Iron Monkey  B
By Kage Alan

During the day, we have Dr. Yang (Yu Rong Guang), a mild mannered reporter…um, physician who administers to the citizens of a small Chinese town at his clinic. By night, however, he’s Iron Monkey, the man who steals money from all the corrupt officials and gives it to the poor. Naturally the citizens love him and the officials want his head. Unfortunately, Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen) is passing through town with his young son and is arrested for fighting off a bunch of bullies. Because his martial arts abilities are that of a master and similar to Iron Monkey’s, he becomes the prime suspect. In order to save the lives of everybody else arrested for the same suspicions, Wong agrees to bring the real Iron Monkey in within seven days or risk being persecuted further. The local governor also holds his son hostage to ensure Wong keeps his promise. As fate would have it, the son falls ill with a fever and Dr. Yang and Orchid, his assistant, bring the boy back to the clinic where he’ll be safe. It’s not long before Wong and Dr. Yang meet and strike up a friendship that will be put to the test. Governor Cheng discovers that a royal pain-in-the…er, royal visitor is due to arrive and it’s this visitor who turns into the real villain of the film. If Dr. Yang and Wong want to survive along with protecting Orchid and Wong’s son, then they’ll have to team up to do it.

“Iron Monkey” contains plenty of on-screen violence, but not a great deal of gore and that actually works to the film’s advantage. It’s fair to say that there are a few extreme bits included and they look and feel very out of place. Still, there are enough thrills to keep viewers interested. An added bonus on the Hong Kong DVD is watching the film in English and then also reading the subtitles. They’re really quite different and it’s like getting two films for the price of one. The dialogue might say “You are bullies and I will beat you up!”, but the subtitles read “You are a waste of food!” It’s really quite amusing.