"Juvenile Huang Feihong: Iron Monkey"
production time: 1993
Main creative staff: Director Yuan Heping, screenwriter Zhang Tan, Tsui Hark, starring Yu Rongguang, Donnie Yen, Zeng Simin, Wang Jingying.
This movie is later than Jet Li’s Huang Feihong first, The second part is expected to be overshadowed by its light. But for friends who like martial arts movies, I believe that the evaluation will not be lower than Li's Huang Feihong, and even the action design and the performance of the actors can be said to be higher than Li's Huang Feihong.
Let’s start with the story. The narrative of the whole movie is smooth and natural, and some of the sections are fascinating, which are still very interesting and vivid today. Secondly, the characters are well portrayed and the image is full. In addition to the main line, several small plots ingeniously show the medical skills, cooking skills and family and country feelings of Iron Monkey and Huang Qiying. Xiaolan's life experience brief and powerfully contrast the story. Finally, there are two classic fragments that I have to talk about. One is the first time the film reveals that Doctor Yang is an iron monkey: After seeing the patient, Doctor Yang closed the door with Xiaolan, a gust of wind blew by, the prescription flew, and the two looked at each other. At a glance, they performed light work and retrieved the prescriptions one by one-there was no dialogue in the whole process, and the movements were smooth and free, which was really amazing. Second, in the end, Iron Monkey and Huang Qiying joined forces on the wooden stakes in the sea of fire to fight against Yankong, the action was in place, and the atmosphere was thrilling. These two classic fragments have not yet been surpassed by a movie. Another point that can be mentioned is that Donnie Yen has truly reproduced Huang Qiying's shadowless feet, which is very enjoyable to watch. This is also incomparable to Jet Li's Huang Feihong.
Compared with Jet Li’s version of Huang Feihong, the comparison of
family and country sentiments and social background is slightly lower
In "The Iron Monkey", the dark phenomenon of the late Qing government was exposed, but there were too many negative things, and the iron horse and Huang Qiying's family and country feelings were too straightforward and personal. In the end, although it is a bright tail, the overall situation is a bit pulled. not coming back. In "Huang Feihong: Rising the Clouds" and "A Man Should Be Self-improvement", the protagonist is placed in a more violent conflict, the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures, the late Qing government and the people, the late Qing government and the powers, etc., its culture The foundation is deeper. For example, the cameras and movie cameras brought by the Thirteenth Aunt, taught Huang Feihong to "love tiger oil", and Huang Feihong went to learn Western medicine, and so on.
After the film’s soundtrack was defeated,
Uncle Zhan’s lyrics to the general order of the ancient tune, which is now widely sung, "Men should be self-improvement", strongly contrasted the atmosphere of the "Huang Feihong" series. Together with the opening music, the audience's emotions have been completely absorbed. It is mobilized; when the plot climax and the characters' inner emotions change, the variation of the music, strong or weak, or rapid or slow, promotes the resonance between the audience and the characters. These are all lacking in "The Iron Monkey".
The protagonist chooses their own charms
. Although the leading actors in "The Iron Monkey" are not big stars (Yen Zidan was obviously a second-line at the time), they were selected very well. Donnie Yen's dullness and sillyness coincided with the characters themselves. The most eye-catching is the actor Zeng Simin, a young girl who plays Zhou Xingchi’s son Xu Jiao. And "Huang Feihong" is none other than Jet Li, because at that time Tsui Hark was trying to subvert the image of Huang Feihong, the great master of Guan Dexing. If you want to have a youthful version of Huang Feihong, this character is naturally a little smart and cute. This is by Donnie Yen. No, and Jet Li, just look at the clip of him being chased by a dog and then eating dog meat in "Shaolin Temple", and you know that he has absolutely no problem. Personally, I think Jet Li and Donnie Yen are both natural actors and their acting skills are not outstanding. Of course, no one can compare in martial arts. Therefore, it is not easy for Donnie Yen to wait until "Ip Man". Although he performed well in "Rose Man" before, he is not the first protagonist after all, until "Ip Man", Wing Chun. Being fast and ruthless is naturally not a problem for him, and his dull and foolishness finally shines.
At this point, I remembered that Tony Leung's "Ip Man" was about to be released, and I did sweat for him. I believe that classmate Wang Jiawei is also going to follow the subversive route, and he can never be a simple and lovely Ye Wen again. I hope that Leung Tow Wai's acting skills will make a major breakthrough, and don't show up with a smirk or melancholy in the eyes of Ip Man.
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