The Man With Iron Fists Review ... sort of

It's been some time since I've done this or even wrote anything for that matter. So here, goes nothing ...

Promo Poster

It's a film directed by Quentin Tarantino. That usually is enough to describe a movie for me. In this case however, given that the storyline was devised by RZA a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, there were a number of parts in the film that felt un-Tarantino like and stung like a slightly bruised thumb. For those who are uninitiated in what the Wu-Tang Clan is, they are basically African-American rappers with a clear and near obsession with oriental culture. This was evident by some of the spin-off products that came from this rap group, one of which was the Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style Playstation game that was released in 2000. One that I've admitted played myself back then. Anyway, although the name Tarantino is usually associated with an anything goes artsy-fartsy, avant-gardish approach to directing; though to be fair you do get this sense in the movie as well, there also appears to be a strong insistence on this Blackinese approach towards it. Or would you prefer Chlack because African-American protagonist with strong Oriental influence is too long of a term to write here despite it's accuracy.

RZA as the main protagonist

The movie was shot in the style of the kung-fu movies of old but with that off beat Tarantino feel to it - English speaking Chinese folks in what is supposedly classical 'China', guns and gatling guns, etc. It's like a steam punk kung fu movie without the steam or the punk and Tarantino held it all together well. Honestly I found that most of the characters were right on cue, though the storyline did feel somewhat rushed through (except for that long ass flashback) but it was enjoyable for the most part. My one main complaint though was the 'hero' of the movie. I mean come on, just because the guy wrote the whole thing, doesn't mean he's the best guy to play that role. I found RZA's portrayal of Thaddeus (yes, that's the main character's name) to be too lacklustre that it hurt the movie more often than not. Perhaps casting a veteran actor for such an important role in the movie would've made the role appear more alive. I've got no qualms with the other casts. And it was nice to see WWE wrestler Batista get his shot on the big screen even though it was as a guy who had Colossus-like abilities to turn his entire body to brass (see pictures below).

            

There was also little to say about Lucy Liu, Russel Crowe or Daniel Wu's performances in this movie as all of them performed as expected. The storyline too has a nice kung-fu like flow to it, if you do follow the kung fu movies of the 80s then it shouldn't be too hard for you to follow.

All in all, I would say that it's a movie that one can appreciate if you can appreciate something by Tarantino and the Blackinese approach that RZA and his Wu-Tang clan members prefer. Or of course if you just like to watch kung-fu and lots of artistically presented violence and death. I know I enjoyed it but at the same time wouldn't recommend it to just anyone.

To end it and just because Batista's appearance had me reminiscing, here's a video to his slightly older entrance theme song on WWE: