Yuen Woo Ping was introduced to American audiences by his marvelous work with a group non-martial artists in The Matrix. Besides being a game-changing film on a technical and narrative level, it also featured a series of exhilarating martial arts battles. Ping was the man behind those eye-popping fights, and again, he was working with non-martial artists for the most part. He then went on to work on such films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Kill Bill, Unleashed, and Forbidden Kingdom. However, what many non-genre fans know is that he has had a long and illustrious career not only as a martial arts director but as a film director (not to mention a long list of on-screen appearances). One of his most beloved films was released way back in 1993 and went by the name of Iron Monkey.
Kung fu fans likely know all about this movie and don't need to listen to me sing its praises (just go get your hands on this Blu-ray!). However, if you are a newcomer, curious, or somehow otherwise interested in the world of kung fu films, come along as I take a look at this classic.
First off, this is a must have for your collection and secondly, it is a great way to get introduced to the talents of Donnie Yen who, like Jet Li, is a Wu Shu master and national champion. Yen has also appeared in Hollywood productions, most notably Blade II and Shanghai Knights, the latter alongside Jackie Chan.
Iron Monkey is set in Chekiang province in the late 1850s. It was a time of civil unrest — peasants fled the warlord-ravaged countryside for towns and cities, seeking shelter and food. What they found was an even nastier group of people, greedy merchants who would take them for all they had and a government riddled with corruption. This sets the perfect stage for a hero to rise up to help the poor folk and take back from the rich. In short, this is a classic Robin Hood tale. In this setting Robin Hood is known as Iron Monkey.
The movie opens with the top ranking official of Chekiang having some of his wealth stolen by Iron Monkey after an exhilarating fight with some of the guards. From here, we see some of the corruption in action before moving to the local doctor's office. We are introduced to Dr. Yang (Rongguang Yu, who appeared in Shanghai Noon) and his assistant, Lady Orchid (Jean Wang). We watch the good doctor work and it becomes plainly apparent that he is more than he appears to be. In fact, he is the Iron Monkey, hiding in plain sight.
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