|
Yun Fat, meanwhile, simply thinks the yanks make twaddle
and can’t wait to get back to his homeland and start
doing some quality stuff again.
Ironically, both actors are making moves towards returning
to that native Hong Kong, and leaving some other poor schmuck
in charge of the "Tuxedos" and "Around the
world in 80 days" that they’d otherwise be pushed
into doing.
Who’s the proxy going to be though? Surely, not Donnie
Yen!?
Donnie Yen is one of Hong Kong’s finest martial artists.
The action superstar, who cut his teeth as a stunt co-ordinator
and ultimately, actor, made his U.S debut a couple of years
back in studio pop like Blade 2 and Highlander :
Endgame. Not surprisingly, he had very little to do in
both films.
Every action sequence in one of the films he did back in
HK is equal to, say, one sequence in a studio pic. And after
the success of foreign chop-suey hit Hero, Hollywood’s
now calling Yen’s phone off-the-hook to spark his interest
in whatever Hollywood junk they’ve got laying around
– one of them, based on a computer game – with many
hoping he’s diverting those calls to a machine that simply
answers “currently in Hong Kong making the kind of movies
I should be doing”.
"Iron Monkey" is the kind of quality martial arts
movie that (hopefully) Donnie Yen will be remembered for.
No effects, no hammy villains, no Owen Wilson…this is
old school chop suey. And looking back on it now, it’s
easy to see where Crouching Tiger and The Matrix
got their inspiration from.
The "Iron Monkey" (Yu Rong Guang) is a Robin Hood-like
figure who steals from the rich – in this case, a corrupt
governor – and gives to the poor. Yen plays one of two
brothers who get caught up in a city-wide mission to trap
the do-gooder, with whatever means possible.
There are two reasons why "Iron Monkey" works.
Firstly, the story. Unlike a lot of other martial arts movies
it’s actually got a decent one. Secondly, the martial
arts. The stunts and smashes in this baby will blow
you away.
Donnie Yen…don’t go changin’. We couldn’t
bare to see you sell out to Tinseltown.
Besides a fresh clean print there’s an awesome new score
and best of all, the film isn’t redubbed in English.
There are a lot of crappy martial arts releases about, so
maybe this one should get a shelf all of its own? Top stuff.
DVD Extras
In terms of extras, there are a couple of recent interviews
with Donnie Yen and Quentin Tarantino (Tarantino’s such
a huge fan he volunteered to commandeer this release) audio
commentary from Donnie Yen and Hong Hong Cinema Expert Bey
Logan, a video commentary featurette, a few other miscellaneous
interviews, four comprehensive featurettes, trailers, a gallery
and text tack-ons. Not a bad lot of bonuses, eh?
Conclusion: Movie 80% Extras 70%
|
