Iron Monkey Movie PosterAnother movie telling a fictional tale about Wong Fei Hong and his life, only this time it centers around his father Wong Kei-ying and a mysterious character called Iron Monkey.

Iron Monkey is a Robin Hood style thief, who at night runs around town using his fantastic Kung Fu to steal from the rich and corrupt Government officials to give to the poor and under privileged.

When a Kung Fu Master, Wong Kei-ying (Donnie Yen) comes to town, the local governor has declared that  all people remotely suspected of being Iron Monkey be arrested.  After fighting off some pick pockets using his magnificent Kung Fu (which he is famous for), he is suspected because of his abilities and arrested.

After being taken in, Wong Kei-ying and his young son Wong Fei Hung are sat down with the other ‘suspects’.  Shaking his head in disgust, Wong Kei-ying becomes the target of the governor who says ‘he looks pissed’ and declares that he should be executed, and his son be given 13 lashes.

Iron Monkey then shows up to free these people, when Wong Kei-ying battles with him to clear his name and free his son. After this he offers to capture Iron Monkey as a trade off to free his son.  Kei-ying then sets off to capture the thief.

The Iron Monkey

The Iron Monkey is a local hero in the community.  At the very beginning of the movie he arrives, stealing gold and dropping it off to nearby homeless people and those in need.  Whenever he steals something he leaves a picture of a monkey behind to spread awareness of his presence.  Iron Monkey becomes a symbol of justice to the people, and makes this a lot harder for the governor in his selfish and corrupt approach to leadership.

Iron Monkey

When Kei-ying decides to assist the governor and find Iron Monkey he soon realises that no one in town will sell him food or deal with him at all – with the exception of a local doctor named Yang.

Yang runs a clinic in town helping to cure the poor of their illnesses by over charging the rich.  He’s respected by both the towns people and the guards.  Upon helping Wong Kei-ying by offering him some food, he learns of his young son being held in prison.  Yang then talks to the guard and convinces them that Wong Fei Hung is sick will need to be taken back to his clinic.

Eventually Kei-ying discovers that Yang is Iron Monkey, and the two join forces to fight the new governor – an even more corrupt and extremely powerful Shaolin Monk (turned evil sort of deal) and his henchmen.

The Young Wong Fei Hung

Won Fei Hung is a famous Martial Artist in China in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s and is known for his mastery of Hung Gar style of Kung Fu.  The link in this movie to the Once Upon a Time in China series is evident (as opposed to the The Drunken Master with Jackie Chan) with the use of similar music and the visual style of the film.

Young Wong Fei Hung

At the beginning of the film we’re show Wong Fei Hung as a just a boy with his father.  As the plot develops we see him using extraordinary ability fighting off thugs and other much older and larger opponents, as a testament to his future mastery of Kung Fu.

With his father being a respected martial arts instructor, the role of Kei-ying was very appropriate for Donnie Yen, despite him playing an enemy of Wong Fei Hung in Once Upon a Time in China 2.  He plays a strong but strict father, while Wong Fei Hung is portrayed as a mischievous young boy, using his sling shot to cause trouble.  The two work well together and really demonstrate a high level of mastery for both men in this movie.

The Action & Martial Arts

Just like the Once Upon a Time in China films, supernatural use of environments and ‘Wire-Fu’ are the chosen style of choreography in this movie.  Since I’m not a fan of wire-fu, I was slightly disappointed at it’s use (being a big Donnie Yen fan) and the ridiculously sped up kicks and moves used in the movie.

Donnie Yen Fight Scene

Ultimately though, I actually enjoyed the fight scenes.  Maybe not the same level as a movie with more realism, but I’ve always maintained that the traditional nature of wire fu and it’s exaggerated expression of technique, strength balance and mastery of martial arts definitely tell the story effectively – which is well match to the basic, straight forward storyline of Iron Monkey.

Donnie Yen still shows off some impressive moves when he gets the chance, and brings a certain feel to his fights with his charisma and style.

The final fight on the poles is a bit extreme and unreal, but such was the favored style of this era of Martial Arts films.  It demonstrates an extremely fine tuned level of balance and power for the characters that would be impossible for any real person.  But hey that’s movies for ya!

Donnie Yen

Would I recommend this movie?

Be prepared for Wire Fu done well, then you’ll enjoy this movie.  The story is easy to follow, the action is entertaining, fast and supernatural.  All in all it’s a movie for all Donnie Yen fans and people who like movies based on Wong Fei Hung.  Otherwise, just check it out to see a reasonably good Kung Fu flick.

Find it On Blu-Ray –

Region A (US & Canada)
Iron Monkey on Blu-ray

On DVD –

Region 1 (US & Canada)
Iron Monkey on DVD

Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
Iron Monkey on DVD

Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, etc)
Iron Monkey on DVD

More info on DVD & Blu Ray regions here

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