Let’s face it: seven out of 10 films that Hollywood produces are not great films. Hollywood produces the movies it does because they are safe and guaranteed to make more money back than what went into production of the movie (think every romantic comedy from the last 10 years). But occasionally Hollywood will surprise us by taking a risk on something that could be a flop (“Grindhouse” from 2007 comes to mind). And this is the case with “The Man with the Iron Fists,” a film I have been anticipating since I discovered that it was given the green light.
For the first time in awhile, the film lived up to my hype.
A blacksmith (RZA), who has made amazing weapons for warring clans, must protect his village from the same clans as they descend upon his town in an attempt to steal gold being delivered to the Chinese embassy. He is aided by a rogue British soldier, Jack Knife (Russell Crowe), who is attempting to recover the gold for the Chinese government, and the X-Blade (Rick Yune), a member of the Lion Clan who is out to avenge the murder of his father/clan leader by his younger brothers, Silver Lion (Byron Mann) and Bronze Lion (martial arts expert Cung Le).
It is written and directed by RZA (pronounced Riz-ah) from the popular hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan, who is making his first venture into filmmaking. He had some help from veteran directors/producers Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino, who RZA has worked closely with since handling the soundtrack to Tarantino’s “Kill Bill: Vol. 2.”
RZA shows some potential as a director, and you can tell that he has learned well from the big-boys in Roth and Tarantino, but his acting was very lackluster. His Blacksmith character, who also served as the narrator throughout, was mildly interesting. His love story with a prostitute at the town brothel was convincing, but still nothing new or inventive. At times you could barely understand what he was saying because he would mumble his lines, which was frustrating.
While RZA disappointed on screen, Russell Crowe was at his finest. His portrayal of “Jack Knife,” a suave British soldier with an insane side, was everything you could want in a film like this. He did an amazing job of sucking you in with his articulate, romantic qualities, and then morphing into a psychotic, killing machine in a heartbeat. His character was able to embody many emotions and interchange them so smoothly. He was over the top in his performance, yet it was entirely believable. He was the best part of the film, and he definitely stole the show.
The story line was pretty good, but, because there were numerous clans that aren’t developed appropriately, it was a little confusing. The editing was the most to blame for this confusion, because you would have direct cuts from one clan to the next in completely different locations or time frames without proper transitions. All of the clans were named after animals (Lions, Wolves, etc.), which was a little cliché, but it worked in this instance because the film is an homage piece.
Most of the movie’s problems are bailed out by the fact that this is an exploitation piece paying homage to kung-fu films of the 70s, films known more for the intricately choreographed fight scenes than production value or acting. And the fights scenes were fantastic. The fight scenes were very original, with subtleties that made them stand out. The gore was great, and there was a lot of it.
The biggest compliment I can give to the “The Man with the Iron Fists” is that it knows what it is trying to do as a film. This is not supposed to be taken as a serious film (the tagline is “They put the F.U. in Kung-Fu”). So kudos again to the filmmaking.
I hope RZA doesn’t return to his musical roots just yet, because I think he could be one of the rare cross-over artists that has some actual success. And hopefully Hollywood will continue to give films like these a chance to shine.
