But that's not what you'll be thinking while watching Iron Monkey. Instead, the following thoughts will come to mind:

1) Chinese filmmaking is the equal of any country's . No more grainy 16mm pan 'n scan prints with tawdry production values. This picture looks great, is cut better than American action movies (no MTV self-abuse here), and the script and acting are tops.

2) Chinese have a wonderful sense of humor. I suppose America at large discovered that Chinese were warm and loveable with Jackie Chan; here we discover witty film comedy, the likes of which haven't been seen in the US for a long time. The humor is warm, story-driven, and based on character instead of shock value, snide put-downs, or audience intimidation.

3) Along with much of the rest of Chinese action cinema I've seen, the picture practically rediscovers genre innocence - unlike Japanese Samurai films, that seem to be modeled more on the cynical Spaghetti westerns. Iron Monkey's little drama of the righting of wrongs by daring heroes harkens back to silent Westerns, with admirable heroes (one is even a master chef) and colorful, hissable villains. Hardly anybody even dies, and it feels absolutely right.

4) The production values are tops - not just the photography, but the sets and costumes too. All the settings have excellent atmosphere without undue fussiness or 'exotic' touches. For us Americans, at least, the texture of the film evokes a new world of unfamiliar genre trappings.

And finally, 5) The entertaining action in Iron Monkey makes you think of Cirque d'Soleil, not a car wreck. Even without the celebrated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fantasy wirework, it's obvious that the stars of this show are dervishes extraordinaires, capable of amazing feats. The show makes you feel like jumping around the room, or at least aping the hand clasp gesture the Chinese gentlemen use as a respectful greeting.

The cast does a fine job of portraying virtue and decency without straining for effect or begging for sympathy. The script affords most everyone a measure of respect, including the ineffectual 'security chief' who indeed gets to be a hero-type for a few moments near the end. The villain is almost as funny. His magical sleeve-weapons that wrap victims up, and smash holes in walls, are perfect Saturday-matinee stuff, if we still had Saturday matinees.

There are more 'fight' highlights than can be counted, but the finish is a topper that sees the combatants balancing atop a grid of poles, while a fire burns below. A caption saying 'don't try this at home', is completely unnecessary. The physical unlikelihood of each situation is overcome by the stunt arrangers figuring out not a couple of gags to go with the situation, but scores of them. It gets to be mind-boggling - hence the Buster Keaton comparison. These setpieces are exhilarating to watch, and I'm told audiences in theaters frequently applauded them.

Miramax's DVD of Iron Monkey shows clearly that these Hong Kong movies can look super when properly transferred. I'm hoping I'm not going to learn about some content atrocity performed on the original show, because what's here is splendid.

Miramax has two nice extras, a pair of short interviews nicely illustrated with clips from Hong Kong martial arts movies familiar and arcane. Quentin Tarantino promoted the American refurbish and re-release of Iron Monkey, and he provides a nice introduction for non-experts like myself. He also spends more time talking about the genre and less about himself, and thus comes off better than usual. He asserts that the charm of these films is their lack of American hip sophistication, and that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon opened US eyes to the wonders of Hong Kong Cinema and made the release of an eight-year-old movie practical. Star Donnie Yen also weighs in with a nice chat on how he came to be the protege of Woo-ping Yuen, and clues us in to the fact that the young hero is supposed to be a legendary (or real) martial arts hero as a young boy. A third welcome extra is a 'score medley' of Richard Yuen's evocative music.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
Iron Monkey rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Quentin Tarantino and Donnie Yen interviews, score medley
Packaging: Alpha case
Reviewed: April 6, 2002