REVIEW: ‘Iron Monkey’ (1993)

Dr. Yang is Iron Monkey, physician by day and benevolent thief by night who steals from corrupt Ching officials and gives to the poor. When a young Wong Fei Hung enters town with his father, he is put in prison and his father is told to hunt down Iron Monkey in order to have his son released. After Fei Hung is secretly released into the care of Dr. Yang, Fei Hung’s father and Iron Monkey form an alliance just as Master Fox, a traitorous ex-Shoalin monk shows up to reinforce the corrupt local government.

This is a classic of the 1990’s string of kung fu films that started with The Swordsman (1990), both produced by Tsui Hark. Yuen Wo Ping puts his imaginative choreography through its paces as characters gracefully execute blistering martial skills. Like many of Wo Ping’s films, realism is stretched to allow for fantastic leaps and unbelievable coordination. Wo Ping really has crafted a style all his own that seems to continue to infiltrate Hollywood (witness Charlie’s Angels or The Matrix). The story involving a young Wong Fei-hung is actually played by a young girl, Tsang Sze-man. The movie is somewhat of a prequel to Once Upon A Time in China (1991) directed by Tsui Hark which features the legendary Fei-hung as an adult. The story is well thought out with solid performances and enjoyable humor thrown in. At one point, officials are rounding up anyone associated with ‘monkeys’ in general including one unfortunate soul who happened to be scratching himself in an apparent ’simian’ fashion at the wrong time.

Iron Monkey is better than the original Iron Monkey (1977) or the sequel, Iron Monkey 2 that Wo Ping had no involvement with. All in all, this film is a top notch modern kung fu film that runs at its own breakneck pace and follows each wonderfully choreographed fight with another. This one must be seen and should be owned by DVD collectors.