Iron Monkey

Iron Monkey (黃飛鴻之鐵馬騮, 1993) is a Hong Kong martial arts classic you can watch online on iFILM, choreographed and directed by Yuen Woo-ping — the same action architect behind The Matrix. Set in 19th-century China, the film follows a masked vigilante who raids corrupt officials by night and hands the money to local peasants. Authorities have named him after a benevolent folk deity: the Iron Monkey.

The man behind the mask is actually Dr. Yang, a respected physician who shares the secret with his partner Miss Orchid. When a powerful governor runs out of options, he forces a traveling healer into tracking down the bandit — holding the man's young son hostage to ensure cooperation. That reluctant hunter turns out to be a teenage Wong Fei-hung, played by Donnie Yen in one of his breakout roles.

Produced by Tsui Hark, the film became a landmark of 1990s Hong Kong action cinema. Quentin Tarantino championed its US theatrical release in 2001, calling out its fight sequences as some of the best ever staged. If you watch only one wuxia film from that era, this is the one to start with. Stream Iron Monkey online on iFILM.