Iron Monkey

PG-13

Released Oct 12, 2001

1h 25m

Action

List

91%

96 Reviews

Tomatometer

86%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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

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

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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

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

jordan m

I enjoyed this a lot more than some other Hong Kong action movies I'd seen as I now had enough experience to forgive the overly-convenient plot devices and hyperbolized characters to enjoy the fight scenes and underlying story. I would've preferred a more uniform use of magic if they were going to use it at all but I suppose they did give it to both of the villains, and I would've preferred to have seen the original rather than the Miramax-tampered one as political subtext is what butters my biscuit and the fight scenes likely would've benefitted from the comedy that the studio excised. The fights themselves were clearly well-executed, though nearly all of them had gimmicks that took away one's suspension of disbelief if you cared too much as every main villain used supernatural tactics and the final fight on the stilts didn't seem particularly plausible. I've enjoyed other gimmicky finale fight scenes like the ladder one at the end of The Musketeer and this one was fine, just not as great as I felt it could've been. Still, I liked the movie and am glad to have seen it.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

camille l

Avec ce prequel très peu déguisé de la saga Wong Fei Hung (le film est écrit et produit par Tsui Hark, tandis que les thèmes musicaux de la saga sont omniprésents), Yuen Woo-Ping réalise un sacré bon film d'action avec cet Iron Monkey. Sorte de Robin des Bois chinois délirant, avec les gags absurdement débiles que cela entraine, Iron Monkey est surtout un véhicule pour Donnie Yen et Yuen Woo-Ping lui-même, les chorégraphies étant totalement renversantes. Le tiers du cast est allé travailler sur Matrix quelques années plus tard, il n'y a aucune surprise là-dedans. A la fois vraiment drôle, passionnant (à moins de 90 minutes, le film ne dépasse pas son quart d'heure de bienvenue) et extrêmement compétent, Iron Monkey peut être considéré comme un classique HK des années 90, mention spéciale à la future championne asiatique de wushu, Angie Tsang, formidable en Wong Fei-Hung.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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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

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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: Raymond Chow Man-Wai, Wang Ying Hsiang
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)

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