Iron Monkey

Play trailer

Iron Monkey

PG-13

Released Oct 12, 2001

1h 25m

Action

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

95 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

Read all reviews

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

Full Review

Flixster F

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

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/03/24

Full Review

StephenPaul C

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/11/23

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

Audience Member

A little bit predictable but very enjoyable movie !

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Woo-Ping Yuen

Director

Yu Rong-Guang

Iron Monkey

Donnie Yen

Wong Kei-Ying

Sze-Man Tsang

Young Wong Fei-Hung

Jean Wang

Miss Orchid

Fai Lee

Witch

Solo

8%

27%

Solo

Watchlist

The Quest

14%

36%

The Quest

Watchlist

Mortal Kombat Annihilation

4%

24%

Mortal Kombat Annihilation

Watchlist

Licence to Kill

79%

61%

Licence to Kill

Watchlist

Operation Condor

80%

63%

Operation Condor

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

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: Film Workshop Ltd., Golden Harvest
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)

Most Popular at Home Now