Iron Monkey (1993 film)

Infobox Film
name = Iron Monkey


caption = DVD Cover
director = Yuen Woo-ping
producer = Executive Producers: Raymond Chow Wang Ying-Hsiang Mary Stuart Welch Producers: Celia Hallquist Tsui Hark
writer = Tsui Hark Cheung Tan Lau Tai-Muk Tang Pik-yin Elsa Tang
starring = Yu Rongguang Donnie Yen Jean Wang Tsang Sze Man Yuen Shun-Yi
music = Richard YuenHong Kong
James L. Venable US
cinematography = Tam Chi Wai Arthur Wong Ngok Tai
editing = Chan Chi-wai Angie Lam Mak Chisin
distributor = flagicon|Hong Kong|colonial Golden Harvest
flagicon|USA Miramax Films
released = flagicon|Hong Kong|colonial September 3, 1993
flagicon|United States October 12, 2001
runtime = 90 min. HK
85 min.US
country = Hong Kong
language = Cantonese Mandarin
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by = "Iron Monkey 2"
website =
amg_id = 1:133630
imdb_id = 0108148

"Iron Monkey" (Cantonese-tjp|t=少年黃飛鴻之鐵馬騮|s=少年黄飞鸿之铁马骝|j=Siu3nin4 Wong4 Fei1hung4 zi1 Tit3 Maa5lau4|p=Shāonián Huáng Fēihǒng zhī Tiě Mǎliú; Literal Title: "Young Wong Fei Hung: Iron Monkey") a 1993 Hong Kong martial arts-action film called directed by famed action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. The film was given a wide release in America in 2001 by Miramax Films with the backing of director Quentin Tarantino. It received good reviews in America, where it made $14 million. However, numerous controversial edits and changes were made to the film, as was the frequent practice of the time, to the intense chagrin of Hong Kong cinema fans [http://alliance.hellninjacommando.net/cuts/ironmonkey.html]

The film tells a fictionalized account of an episode in the childhood of the Chinese warrior Wong Fei Hung, and his father, Wong Kei Ying (played by Donnie Yen).

The film's domestic release was delayed due to producer Tsui Hark's insistence on filming some additional comedic scenes after Yuen had finished the film. According to an interview with Tsui on the Iron Monkey DVD, this delay may have had a negative effect on the film's box office returns.

It was followed by "Iron Monkey 2" in 1996.

Plot

Set during the Qing Dynasty in 19th Century China, widespread government corruption has hit Zeijing Province particularly hard. Repeated environmental disasters and greedy government officials have starved the ordinary townspeople of their money.

To aid the common people, a hero has arrived: a thief along the lines of Robin Hood or Zorro, who steals from the government and gives the money to the poor. This masked thief, known as Iron Monkey, is regarded as a hero by the townsfolk and a problem by the government. Officials from the capital are repeatedly fired and replaced for being unable to deal with Iron Monkey.

Despite an elaborate trap set for him at the governor's mansion, Iron Monkey, displaying incredible martial arts prowess as he defeats not only the entire militia but the four monk bodyguards of the governor, steals a secret hoard of gold from the governor.

The townspeople have much faith in their hero – none are worried that new wanted posters for the masked bandit have appeared, and they don't seem to believe that any government official can catch him.

Iron Monkey is actually Dr. Yang, the owner of an herbal medicine clinic called "Pa Cho Tong". Yang is not only an excellent doctor, but a fair one – he overcharges noblemen for their medicine, but gives the same medicine for free to the elderly who suffer from the environmental disasters. He also treats the very soldiers for wounds they received when he was fighting them as the masked warrior, which earns him the devotion of the leader of the militia, Chief Fox, who has become obsessed with catching Iron Monkey. But not knowing his true identity, he sees him everywhere.

Iron Monkey's equal is now introduced: Wong Kei Ying, an itinerant physician who is traveling with his young son, Wong Fei Hung. They plan only to collect some medicine and stay in town for one night, but after getting mugged, Kei Ying gets into a fight with some street thieves. Nearby soldiers, upon watching him display his formidable martial arts skill, believe him to be Iron Monkey and arrest him and his son.

