The Man with the Iron Fists

The Man with the Iron Fists
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: RZA [IMDB]

Back in high school I was quite fond of the Wu-Tang Clan, who wasn't? 36 Chambers changed the face of hip hop, spawned tons of clones, and also put the names... Method Man, Raekwon, RZA, GZA, Ghostface, U-God, and Old Dirty Bastard (RIP) on the tongues of youth all across the world. So when I heard RZA was directing a Kung-Fu flick with the help of Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth, I was a bit intrigued to see if The Scientist could bring his directoral game like he can his rap game.

Synopsis: A blacksmith in feudal China teams up with a prince, Lucy Lu, and Russell Crowe to defend a village from the onslaught of the Wolf Clan.... or Lion Clan... I'm not really sure.

The Man with the Iron Fists is pretty much exactly what I expected. It's a glossy looking film that rides the line between classic and modern martial arts flicks. There was lots of wire works, well performed fights, and blood, but nothing that stood out as new or unique. It was fun and entertaining, but from a technical stand point there are some major flaws.

The score is very bad... and seemed really out of place in a lot of parts. I had a feeling RZA would add hip hop into the fold, but it just doesn't work here. His narration is pretty awful too and took me out of the film every time. The story is kinda shitty too and seem overly complicated.

I had read about RZA's acting being really bad, but you know what... he was ok in my book and seemed to get the job done.

I'd say go ahead and pass on this, unless you're a die hard kung-fu fan... but then again maybe it'd be worse if you are really into that genre... who knows.