The Iron Monkey
Release Date:
October 12, 2001
After receiving an extremely positive audience response at the 2001 Los Angeles Film Festival, Miramax has decided to give this 1993 Hong Kong film a wide US theatrical release, much as they did in 2000 with The Legend of Drunken Master.
The decision may prove to be a fortuitous one. Director Yuen Woo-Ping was the choreographer behind the wire fight scenes in both The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and he also helmed Fist of Legend and the original Drunken Master. The writing team includes Tsui Hark (Black Mask) and Pik-Yin Tang (Once Upon a Time in China).
The story closely resembles the British Robin Hood legend. A corrupt government rules the land, and the residents are downtrodden. A masked bandit called the Iron Monkey robs the crooked village officials and gives the money to the poor. In frustration, the officials blackmail a traveling physician to investigate the Iron Monkey, but a malevolent Shaolin monk forces the two to work together to battle his evil regime.
Like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the film has English subtitles. Although none of the featured actors (Donnie Yen, Yu Rong-guang) have wide name recognition here in the states, the real "star" of the movie will be the fight scenes, which are said to be beautifully executed and wonderfully choreographed. According to Variety, Iron Monkey is likely to build to around 1,000 prints, in a release pattern similar to that of The Legend of Drunken Master. Since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has opened the door for wider acceptance of quality subtitled Hong Kong films, Iron Monkey may prove to be a modest art house hit. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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