The Man With The Iron Fists

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is The Man With The Iron Fists.

Directed by The RZA.

Written by Eli Roth & The RZA.

Screen Story by The RZA.

Martial Arts Choreography by Corey Yuen.

Review #185

MPAA Rating: R for bloody violence, strong sexuality, language and brief drug use.

Run Time: 95 min

Cast

RZA...Blacksmith

Rick Yune...Zen Yi, The X-Blade

Russell Crowe...Jack Knife

Lucy Liu...Madam Blossom

Dave Bautista...Brass Body

Jamie Chung...Lady Silk

Cung Le...Bronze Lion

Byron Mann...Silver Lion

Daniel Wu...Poison Dagger

Zhu Zhu...Chi Chi

Chia Hui Liu...Abbott (as Gordon Liu)

Kuan Tai Chen...Gold Lion

Grace Huang...Gemini Female

Andrew Lin...Gemini Male

Pam Grier...Jane

Dennis Chan...Dragon Innkeeper

Terence Yin...Governor

The Wu Tang Clan is now and will forever will be one of my favorite rap groups. When they burst on the scene back in 1992, they changed the rap game with their ingenious blend of hypnotic beats and rhymes with old school kung fu films.

Pure entertainment at it's utter finest.

One of the architects of the Clan was The RZA. He designed practically every beat The Wu spit to. They are iconic rhythms. The influx of 70's kung fu films also added a fresh perspective to a very specific genre of music. It was evident that the groups love of kung fu films permeated throughout their records. They sampled audio clips of some of the genre's most iconic films. From 5 Deadly Venoms to Lone Wolf and Cub to The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. These guys were not just using the films to promote their unique group.

They were aficionados.

Fast forward 20 years and while sadly The Wu no longer exists, the master still continues to influence other artists in both the studio and screen. The RZA has gone on to produce tracks and beats for many of hip hop's best and after doing some light acting. He's taken a crack at film making. Which brings us to his writing and directing debut of The Man With The Iron Fists. An appropriate title for his first film. It resembles so many of the movies that inspired the amazing music and albums that he helped produce.

There's just one problem.

If he was trying to make a movie that was worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the classic kung fu wu xia films of yesteryear.

He FAILED miserably.

If he was trying to homage those films while putting his own touches on it then he SUCCEEDED.

Plot

On the hunt for a fabled treasure of gold, a band of warriors, assassins, and a rogue British soldier descend upon a village in feudal China, where a humble blacksmith looks to defend himself and his fellow villagers.  

There were some glaring issues with this film. The first was RZA casting himself as the blacksmith. Putting his acting skill aside. He just didn't look the part. There was very little life to his character. The blacksmith was by nature under the radar but you combine that with RZA's lack of emotion the character becomes more cardboard then stoic.

Secondly, the story is a bit disjointed. Particularly concerning the blacksmiths back story. It felt very out of place. Here he is in this world of fighters and warlords and his origins come from a completely different place that takes you away from the cool world that he created. It's a small flashback scene but it takes you out of the setting that makes the film interesting. The other parts of the story is pretty self explanatory and quite weak. The motives of the villain are pretty transparent which is no surprise when dealing with a film of this genre.

The cast was pretty impressive. Including some old school kung fu heavyweights which was a nice sight to see. This was one part of the film that RZA got right. He employed some names from the past that brought some validity and authenticity to the film. I only wished that they had more screen time. Most of these actors were subjected to cameos during fights or quick exposition scenes.

Shame.

There was another thing that RZA got right. Or half right. He got a Hong Kong veteran to choreograph the action. Corey Yuen is a major name in the industry. Having gone to the same Peking Opera School as Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. He went on to direct and choreograph some of the genres finest films.

The part that went wrong was that Yuen's talents were wasted here.

The fights were well choreographed but they at times were too stylized to the point that all you saw was mass chaos. It was reminiscent of Hackael Bay's Transformers fights. Just a mass of metal fighting, destroying things. All you saw was the explosions and broken glass. There was an element of that here. Instead of seeing a nicely executed one on one battle full of intricate moves and sequences. You got a sliver of that then mass hysteria followed. Chaos aside you do see blood. A TON of blood. The violence is ramped up here as to be expected so don't wear white to the theater.

It's really too bad because even the non martial artists like Lucy Liu, Rick Yune, Byron Mann, Russell Crowe and RZA himself all made a grand effort to look the part. The editing was also choppy and whimsical. This was something that surprised me a little. RZA of all people knew what kung fu films were famous for. Bad ass fights and sharp crisply edited fights. That was not the case in either avenue and that is unacceptable for a true fan of the genre.

The characters with exception of the blacksmith were very cool. The coolest being Brass Body. RZA clearly nailed this part of the film. He realized that this type of kung fu film throws all logic out the window when it came to the characters' abilities and fighting styles. Brass Body was the embodiment of that philosophy and it gave the film a nice look and attitude.

For a first effort. RZA did a good job. He wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel here. He was trying to make a film that resembled the ones he knows and loves. He accomplished his mission in that regard. If he had only taken a few more steps and followed the blueprint a little more to the letter. We could have been talking about a new age Shaw Bros entry.

So close yet so far.

On the 5 star scale. The Man With The Iron Fists gets 3 stars. With a "Go See It!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today. Up next is Wreck It Ralph.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"