Review of The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) by Norman B — 27 Sep 2013

This martial arts thriller relates the saga of a Chinese blacksmith caught up in a battle between clans. Forced to defend his own village, the blacksmith channels primeval forces that make him invincible. Man with the Iron Fists is a RZA product for better and for worse. The musician/filmmaker's knowledge of the genre helps. His script is full of colorful characters and ideas while his direction of the martial arts sequences draws upon the canon of films that made the genre so popular offering some admirable action excitement. However, those same characters are far more interesting in concept than actual characterization and the RZA's narration during the movie was just plain awful.

The movie takes itself way too seriously for what it is and attempts a few twists, all of which fall utterly flat as the truth tends to confuse more than surprise. Instead of character development or foreshadowing we're given heavy handed exposition drops and awkward flashback sequences that feel totally out of place with the other portions of the film this problem extends to other areas and Man with the Iron Fists feels in total like a mismatched piece of work. The hip-hop soundtrack I felt it was good with the action sequences for the first half of the movie. The dialogue is problematic between overly dramatic martial arts and modern slang terminology. It seems like the movie can't decide exactly what it wants to be and that confusion is pretty much apparent as you watch it.

In conclusion Man with the Iron Fists is only for those who love their martial arts flicks no matter how cheesy or silly they may be or those who love the mix of Asian and hip-hop culture. I like the RZA when he's in the Wu Tang clan I just wish this movie turned out better.