Iron Monkey

Paco Hope

This is a great kung-fu action film set in historical China. The fight choreography is done by Yuen Wo Ping, who has choreographed fighting in a number of great films, and later choreographed the fighting in The Matrix. His style is stamped all over the fights in the movie. As Kung Fu films go Iron Monkey has an interesting story woven in among familiar tropes. You see plenty of thugs get their comeuppance and there are a few light comedy scenes as well. The story centres around the "Iron Monkey", a Robin Hood-like character who robs from the rich and gives to the poor, who has a Batman-like secret identity. It is much more than "your kung-fu is no good, mine is better!" and the main characters are genuinely likeable and well acted. I think the English voice actors do a pretty good job. The villains are cartoonish in their badness, and the heroes always win, which is typical of the genre. If you like the genre, this is definitely one worth watching. Because it has an interesting story, it's also fairly accessible to folks who are not big kung fu fans.