Iron Monkey (2001)

Starring: Yu Rong Guang, Donnie Yen, Tsang Sze-Man, Jean Wang, James Wong
Director: Yuen Woo Ping

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Miramax

Review Posted: 11.3.01

Spoilers: Minor

Rating: 2/4

By Craig Younkin.

Iron Monkey is a blend of superman and Robin Hood.
Monkey, or Dr. Yang (Yu Rong Guang), is a thief who cures people by day, steals from the rich to give to the poor by night. He is well respected and liked within the community, which makes it even more imperative for the rich Governor (James Wong) to stop him.

Enter Wong Kei Ying (Donnie Yen), a father traveling with his son who is blackmailed by the governor into
catching the monkey. But soon, Wong realizes that the
Monkey is working on the side of good, and that the only way to save his son is if he teams up with him.
"Iron Monkey" was meant to be shown to audiences for
it's fight sequences, and while some of the high flying antics portrayed here are very impressive, the problem is they look more like three ring circus acts. The fight sequences rely on a huge amount of style, but lack the most important part of any movie like this, believability.

Instead of being thrilled by "Iron Monkey", I laughed as I saw men balancing and holding themselves up on upward pointing poles over a roaring fire, or when I saw one little kid easily knock out three adult martial artists, while shouting out the names of every move he was doing. This movie is all ridiculously over the top.

"Iron Monkey" also forgets to create characters worth
caring about, or rooting for. This movie is like the drunk at a wedding. He thinks he's being funny, but in actuality, is just degrading himself even further. "Iron Monkey" wants to be an entertaining and stupid comedy when the action isn't going on, but no one here even appears to have sense.

I'm a big fan of martial arts movies, but this one doesn't have the seriousness, danger, or characters to excite us. It's just a lot of silly looking camera tricks that don't even come close to the fun and excitement of this years far superior "Kiss of the Dragon."

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