Rating: 
Summary: don't let the name fool you
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Well, I Guess It Could Be Worse
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Well, I Guess It Could Be Worse
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: From number 1 to number 2, it's a long way down.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: From number 1 to number 2, it's a long way down.
Review: The first Iron Monkey is a classic, sometimes cited as the best fightchoreography ever done by Yuen Wo Ping. I'd recommend skipping arental and just buying it. Iron Monkey 2, however, barely merits arental -- and even then only if you have a high tolerance for stupidvillains, a paper-thin plot, and execrable dubbing.I give it twostars only because I still like Donnie Yen, some of the characters arepotentially interesting (in an unfulfilled sort of way), and the fightchoreography is decent enough to grab your attention (though perhapnot to sustain it through the less action-filled -- and moreactionable -- stretches).To say that this film has only a tenuousconnection to the original Iron Monkey is rather generous. (The backof the video box charts new linguistic territory by describing it as a"semi-sequel.") It takes place about a hundred years afterthe first movie, apparently during the Japanese occupation of China(but with what appear to be modern handguns); Donnie Yen is in bothmovies, though playing different characters, and a hero called IronMonkey obviously has a central role in both. Also like the firstmovie, the Good Guys seem to be fighting against corrupt officials,but character motivation is not this film's specialty; characterorigins and motivations are murky at best, absent at worst.I won'teven attempt to enumerate the script problems. Some of them mayactually be due to the poor dubbing, but that can't excuse the entireplot; still, if plot's important to you then you won't be watchingthis in the first place. Suffice to say that things don't work out asyou expect, and even the finale has nosignificance outside of the choreography.But as for thechoreography . . . well, the wire work is decent. Some of the scenesare even engaging, especially the first fight between the two heroes.There's nothing groundbreaking, like the fight on the townspeople'sshoulders in Fong Sai Yuk or the fight on the poles in the first IronMonkey, but the fight scenes are reasonably diverting. Aside from thelack of anything new here, my largest complaint would be that neitherthe heroes nor the villains had anything interesting or unusual intheir gong fu repertoires.If you're interested in the breadth of HKcinema 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.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing like the original iron monkey
Review: The only reason why I bought this dvd is because well, one i loved the first iron monkey and second i'm a fan of Donnie Yen. I was really excited to watch it until I watched the beginning which was pretty corny. After that, my expectations of it just started falling from there. Although Donnie Yen is featured in this movie, he plays somewhat of a supporting role which is kind of disappointing. The dubbing is bad and so is the acting. The storyline isn't that great either compared to the first. If you can stand through all this you will be rewarded with a pretty well choreagraphed fight scene in the end. But I warn you.. this fight scene is not worth the price of the dvd.
If you are a die hard kung fu or Donnie Yen fan I suggest that you watch this movie first before you see the first iron monkey (If you haven't already). Don't worry, the plot and storyline aren't interrelated and you wouldn't miss much. That way your expectations of this movie won't be as high. So should you buy this dvd? well if you are a fan of Donnie Yen and like to collect all his dvds then you should. Just know that this is not one of his best. For anybody else this is more of a movie that you should rent not buy.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing like the original iron monkey
Review: The only reason why I bought this dvd is because well, one i loved the first iron monkey and second i'm a fan of Donnie Yen. I was really excited to watch it until I watched the beginning which was pretty corny. After that, my expectations of it just started falling from there. Although Donnie Yen is featured in this movie, he plays somewhat of a supporting role which is kind of disappointing. The dubbing is bad and so is the acting. The storyline isn't that great either compared to the first. If you can stand through all this you will be rewarded with a pretty well choreagraphed fight scene in the end. But I warn you.. this fight scene is not worth the price of the dvd.
If you are a die hard kung fu or Donnie Yen fan I suggest that you watch this movie first before you see the first iron monkey (If you haven't already). Don't worry, the plot and storyline aren't interrelated and you wouldn't miss much. That way your expectations of this movie won't be as high. So should you buy this dvd? well if you are a fan of Donnie Yen and like to collect all his dvds then you should. Just know that this is not one of his best. For anybody else this is more of a movie that you should rent not buy.
Rating:
Summary: NOT a Sequel To Iron Monkey!
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: umm, yeah
Review: This is not a sequel to the Yuen Woo Ping "Iron Monkey", but an entirely different story that takes place in Republic-era Shanghai with Donnie playing the Iron Monkey character. In addition to his usual excellent kickboxing, Donnie's wing chun is very pronounced. The co-hero is a very good wu shu stylist. Many scenes are sped up, in some places way too much. But what the players do is impressive. Would be a 5 if it wasn't a dub.
Rating:
Summary: i've seen worse
Review: this movie wouldnt be so bad if the first iron monkey hadnt been so good
i think the movies faults have been pointed out already so i'll move on to the dvd itself (which is my biggest complaint)
some mentioned pan and scan above
i think the problem is that it isnt pan and scan
it's just cropped like they used to do in the old days (early 90's and back) hehe
also it looks to me like this movie went from video tape to dvd
it looks (bad)and sounds that way too
i will reserve further judgement until i see it in widescreen
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