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Iron Monkey

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Iron Monkey

PG-13

Released Oct 12, 2001

1h 25m

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

95 Reviews

86%

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10,000+ Ratings

In a desperate and unjust land, where government corruption rules the day, only one man has the courage to challenge the system and fight back. They call him "Iron Monkey." Under the shadow of night, in the silence before dawn, he fights to give hope to the poor and the oppressed. Although no one knows his name and no one knows where he comes from, his heroism has made him a living legend to the people and a wanted man to the powers that be.

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Critics Consensus

Iron Monkey may not have the poetic lyricism of Crouching Tiger, it makes up for it in fun and energy.

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Steven D. Greydanus

Decent Films

The joy of watching this kind of stuff lies in the choreographical invention and creativity [and] the speed and dexterity of the combatants.

Rated: B+

May 8, 2002

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Rita Kempley

Washington Post

A crackling Cantonese action caper in the tradition of Robin Hood, Zorro, Batman et al.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 6, 2002

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Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Yuen tosses off nimble, elegantly witty solutions to life's most vexing problems regarding rooms full of bad guys who won't take thwak for an answer.

Rated: B+

Oct 18, 2001

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

As a perfect complement to the adventure, a generous portion of comedy is blended in - sometimes just with witty bits of dialogue and frequently with physical slapstick.

Rated: 7/10

Sep 30, 2020

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

"Iron Monkey" is a masterpiece of the genre (to say the least) and a film all fans of wuxia and martial arts in general should have in their collection.

Oct 27, 2019

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Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

Some of the fighting is on par with, or better than, anything you're likely to see in a Hong Kong action film.

Oct 31, 2018

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Dani G

Pretends to be comedy, pretends to be drama... The only thing it is? A means to start kung fu fights anytime, with FX very vintage, to say it nicely

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/21/25

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Flixster F

A typical action film from the 90s. Not outstanding but passes the time.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/03/24

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StephenPaul C

The greatest 01 hour: and 25 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL, starring James Wong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/11/23

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Leaburn O

This is just playful king fu. Not a serious plot at all but so much creativity in the fight scenes. I'm not a huge fan of martial arts films but the short run time made this one just about palatable.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/13/23

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Taylor L

You like RRR? Want to see the martial arts version? Two martial arts masters with day jobs come to know one another as friends - one a folk hero by night, the other a wanderer who finds himself tasked with hunting the vigilante down (not knowing his new friend is his target). Nominally it's a loose adaptation of the Robin Hood mythos integrated with an origin story of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung (who appears as a child in this film), but it's hard all these years later to not see shades of the S.S. Rajamouli film (RRR) despite the fact that this predates it by almost three decades. While Ang Lee was giving martial arts movies more of a serious flair in the '90s and '00s, Yuen Woo-ping preserves much of Hong Kong's balance between really solid action choreography and pervasive humor in Iron Monkey. It's light as a film, with antagonists that never really feel terribly threatening, but really shines with some top-notch fight design that straddles the line between impressive and mythic. And by mythic, I mean suspended by wires. Seriously, the action is impressive enough that I'd bump the score over what is otherwise a well-made but pretty unsurprising folk tale brought to the screen, Donnie Yen is in top form. Weird that this took almost eight years to go from completion to a wide US release. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/09/23

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Audience Member

A little bit predictable but very enjoyable movie !

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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Synopsis

In a desperate and unjust land, where government corruption rules the day, only one man has the courage to challenge the system and fight back. They call him "Iron Monkey." Under the shadow of night, in the silence before dawn, he fights to give hope to the poor and the oppressed. Although no one knows his name and no one knows where he comes from, his heroism has made him a living legend to the people and a wanted man to the powers that be.

Director: Woo-Ping Yuen
Producer: Hark Tsui
Screenwriter: Hark Tsui, Elsa Tang, Lau Tai Mok
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Golden Harvest, Film Workshop Ltd.
Rating: PG-13 (Martial Arts Action/Violence)
Genre: Action
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.7M
Runtime: 1h 25m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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