Iron Monkey

Film Threat Christopher Varney

Despite my ignorance of Hong Kong, I'm convinced that Iron Monkey could be the best, most entertaining martial arts film I may ever see.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

Where it really counts, though, it's the same good old comic action fantasy.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

If Asian martial arts movies interest you even a little bit, you're going to want to see Iron Monkey. Not only that, you're going to want to see it more than once.

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

It's funny, heroic, exaggerated and, most of all, energetic; the film speeds along as though afraid to lose the audience's attention for even a moment.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Now the movie can be seen for what it was all along, remarkable by any standards.

Slate David Edelstein

A rollicking, comic-book Robin Hood plot and more furiously entertaining fight scenes than the ones in Ang Lee's solemn martial-arts art movie.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Viewers impressed by the fairly standard martial-arts action of "Crouching Tiger" will really be wowed after seeing this film.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

The characters may be speaking Chinese, but such rousing entertainment needs no translation.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

This superficial plot, almost devoid of characterization or weighty emotions, is an excuse for ferocious, fast and frequent combat.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Lacks the poetic and romantic resonance of "Crouching Tiger," but it's got kicks aplenty -- of both the physical and the sensational kind -- and it lands them again and again.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Gravity-defying kung fu choreography.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Scenes of ingenious slapstick violence.

Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark

High drama this ain't. And yet, anyone looking for a hearty banquet of gymnastic, kung-fu tomfoolery won't walk away hungry.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

A guilt-free, no-fat dessert from start to finish.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Not only visually brilliant, it's funny, too.

The New York Times Dave Kehr

Saving the big number for the climax, like any good musical director, Mr. Yuen finishes up with a spectacular variation on the traditional kung fu pole fight.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

It's indescribable fun.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Basically aimed at audiences who want elaborate fight sequences and fidget at the dialogue in between. It's for the fans, not the crossover audience.

USA Today Mike Clark

A long-on-video 1993 release now restored to its original Cantonese with different music and more audio pop.

Miami Herald Charles Savage

The creative vigor of its originality, distilled in a pure and unadulterated form, is simply exhilarating.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

They're as special as special effects get.

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

A pure font of high-flying kung fu artistry, the likes of which has since transformed the way Hollywood's good guys and bad kick the crap out of one another.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Showcases its cast's athleticism and Ping's kinetic high-wire artistry. But unlike similar Western-made fare, it doesn't take itself seriously.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The requisite set piece, which will remind you of the treetop sequence in "Crouching Tiger," involves a fight atop a forest of burning poles, exactly the kind of thing you want in a movie like this.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

No "Crouching Tiger." It lacks the richness of theme and performance that made Ang Lee's film so emotionally satisfying. In fact, watching Iron Monkey makes you realize just how Western and literary the sensibility of "Crouching Tiger" was.

TV Guide Staff (Not credited)

Martial arts spectacles don't come more spectacular than this, and Yuen bestows a quality of grace on the entire production.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Anyone expecting the decorous serenity of the Ang Lee film should be aware that Iron Monkey strives for no more or less than comic-strip thwack and thump.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The movie is never engaging on anything but a superficial level, and it gradually gets decidedly tiresome.