Donnie Yen returns in this "sequel" to the 1993 classic that was considered by many to be one of the best kung fu movies ever. This one however, is a far cry from that status. The storyline takes place probably 40-50 years after the first one did. Donnie Yen replaces Yu Rong Gwong as the Iron Monkey and does battle w/ some corrupt warlords and arms dealers.
There are a lot of characters in this movie, many of which don't seem to have a real place within the structure of the story. Billy Chow is made out to be a major character but doesn't appear until the end of the movie. The Iron Monkey character is not defined and really doesn't have a huge part in the movie. A lot of the story concentrates on a pair of con artists and a man looking for his father.
Now let's discuss the fight scenes. The fight scenes are really fast and high-energy. Donnie Yen uses a lot of wing chun and his usual tae kwon do/wushu kicking. He's impressive, as is his co-star. Billy Chow's kickboxing is impressive as well. The wires aren't overdone (a complaint made against the original Iron Monkey film). The main problem is constant speeding up of the camera.
In conclusion, this movie fails as a sequel to Iron Monkey, but as just a kung fu movie, it's pretty good. 7/10
There are a lot of characters in this movie, many of which don't seem to have a real place within the structure of the story. Billy Chow is made out to be a major character but doesn't appear until the end of the movie. The Iron Monkey character is not defined and really doesn't have a huge part in the movie. A lot of the story concentrates on a pair of con artists and a man looking for his father.
Now let's discuss the fight scenes. The fight scenes are really fast and high-energy. Donnie Yen uses a lot of wing chun and his usual tae kwon do/wushu kicking. He's impressive, as is his co-star. Billy Chow's kickboxing is impressive as well. The wires aren't overdone (a complaint made against the original Iron Monkey film). The main problem is constant speeding up of the camera.
In conclusion, this movie fails as a sequel to Iron Monkey, but as just a kung fu movie, it's pretty good. 7/10