Donnie Yen, Yu Rongguang, Tsang Sze-Man, Jean Wang
Directed by Yuen Woo Ping

Re-released in US theaters in the fall of 2001, 1993's Iron Monkey gave mainstream American audiences, who heretofore had only known the artsy epic of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon that catered to Westerners, a taste of a purer form of Kung Fu cinema.

Iron Monkey is actually telling 1 1/2 stories in 1 film. The first obviously has to do with the mysterious Iron Monkey, who drives the town officials crazy by stealing money from their greedy pockets and giving it to the poor citizens of the town. Incidentally, a certain Dr. Yang (Yu Rongguang), along with his assistant Orchid (Jean Wang) administers medical care and food distribution to the oppressed people in the same town, who otherwise would not be able to afford these amenities. Now if you think the political aims of the Iron Monkey and Dr. Yang are quite similar, you're on the right track.

The other 1/2 of a story is the one of Wong Fei-hung. I say 1/2 because he really is not meant to be the main focus of this film, but the viewer notices him enough. The unique thing in this portrayal of Wong Fei-hung is that it deals with the legend as a child. I cannot think of another film that shows him at such a young age.

So meanwhile as the good doctor and Orchid are going about their business, the herbalist and Kung Fu master Wong Kei-ying (Donnie Yen) is passing through town with his young son and future folk hero, Fei-hung (Tsang Sze-Man). The corrupt town officials immediately enlist the help of Kei-ying to stop the Iron Monkey, whom they have portrayed as a criminal up to no good. Unbeknownst to him, the town officials are actually the root of evil here.

This film was luckily spared the misfortune of having the dialog dubbed over (a la Once Upon A Time in China), letting viewers enjoy the original Cantonese dialog. For those who don't understand enough Chinese, the subtitles are quite competent, although one doesn't really need to read every single word to understand what is going on. Another benefit is the new soundtrack, which complements the action sequences nicely.

Iron Monkey has great feel-good Hong Kong style action, with refreshing bits of humor sprinkled about, such as one unabashadly funny shot during the most gripping part of the last action sequence, where Wong Kei-ying and the Iron Monkey are fighting together against a traitorous monk atop flaming poles. Wong Fei-hung busts some flashy moves of his own, including a pretty nifty sequence where his handy-dandy umbrella helps him whip some street thug butt.