The Man With The Iron Fists (2012)
Stars
Rick Yune, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, RZA, Cung Le, Jamie Chung
Director
RZA
The Story in a Nutshell
A shipment containing the emperor's gold is hijacked, prompting every Kung Fu warrior and assassin in China to embark in countless battles in order to retrieve the gold.
Martial Arts Styles Used
Kung Fu
Weapons Used
Chinese Broadsword, Blow Dart, Knife, Throwing Knives, Metal Club, Crossbow, Scarf, Metal Fan
In Summary
Quentin Tarantino gives his name to this film, but as a producer not a director, so those that were expecting the "new Kill Bill" will be disappointed. This is the directing debut of RZA (of Wu-Tang Clan fame), who also plays the lead role in the film.
This film does have promise. In parts it is very stylish, the music is good (RZA at hand there) and some of the action scenes are very good.
The cast also on paper looks the part, Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu are both huge stars with many great films to their name. Unfortunately The Man With The Iron Fist isn't one of those great films.
Starting with the cast, RZA is not really a convincing lead role, and Russell Crowe looks twice the man he was in Gladiator (literally!) Lucy Liu does a good job as the village madam, playing the role a bit similar to her role in Kill Bill. But there is little she can do to save this film from being anything more than average.
The plot is sketchy and not very well put together. RZA narrates the film (and directing of course) and his story telling skills are somewhat to be desired. There are some very cheesy moments in the film as well, both action and dialogue, but these can be forgiven as you know Tarantino is just paying homage to the old school kung fu films.
So overall this is a film worth watching once, but is not a classic and easily forgettable.
Rating: 2/5
Author: The Bear Martial Arts Team
