Iron Monkey [Blu-ray]

Iron Monkey [Blu-ray] Review

Yuen Wo Ping has become synonymous with breathtaking fight choreography, and his distinctive style has been highlighted in films such as THE MATRIX and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. IRON MONKEY tells the tale of a small village in China that suffers under corrupt rule from the local governor who hordes grain for himself in the reserves while his people starve. A mysterious figure, dressed all in black and known only as the "Iron Monkey" (Yu Rong Guang), soon rises up and begins his Robin Hood-esque crusade to steal from the rich in order to feed the poverty stricken villagers. When the legendary enforcer Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen) and his young son Wong Fei-Hung (Sze-Man Tsang) arrive in the village, the Iron Monkey finds that he has a very worthy adversary. As Wong Kei-Ying quickly discovers though, outward appearances can be very deceiving, and he soon must make personal choices as he begins fighting against the oppression in the village in order to save his own son.

Yeun Wo Ping serves as not only the fight choreographer on the film, but also as the director as well, and stylistically, IRON MONKEY rivals any of Yuen Wo Ping's more widely known movies. Drawing upon the tradition of Hong Kong martial arts cinema to utilize wire work to allow kung fu scenes to take on an other worldly and supernatural feel, Yuen Wo Ping has since elevated that which had become gimmicky and expected in these films to that of a grace and beauty in artistic movement. Yes, the fight scenes later used in 2000's CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, are completely in the same style as those in IRON MONKEY, but with Yuen Wo Ping, they do not become just rehashed versions of similar themes, but rather have taken on their own distinctive artistic identity, just as one expects to see outrageous stunts in a Jackie Chan film or incredibly fast paced fights in one of Jet Li's movies. With Yuen Wo Ping's style, there is a calmness and grace in the choreography and it is illustrated beautifully in IRON MONKEY as characters chase each other and battle across rooftops. There is a lightness in this approach and an airiness that allows the film to breathe, never stifling the story's progression in sake of a stock action sequence.

A key example of this in IRON MONKEY is a scene where the Iron Monkey and Miss Orchid (Jean Wang) are alone in an open two story room, defying the laws of physics as they both easily fly around to gather papers that were blown around by a breeze. Elementally they each move as light as the air that carries the papers, and while the scene is beautiful in itself to watch, it also serves as a parallel to the gentleness in the relationship between the two characters. Yuen Wo Ping's choreography does become very much like dance, and through it he is able to convey plot elements to the audience without dialogue, thus letting the story progress as opposed to getting bogged down as unfortunately happens in many action sequences in other movies of the genre.

Known as well for his creativity and innovation within his choreography, Yuen Wo Ping likewise envisions some fantastical scenes within IRON MONKEY, including a battle atop a grid of freestanding poles that the main characters must balance upon as they are fighting while an inferno rages below. This sequence is the penultimate one in the movie, and much like the fight amidst the treetops in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, establishes a defining imagery for the film.

While the beauty of Yuen Wo Ping's choreography is central to the visual dynamic of IRON MONKEY, there are fantastic performances by some talented individuals that make the film more fully realized. Having tremendous athletes who can pull off the complex wire work sequences with apparent ease is one thing, but having them also be able to develop complex characters with multi-dimensional layers is what makes IRON MONKEY a success and does not allow it to be relegated to becoming just another superficially stylized picture. Donnie Yen (SHANGHAI KNIGHTS) is fantastic in his role as Wong Kei-Ying and brings a depth of emotion to the actual historical figure. Coupling this with his extraordinarily adept proficiency as a martial artist, Yen's performance is one of the best seen in recent martial arts epics.

Playing Yen's son, the wonderfully talented young actress Sze-Man Tsang has absolutely amazing martial arts talent, and her ability to play so remarkably well off of Yen and her other adult co-stars further strengthen the core cast that Yuen Wo Ping has assembled for the film. This focus on character, and the incorporation of specific character traits into the fight choreography itself, helps establish a through line in which the audience can be drawn in and in turn empathize with the characters' struggles. This elevates IRON MONKEY into more than just a retelling of a tale from classic Chinese folklore, but something that is indeed timeless and that can be accessed by any audience. When paired with the innovative and distinctive style of Yuen Wo Ping, IRON MONKEY becomes a film that stands apart from its imitators.

For the Blu-ray release, there are two small interviews that comprise the bonus features. The first featurette is a nine minute interview with Quentin Tarantino about his insatiable love for Hong Kong cinema and the other is a six minute interview with Donnie Yen on the making of the film. While not extensive in nature, both interviews provide great insight into the genre and feature clips from multiple other Hong Kong kung fu films to allow the audience to compare and contrast what it is they are talking about, thus making for an enjoyable look into the genre.

Iron Monkey [Blu-ray] Feature

• IRON MONKEY BLU-RAY (BLU-RAY DISC)

Iron Monkey [Blu-ray] Overview

Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 09/15/2009 Run time: 85 minutes Rating: Pg13

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