Customer Reviews

Iron Monkey 2 [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Want proof that this isn't a true sequel: Even Iron Monkey himself never dresses like he did in the first film. Before he always had half his face covered, but now he does most his fighting in leisure suits with everyone seeing his face. Even the original music is absent, instead we get a musical score from the movie "True Lies" (I know, I own the soundtrack) during the action scenes, repeating the same string in one of the music tracks over and over (almost in every fight--at least at 5 different times!). In fact, besides dubbing in the use of the name "Iron Monkey" every once and a while, this is basically an older Donnie Yen movie re-released with the "Iron Monkey 2" label. Somebody tried way to hard to market in on the "Iron Monkey" name, and it shows quite badly.

The only thing that made me keep watching was the frequent appearance of astonishing hyper-kinetic fight scenes choreographed by Yuen Ho-Ping, not the endlessly inventive Yuen Woo-Ping (as Amazon.com states), who came to fame as the fight choreographer of "The Matrix." Many people think that Woo-Ping did the fight choreography in this one... but he didn't. Those that have seen many of his other movies will notice the fight scenes lack a certain charisma that only Woo-Ping can deliver. Still, the curious thing is that, after a while, this choppy movie starts to lurch into a good-old kung fu spectacle. Iron Monkey 2 grows strangely compelling. It's as if, through directorial incompetence, the movie has been distilled to the basic elements of cinematic storytelling.

This is not Yuen Woo-Ping's work, but I believe you may find it worth it because of Donnie Yen, who many believe is up there in on screen-fighting-fireworks with the likes of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. The other highlight in this movie was the actor who portrayed the son looking for his father --he had incredible martial arts skills in his own right. His fight with Donnie Yen was arguably one of the better ones in the film. The one bad thing was that we get more fighting from this looking-for-father guy than Donnie Yen himself. He's not a bad fighter, but I bought the movie looking for most of the fights with the Iron Monkey himself involved.

By itself, you have some good fighting with some really bad dubbing and a reused music track from the movie "True Lies." But when you slap the name of the sequel to one of Yuen Woo-Ping's best work to it, too many comparisons will be made.

The first Iron Monkey is a classic, sometimes cited as the best fight
choreography ever done by Yuen Wo Ping. I'd recommend skipping a
rental and just buying it. Iron Monkey 2, however, barely merits a
rental -- and even then only if you have a high tolerance for stupid
villains, a paper-thin plot, and execrable dubbing.

I give it two
stars only because I still like Donnie Yen, some of the characters are
potentially interesting (in an unfulfilled sort of way), and the fight
choreography is decent enough to grab your attention (though perhap
not to sustain it through the less action-filled -- and more
actionable -- stretches).

To say that this film has only a tenuous
connection to the original Iron Monkey is rather generous. (The back
of the video box charts new linguistic territory by describing it as a
"semi-sequel.") It takes place about a hundred years after
the first movie, apparently during the Japanese occupation of China
(but with what appear to be modern handguns); Donnie Yen is in both
movies, though playing different characters, and a hero called Iron
Monkey obviously has a central role in both. Also like the first
movie, the Good Guys seem to be fighting against corrupt officials,
but character motivation is not this film's specialty; character
origins and motivations are murky at best, absent at worst.

I won't
even attempt to enumerate the script problems. Some of them may
actually be due to the poor dubbing, but that can't excuse the entire
plot; still, if plot's important to you then you won't be watching
this in the first place. Suffice to say that things don't work out as
you expect, and even the finale has no
significance outside of the choreography.

But as for the
choreography . . . well, the wire work is decent. Some of the scenes
are even engaging, especially the first fight between the two heroes.
There's nothing groundbreaking, like the fight on the townspeople's
shoulders in Fong Sai Yuk or the fight on the poles in the first Iron
Monkey, but the fight scenes are reasonably diverting. Aside from the
lack of anything new here, my largest complaint would be that neither
the heroes nor the villains had anything interesting or unusual in
their gong fu repertoires.

If you're interested in the breadth of HK
cinema and/or in Yuen Wo Ping's filmography, Iron Monkey 2 isn't a
*total* waste of time; it's just a *relative* waste of time,
considering the finitude of a human life.

