Review of The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) by William C — 03 Apr 2013
RZA may know a lot about martial arts films, but he sure doesn't know how to make them. The ridiculously labyrinthine plot of this film is stuffed into an amazingly brief 107 minutes. (For the unrated cut.
The theatrical cut of the film runs an even shorter 95 minutes.) The characters are so busy getting from plot point to plot point that you learn next to nothing about them. By the time the blacksmith squares off against Brass Body in the climax, you've learned nothing more than their single character-defining characteristic.
Brass Body is made of brass, but you don't know why he is or what the limitations of his abilities are. This robs the film of all supense and of any interest in what will happen. Ultimately, this is a very adolescent film, more concerned with getting from one thing RZA thinks is cool to another than it is in any kind of story.
In that sense, RZA is a lot like Rob Zombie. He has a decent sense for what ideas are cool, but he has no sense for how to weave them into a story.
This review of The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) was written by William C on 03 Apr 2013.
The Man with the Iron Fists has generally received mixed reviews.
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