Iron Monkey (1977)

What price revenge?

Chen Kuan Tai directed and starred in The Iron Monkey, a dark and violent old school revenge flick. It's Monkey Fist against Eagle Claw, and the noble Shaolin vs the evil Qing.

Chen's rebel family was dragged away and executed by a notorious Qing general. Chen escaped capture because he was gambling and being threatened by bookie/debt collector Wu Ma. After the devastating loss of his family (good thing he didn't see what happened to his little brother in prison), he lives in the woods and scavenges food from a Shaolin temple. Chi Kuan Chun's Shaolin apprentice catches him and convinces the abbot to let Chen train there. Refusing to give them his real name, he simply goes by Iron Monkey, his nickname for the way he climbs walls and fights. The abbot hopes his training will help him release his need for revenge. Honey, if he did that we wouldn't have a movie.

Chen trains with Bitter Monk (Chen Mu Chuan), learning the most difficult style---The Monkey Fist. After a few years, the Qing come calling needing guards and fighters but are turned down by the monks. Chen goes to the Abbot and asks to be released. In a very un-Buddhist manner he's told to go quench his need for bloody revenge. Chen joins the Qings destroying other villages and rebel forces in order to move up the ranks and get close enough to the general so that he can take him out. When the Shaolin temple is threatened he has to move up his revenge rampage timeline.

The Iron Monkey is ethically challenging to watch. It is an unflinching revenge film where the hero crosses the line in order to avenge his family. It asks the question, "are evil deeds acceptable in order to eradicate a greater evil?" It's a 1970's kung fu film so no answers are given. Even more troubling to me were the real life fights between a monkey and an eagle at the beginning of the film and near the end. Though it might have been acceptable in that time and place, I still deducted points for the disturbing scenes.

Chen Mu Chuan who played the Bitter Monk was the fight choreographer. The fights and training scenes took up most of the film keeping him busy. The fights were well done and complex. The final fight scenes had brutal culminations. A few fights had acrobatics, but the wire-fu was kept to a minimum. There was no romance, no cringey comedy, this was old fashioned smash mouth kung fu fighting from beginning to end.

Good guy or bad guy, I enjoy watching Chen Kuan Tai fight and act. Wilson Tong played a treacherous baddie as well as Bryan Leung (Beardy!). As a director, Chen's pacing kept the story moving forward and flowing smoothly. The sets, costumes, and weapons were varied and their quality added depth to the performances.

Overall, I enjoyed this grim revenge film with the exception of the animal abuse scenes. I found it to be an above average 1977 kung fu film. If you are in the mood for an intense brawler, this is one to try.



7/26/22

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