This somewhat "sequel" to the 1993 "original," not to be confused with the more classic 1977 Chen Kwan Tai "original" of the same name, is less majestic, less enthralling, and of much smaller production value than the original 1993 offering. The look and feel of the movie, in fact, make you feel the movie was made BEFORE the original. There are numerous intense, very good fight sequences throughout, though the plot flounders and is choppy in the middle reels. More "classic" and less "wired" than the orginal, the movie contains some distracting elements, such as modern backdrops (a nightclub?...with showgirls?...and patrons in tuxedos?) and WAY TOO MUCH gun-play (handguns and the like) for the kung-fu purist (do we allow ANY?). If you liked the 1993 original, you will most certainly appreciate this second offering (but also treat yourself to the 1977 classic!)

This is a run of the mill Hong Kong Actioner, and if you're a fan, you'll probably enjoy it, although not much. Donnie Yen is good, the action and fighting sequences are good, Yuen Wo Ping did design the fights. But the filming, editing, and overall quality are mediocre (fans expect this sort of low budget quality in most HK action films). I really believe this is Tai Seng's attempt to cash in on the popularity of Iron Monkey. Frankly, they've done a poor job, as any serious fan will detect absolutely no connection to that story and this.

I felt so sorry for Mr. Yen being in this so called sequel. Please don't judge this movie in the same light of the original. If you do. You will be greatly disappointed.

I purchased this after seeing Iron Monkey on the big screen this weekend. I coerced my martial arts resistant wife to watch it as well (she loved the first Iron Monkey).
Awful. There is no other word for this pseudo sequel. The story is uncompelling (and virtually unrelated to the first film); the fight scenes don't hold a candle to the original; the production values are bargain basement.
And the pan-and-scan! It's impossible to tell what's going on! I refuse to watch another martial arts movie in pan-and-scan: its letterbox for me for now on.
It's sad to think that some people will be lead to this film after discovering the original at the multiplex.

I hope I can recall all the plots uncovered in this movie. Let me see there was a traveling troupe bent on assasinating a crime boss.............a couple of street urchins trying to get themselves off the streets with a couple hustles.........a country boy looking for his father in the city..........the crime boss trying to scheme a gun running operation.........a woman offering bounty to any hitman to take a job...........and then there is Iron Monkey-the Robin Hood type- who supposedly gives to the poor. Believe it or not this is one movie and is typical of the Hong Kong Genre.

This is not Yuen Woo Ping's best work but I believe it works because of Donnie Yen who in my opinion is up there in on screen fighting fireworks with the likes of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Hopefully in the near future Donnie is given the opportunity to showcase more of his talents in the U.S. Word is he will be given this chance in the new movie of the HIGHLANDER series.

The other highlight in this movie was the actor who portrayed the son looking for his father--he had incredible martial arts skills in his own right. And his fight with Iron Monkey was arguably one of the better ones in the film.

Pretty standard low-budget HK actioner. The production quality is no where near the Quentin Tarantino presentation of "Iron Monkey." Feels like they took an old movie and repacked it for IM fans. Yuen Wo Ping is credited with the fight direction which is good. Acting directing is poor to mediocre at best... It is good to see more of Donny Yen, but I'd like to see more of him in some higher quality films, like a CTHD follow-up, Matrix-style or Jet Li film.

So I'm out hunting for some new martial arts DVD's. I'm just about done and I come across Iron Monkey 2 ... I didn't even know they had an Iron Monkey 2. A quick review of the back cover reveals that this is a "semi-sequel" to the original. Uh, okay. I pop the movie in. There is no screen set-up or anything. What you see is what you get. The movie looks like an early 80's kung fu movie. Nothing like the stylish first. Yes, the movie is laughable and there is no real plot. I still enjoyed the movie. I took it for what it was...a kung fu movie. The only reason I rate it so low is because I'm comparing it to the first.

Ok, fist let me say that I started watching Kung Fu Movies after I watched "The Matrix, & Fist of Legend". Ever since than I started buying Woo-Ping Movies. Like alot of people I don't care to much about the script or that acting. I watch these movies for amazing kung fu fighting. This movie was a HUGE disappointment. I bought it hoping it might be as good if not better than Iron Monkey 1. First off, there was only like one ok fight at the end. The rest of the fights, what few there are, were bad. The camera was bounceing so much you could'nt evan till a foot from a fist. Also the version I got was full screen, not letterbox. And there was no subtitles, only a bad dubbing in english. Another bad thing was the chapter selection. They only split the movie up into about eight chapters. So your continuesly fast-forwarding. If your buying Kung Fu movies because you really liked "Matrix style Figting" Than this isn't the movie for you. Iron Monkey 1 is ten times better and Fist of Legend is the number 1 kung fu movie ever! Simply put, this movie ...! "Bad Kung Fu!"