Review #1,370: 'Iron Monkey' (1993)

When Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released back in 2000, it was hailed as the arrival of a new form of martial arts picture. The use of wirework and trampoline techniques combined with the natural fighting styles of the actors was actually nothing knew, and wuxia had in fact been around for decades. Nevertheless, the success of Crouching Tiger saw the re-release of many Hong Kong classics: titles that would be instantly recognisable to the initiated, but were fresh ground for those swept up in the martial arts explosion (which was arguably cranked up even further after Tarantino's Kill Bill films). One such title was Iron Monkey, an early 90s Golden Harvest production featuring an early performance from Donnie Yen. While it isn't quite as polished as Ang Lee's hit, Iron Monkey puts its fighting scenes to shame, delivering a rollicking 90 minutes of action and fun that I could have quite happily watched again straight after it had ended.

The name Wong Fei-hung may be unrecognisable to Westerners, but it is a name as popular as Robin Hood within Chinese folklore. He was a famous martial artist and physician, and his exploits have seen him become the subject of over a hundred movies and television shows, the most famous of which is Hark Tsui's Once Upon a Time in China, which starred Jet Li as Fei-hung. With Li wanting to call it a day on the role after Part III was released in 1993, attention turned to a prequel, and Iron Monkey was born. Fei-hung here is a 12 year old, and played immaculately by Sze-Man Tsang, a girl. Most of the attention is given to his father, Wong Kei-Ying (Yen), who arrives in town with his son in tow just as the governor's guards are rounding up anybody who looks suspicious. The corrupt governor is looking for Iron Monkey, a skilled martial artist who is causing a nuisance around town. Under the threat of execution, Kei-Ying agrees to track down Iron Monkey in return for his son's freedom, but quickly learns that there is more to his mysterious foe that initially thought.

The Iron Monkey is local physician Yang Tianchun (Rongguang Yu) who, along with the beautiful Miss Orchid (Jean Wang), battles to overthrow corruption and the mistreatment of the people. The plot is as thin as the wires launching the actors into a variety of graceful getaways, but director Woo-Ping Yuen grabs the attention with a non-stop wheel of dazzling action scenes. The speed with which Yen and Yu jab and spin beggars belief, dusting off faceless henchman with a spectacular array of inventive moves, all of which we get to learn as the characters are fond of announcing the title of each form of punishment upon delivery. Best of all is Tsang, who not only convinces as a boy (I didn't realise until I read up about the film after it had finished), but proves to be just as effective as her older colleagues in showing off her skills. As the bad guys get increasingly tougher, Iron Monkey becomes more ridiculous, but this is counter-balanced by a fine vein of humour throughout. It saves its best for last, as our heroes team up against the big bad on top of wooden poles wedged into the ground as a huge fire rages below them. They balance of vertical sticks, horizontal sticks, and at one point, they are on top of each other on one wobbly pole. It's breathtaking stuff, and proves that Hong Kong cinema had this action stuff worked out long before Hollywood caught on.


Directed by: Woo-Ping Yuen
Starring: Donnie Yen, Rongguang Yu, Jean Wang, Sze-Man Tsang, Shun-Yee Yuen
Country: Hong Kong

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie