Monkey Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Monkey Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 2, 2022

The two latest Blu-ray releases by 88 Films of productions by the venerable Shaw Brothers offer different takes on the equally venerable trope of a martial artist ostensibly learning a "technique" courtesy of observing the natural world. While they were both released under a variety of titles, both Shaolin Mantis and the film currently under review on their respective Blu-rays bear names that pay homage to particular creatures, and the disparity between a praying mantis and a monkey may indicate the rather huge stylistic variances in fighting styles that are subsumed within the probably overly generic rubric of "kung fu movie". Monkey kung fu moves can often be played for laughs, and that's at least the case in point here on several occasions, giving some sequences in this film an almost old-timey slapstick flavor. There are evidently several kinds of monkey kung fu fighting styles, and perhaps unsurprisingly at least one of them is based on the exploits of The Monkey King himself (the link points just to one of a seemingly endless series of often unrelated films about Sun Wukong I've reviewed through the years).

If Shaolin Mantis is at least relatively more of a "slow burn", with some of the more frenzied combat sequences occurring toward the end of the film, Monkey Kung Fu is decidedly more action oriented and tends to provide some kind of action sequence every couple of minutes or so. These tend to be spectacularly staged a lot of the time, and at least a couple of them in the early going revolve around a plot point that sees two prisoners chained to each other a la The Defiant Ones. Those two (ex) prisoners are focal characters Wei Chung (Siu Tung Ching, billed as Hsiao-Tung Cheng) and Zhou (Chiu-Sing Hau, billed as Chao-Shen Hou).

The film has already documented the kind of provocative, anarchistic behavior on the part of Wei Chung which has not just landed him in prison, but which almost instantly puts him at odds with an elderly master also being held prisoner. When Wei Chung and this master have a couple of knock down, drag out fights which Wei Chung loses rather spectacularly, the master then bequeaths a piece of a wooden medallion on his putative "pupil" right before the master is slated for execution.

Wei Chung and Zhou are put on a chain gang but manage to escape in just one of several comedic vignettes featuring the pair. They then trick a nearby blacksmith into severing their tether, and supposedly decide to part ways, though perhaps unsurprisingly, they actually don't. In the meantime, the film's main gang of villains have shown up at the prison on a hunt for the very medallion the master gave half of to Wei Chung, and that sets in motion a cat and mouse game that populates much of the rest of the film, along with a none too surprising reveal as to who has the other half. The medallion, once "reassembled", holds the key to discovering how to learn the titular style of fighting.

While there is a story here, and a generally genially agreeable one at that, this is one of those martial arts efforts that really is more about the fight scenes than anything that comes between. A glut of really wonderfully choreographed sequences help to buoy this film, and there's a kind of daffy but ebullient spirit that informs the proceedings, helping to elide some narrative shortcomings.

Monkey Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Monkey Kung Fu is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Asia Collection, an imprint of 88 Films, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.36:1. Once again 88 Films doesn't provide a ton of technical data on the transfer, offering only a generic "HD remaster from the original negatives" on the back cover. This has some of the same strong color reproduction that I've mentioned in some of the other releases from 88 Films of Shaw Brothers films, and the palette is one of the strengths of this presentation, with consistently strong reproduction of primaries in particular (just parse through some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review and looks at elements like the red outfit in screenshot 2 or some of the bright blue skies in several screenshots). Detail levels are generally very good, though this is another recent release from 88 Films that may offer some grain (especially against those aforementioned bright skies), but which still looks filtered and soft. This doesn't have the almost waxy appearance of Shaolin Mantis, and none of that presentation's sudden downturns in color quality, but my hunch is some might wish for a somewhat coarser, more textured, look. This is another presentation of a Shaw Brothers film that has some noticeable anamorphic oddities, including both squeezing and stretching in various parts of the frame, some of which can be clearly seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review.

Monkey Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Monkey Kung Fu features LCPM 2.0 Mono tracks in either English or Cantonese. There are some definite differences in the two mixes, with some sound effects and music sounding much more distant and reverberant in the English language version. The Cantonese track sounded better balanced to my ears, with a more full bodied midrange, but both tracks suffer from pretty brash and arguably overly bright high ends. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, though. Optional English subtitles are available.

Monkey Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Stunting Around (HD; 14:46) is an interview with choreographer Tony Leung Siu-Hung. In English.


• Original Trailer (HD; 3:57)


• Audio Commentary by Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon of the Podcast On Fire Network

This is another handsomely packaged release from 88 Films, with a slipcase featuring new artwork from R.P. "Kung Fu Bob O'Brien, a nicely appointed insert booklet with an interesting essay by Andrew Graves, a double sided fold out poster, and a reversible sleeve with new art from R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien and the original Hong Kong poster artwork.

Monkey Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some may find it amusing that Andrew Graves calls this film "Brechtian" in his really interesting essay included in this release's insert booklet, but some jaded types (ahem) might add, "But, you know, Brechtian without all the high-falutin' literary stuff." This movie is kind of a great, big goof, but that's part of its undeniable charm. The fight choreography is absolutely jaw dropping at times, and actually looks positively dangerous in a couple of sequences, notably some of the chain work early in the film and then again later in some showdowns featuring long poles. Video has both pluses and minuses, as does audio, with a typical slate of well done supplements. With caveats noted, Recommended.