The Man With the Iron Fists
Man with the Iron Fists is only for those who love their martial arts flicks no matter how cheesy or silly - or those who love the (sometimes discordant) mix of Asian and hip-hop culture.
The Man with the Iron Fistsis the passion project of RZA ( enounce " Rizza " ) , who has always been very open about his love of the martial arts movie writing style . In fact , hip - hop chemical group Wu - Tang Clan ( which RZA found ) owes their very persona to the warlike arts flicks create by the likes of the Shaw Brothers ( Five Deadly Venoms ) and Gordon Liu ( The thirty-sixth Chamber of Shaolin).Man with the Iron Fistsis not just RZA ’s directorial debut , then - it is a love - varsity letter to a famous branch of cinema .
Today ’s warlike arts films are a bigger box office hook than they were in the ' 70s and ' 80s earned run average of the Shaws , or Liu - so RZA is an untested director make for in a very demanding musical genre . Is passion alone enough to setMan with the Iron Fistson the same level as the films it seeks to give homage to ?
RZA ’s noesis of soldierlike art movie theater and his funky hip - record hop swaggie are imprinted all over the desoxyribonucleic acid of the pic , which ensue in a very assorted bag . WhileMan with the Iron Fistshas its impregnable gunpoint ( the activeness ) , it ’s at long last an experiment that suffer more setbacks than breakthroughs .
The story takes seat in " Jungle Village , " a savage township in rural China where warring clans of warriors all attempt to rule the land . Caught in the middle of the chaos is the Blacksmith ( RZA ) , whose skill at craft weapon system wee him the paid sycophant of every kindred bid to decimate their challenger . However , the Blacksmith has a different agenda : use the money from sell his lethal wares to run away Jungle Village with his love , Lady Silk ( Jamie Chung ) , a prostitute in Madam Blossom ’s ( Lucy Liu ) whorehouse .
Meanwhile , bedlam is erupting all over Jungle Village . The governor has a despatch of Au pass through - gold that every clan wants for themselves . When the noble Gold Lion ( Kuan Tai Chen ) is betray and assassinated by his 2nd - in - bid , Silver Lion ( Byron Mann ) , the fall leader ’s son , Zen Yi " The X - Blade " ( Rick Yune ) , comes seeking retaliation . This blood feud speedily erupts into all - out warfare , bringing other killers - like the insatiable Jack Knife ( Russell Crowe ) and dense Brass Body ( David Bautista ) - into the ring . From there , it ’s a showdown to the last man ( or cleaning lady ) standing , as destinies are discovered and blood is spill all over the streets of Jungle Village .
As put forward , Man with the Iron Fistsis very much a RZA product - for better and for worse . The musician / filmmaker ’s noesis of the music genre number in handy : his hand ( co - write withHosteldirector Eli Roth ) is full of colourful fictional character and ideas , while his focusing of the warlike arts sequences draw and quarter upon the canon of picture show that made the genre so popular , offer some admirable activity excitement . However , those same characters are far more interesting in construct than real characterization - and narratively speaking , the " account " of the film is as poorly uprise as its players are .
The film takes itselfwaytoo gravely for what it is ( a silly action flick ) and attempts several " twist , " all of which descend perfectly flat , as the " revelations " lean to confound more than surprisal . alternatively of graphic symbol growth or prefiguration , we ’re given heavy - handed expo fall and awkward flashback sequences that feel altogether at odds with the other constituent of the pic ( see : The Blacksmith ’s slavery - drama backstory ) . This problem extends to other areas , andMan with the Iron Fistsfeels , in full , like a mismatched pastiche work . The hip - record hop soundtrack often rips you mightily out of the pic , as it ’s totally incongruent with the imagination and atm ( I say this as a personal fan of many of the featured musicians ) . The dialogue is similarly problematic , oscillating between too - striking soldierlike arts platitude and crude modern slang nomenclature . In short : the picture show ca n’t decide precisely what it wants to be , and that confusion is perennially apparent as you watch it .
RZA must have called in a lot of favors to pull together the roll that he did . The player has never been the good doer , and wisely keeps his screen time to a lower limit for the first two - third of the film ( which is ultimately foreign to see since he is the titular character ) . maintain us occupy in his lieu are a portly Russell Crowe , who chews the scene down to the gristle ; Lucy Liu , who is almost a carbon - copy of her Yakuza loss leader character fromKill Bill ; Byron Mann , who tries to inject some literal theatricality into his villain operation , while Bautista , Rick Yune and soldierlike arts star Cung Le ( Tekken ) are basically there to showcase their animalism .
The cinema also proffer mint of Easter egg cameo that only the most hardcore movie buff will recognize : outside stars like Daniel Wu , Brian Yang , Grace Huang , Zhu Zhu and Andrew Lin show up in various roles . Some age martial arts movie wizard are also thrown in the mix : Kuan Tai Chen , star of the Shaw Brothers classic , Five DeadlyVenoms , cameos as Gold Lion ; Jon T. Benn riffs on his " Boss " role in Bruce Lee’sWay of the Dragonby play a plantation owner hump as " Master " ; and36 Chambersstar Gordon Liu come out as the wise former " Abbott " ( an alias RZA adopted for his pelvic girdle - hop career ) . ' 70s blaxploitation star Pam Grier ( Jackie Brown ) shows up for a split - minute during the strange thraldom - drama flashback sequence - though she ’s all but unrecognizable .
Lucy Liu in ‘Man with the Iron Fists’
The activity inMan with the Iron Fists- which is really the big selling compass point of the film - is just okay . Some of the competitiveness choreography and ' conducting wire - fu ' stunt flying are wonderful and exciting , but too much of the moving-picture show relies on tightly - framed quick - cut redaction techniques and CGI line of descent jet . There are hints of classical martial art flicks peppered throughout the action mechanism sequences , but much of it looks like the oeuvre of an amateur music director get a bully raft of help from more experienced personnel . By the time RZA shoulder strap on those eponymous iron fist to get in on the action , say action has devolved into almost pathetic spectacle . The man has beloved for films , but still has a long route to travel before he becomes a tone filmmaker in his own right . The potential is there , though .
Man with the Iron Fistsis only for those who love their martial art flicks no matter how cheesy or silly - or those who love the ( sometimes dissonant ) intermixture of Asiatic and hip - hops acculturation . As it stands , the film is destined to become a cult - classic ascertain ' round the bootleg or cable TV movie circuit . Theater ticket , however , are a bit too steep a price to pay .
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Lucy Liu in ‘Man with the Iron Fists’
The Man with the Iron Fistsis now in dramaturgy . It is Rated gas constant for bloody violence , strong sexuality , speech communication and abbreviated drug usance .
Quentin Tarantino presents The Man With the Iron Fists , an action - adventure inspired by kung - fu classics created in collaboration with RZA and Eli Roth . The film tells the epic story of warrior , assassins , and a sole hero in nineteenth - hundred China who must combine to arrest a double-dealer within his kindred who threaten to destruct them all .
Russell Crowe in ‘Man with the Iron Fists’
Byron Mann in ‘Man with the Iron Fists’