Kei Ying now sees the corruption of the local government firsthand; the soldiers have been arresting anyone remotely related to the monkey, including the owner of a performing monkey, a pharmacist who sells medicine related to the Monkey God, and a street performer who wears face paint to resemble a monkey. They are all now to be fined a huge amount of gold (500 taels), and Kei Ying, upon protesting this injustice, has his son seized.

Young Fei Hung protests, and the governor orders him to be branded for opposing the court. But before the boy's cheek is touched with the branding iron, Iron Monkey appears to disrupt the proceedings. Once again the militia is no match for the thief. Amidst the chaos, however, Wong Kei Ying escapes his capturers and engages the Iron Monkey in combat on the rooftops. It is revealed that the Iron Monkey and Kei Ying are perfect equals in terms of martial arts ability. Iron Monkey only narrowly escapes.

Although the real Iron Monkey has appeared, which proves that none of those arrested is he, the governor arrests Wong Fei Hung, making a deal with Kei Ying: He must capture the Iron Monkey in seven days. He also seizes all of Kei Ying's belongings and money to keep him from abandoning the village.

Wong Kei Ying, who is now stranded in the village, tries to buy some food with his remaining money and discovers, much to his surprise, that the entire village now hates him. Because Wong Kei Ying is attempting to capture Iron Monkey, street vendors refuse to sell their food to him. Hungry and tired, Kei-ying eventually stumbles upon Pa Cho Tong.

After Wong Kei Ying stoops to eat a bun dropped on the ground, Orchid Ho, who is Dr. Yang's assistant, invites him inside for food. Orchid, Yang, and Wong Kei Ying all have dinner together and become good friends. Upon hearing his plight, Yang goes to the city jail to look after Wong Fei Hung. Finding the boy gravely ill from a plague caught from other detainees, Yang convinces Chief Fox to release the boy to his custody.

Wong Kei Ying, meanwhile, is patrolling the rooftops, hoping to catch sight of Iron Monkey. Instead, he encounters four Shaolin monk bodyguards of the governor who had kidnapped a woman with the intention of raping her. Kei Ying then meets the female warrior-witch White Eagle - a follower of the Shaolin rebel Hin-hung, who in a deal with some Qing government officials burned the Shaolin Temple in the Fuijan province. Hin-hung is now a powerful government official. Kei Ying and the White Eagle have a brief fight before Eagle escapes.

In a daydream, Orchid's past is revealed. She was previously a prostitute, and upon failed delivery of a child, Dr. Yang bought her from her previous owner. She has been living with him ever since.

In the meantime, a fake official has come, claiming to be the governor's replacement after his failed attempts to capture the Iron Monkey. The fake official is really the Iron Monkey in disguise, there to steal the last of the governor's treasure by tricking him into giving it up as a bribe.

Upon waking up at Pa Cho Tong, Wong Fei Hung steals an urn of medicine - he plans to sell them and buy his and his father's way out of the village. However, he soon meets the same street thieves who fought with his dad at the beginning of the movie. He narrowly defeats them with the help of Orchid and returns to the clinic to be reunited with his father.

The real government official to replace the governor has arrived - the Monk, Hin-hung himself. The four monk bodyguards, White Eagle, and a newcomer, a disfigured warrior named Twin Swords, are all his subordinates.

That night, White Eagle and Twin Swords set a trap to catch the Iron Monkey. He defeats them both, only to be ambushed by Hin-hung and hit with the powerful monk's infamous technique - the "Shaolin King Kong Palm" (also known as the Buddha's Fist), which Hin-hung used to kill everyone in the Shaolin temple upon his betrayal. Fatally bruised, Iron Monkey runs for his life.

Wong Kei Ying intercepts Hin-hung and the two do battle. Hin-hung remarks that Wong Kei Ying's style of fighting deviates from the orthodox version Shaolin kung fu, and he is right - Wong Kei-ying's own style incorporates the "No Shadow Kick" technique, which was developed by the Wong family and would later be made famous by his son, Wong Fei Hung.

Kei Ying is no match for Hin-hung, but his Shaolin-derived techniques successfully anticipate the King Kong Palm strike to his back. Shaken from deflecting some of the energy from the strike, Kei Ying barely escapes, and travels to Pa Cho Tong. There he discovers the Iron Monkey's real identity, but instead of turning him in, he uses his medical knowledge to devise a cure for the Shaolin King Kong Palm. The two recover and decide to try to fight Hin-hung.

