ONLY MOVIE in my highschool cinema history to be shown twice in one night due to popular request.Still the ONLY one to be applauded after the credits started to roll and obviously throughout its' duration.Your collection of action films is half complete without Iron Monkey.It's good for drama-lovers as well;my mother hates action movies but she loved this one.In short I can assure you it is the best martial arts movie ever made.