How much did I love Iron Monkey? As soon as I finished watching it for the first time, I immediately rewound the VHS tape and watched it again. And then had my friend over later in the week to watch it for a third time. To this day, it remains one of my favorite martial arts movies, a perfect example of a great kung fu comedy not starring Jackie Chan.

A hilarious send-up of the Robin Hood trope, Iron Monkey is packed with slapstick humor involving corrupt politicians, inept cops, and evil monks, which pairs well with some thoroughly inventive martial arts, particularly of the wire-enhanced and speed-ramped variety. (When Miramax released the film in American theaters in 2001, they toned down the comedy and tried to pass it off as a serious arthouse film like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was a terrible mistake — and pretty part for the course for Miramax.)

Donnie Yen gets top billing as Wong Kei-ying, the martial arts master forced into tracking down the titular hero, but Yu Rongguang steals the show as the Iron Monkey himself. Though not as well known as Yen and other cinematic martial artists, Yu delivers a wonderfully charming performance while also kicking quite a bit of butt.