Hin-hung has now defeated both Kei Ying and the Iron Monkey. He sets out an order to arrest Wong Kei Ying, branding him a traitor. Knowing that both Kei Ying and Iron Monkey are suffering from his deadly Palm, he orders all soldiers to search every clinic in the city and arrest all the doctors. With no choice, Kei Ying orders his son to go back home and reminds that a man doesn't cry. Fei Hung listens and tells Dr. Yang to notify him if anything happenes to his father but he soon breaks down into tears. His father - angry at the fact that his son won't listen to his word, he tells him to man up and to stop crying, when he does, Kei Ying, worried about his son, quickly turns around and starts to break into tears as well, thus indicating that not even he (a man) can resist crying.

One night, as Dr. Yang and Wong Kei-ying are both away, the four monks arrive at the Pa Cho Tong clinic. Finding Orchid, they try to rape her only to find she is also an accomplished master of martial arts. Narrowly defeating her using Ether Powder, they are then defeated by Wong Fei Hung. However, the boy in turn is defeated by White Eagle, who arrests him and brings him to the castle.

Wong Kei Ying and Iron Monkey now storm the government building. With the help of Orchid and Chief Fox (who apparently at the very least suspects the truth about Dr. Yang but is a good man and wants to help), Fei Hung is rescued from being tortured by Hin-hung. Hin-hung, Kei Ying and Iron Monkey now engage in the final confrontation - a fight atop flaming wooden poles. Hin-hung, due to his size, is unable to fight properly on the poles. However, he is still more than a match for both Kei Ying and Iron Monkey. Only with spectacular teamwork are the two able to narrowly defeat the monk. Hin-hung is burned to death and the five refugees escape.

The end of the movie is left ambiguous - another new official arrives soon enough, and they can only hope that he will be a fair one. Kei Ying now understands the full extent of the corruption in his society, and no longer wishes to hunt down the Iron Monkey. When leaving, Wong Fei Hung looks back and smiles at the doctor with joy, his father then offers him his hand, Fei Hung happily takes his hand (a reference to the start of the film where Wong Kei Ying refuses to hold Fei Hung's hand, stating that he is old enough to walk on his own) then leave for Fu-shan as originally planned, wishing the best of luck to Dr. Yang.

Cast

* Yu Rongguang as Dr. Yang/Iron Monkey
* Donnie Yen as Wong Kei Ying
* Jean Wang as Orchid Ho
* Yee Kwan-yan as Hiu Hing
* Tsang Sze-man as Wong Fei Hung
* Yam Sai-kwoon as Hin Hung
* Wong Jim as Governor Cheng
* Yuen Shun-Yi as Chief Fox
* Li Fai as The Witch (White Eagle)
* Hsiao Ho as Disfigured Swordsman (Twin Swords)

Reception

The film opened in the US in October 2001 on 1,225 screens, earning just over $6 million in its opening weekend and more than $14 million overall. It is the 11th-highest-grossing foreign-language films in the US. [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ironmonkey.htm Iron Monkey] at Box Office Mojo, retrieved on November 28, 2006.] The film has received favorable reviews from critics, and it has a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1075984-iron_monkey/ Iron Monkey] , Rotten Tomatoes (retrieved on November 28, 2006).]

Changes to the American version

In its release in 2001, Miramax made several changes that the company felt would make it more marketable to American audiences:

* Since most Americans are unfamiliar with the story of Wong Fei Hung, his name was removed from the title.
* The subtitles were tailored to remove the political context of the story.
* Some scenes were trimmed to tone down the violence.
* Some fight scenes that were sped up in the original were slowed down to a more normal pace.
* Several comedic scenes, particularly ones interspersed in the fight scenes, were removed to give the fights a more serious feel. Although such comedic devices are common in Hong Kong cinema, they might have felt odd to an American audience.
* A new soundtrack was composed that emulated the classical score to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", but in doing so the famous Wong Fei Hung theme was eliminated.
* New sound effects were dubbed for the fighting to make them more realistic (as opposed the more traditional exaggerated Hong Kong sounds).

References

External links

* [http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/ironmonkey.htm Review at Kung Fu Cult Cinema]