The Man with the Iron Fists isn't a love letter to grindhouse kung fu cinema. It's a letter to Santa. Insert random hip hop expletives as you see fit: Dear Santa, this is The RZA and I've been a very, very good boy this year. All I want for Christmas is my first-ever movie! I want to write it, direct it, star in it and handle the soundtrack, and I want to fight a metal man. Oh! And I want Quentin Tarantino to present it and put his name on the poster. And Eli Roth to co-write the screenplay! And an Oscar winner to play a drunken swordsman. Wait, gunfighter. No! Gun-swordsman! Russell Crowe would be soooo awesome. He's a friend. Then I want Pam Grier (as my mom!), Lucy Liu, Jamie Chung, a pro wrestler and a whole buncha real kung fu stars from real kung fu movies. And I want warring clans, killer prostitutes, a kick-A blacksmith, and lots and lots of blood and gore and severed limbs and lopped heads. And swords, and spiky armor, and axes, and wire-fu stunts, and super powers, and a love story, and weird genre names. Jack Knife, Lady Silk, X-Blade, Chi Chi, Brass Body, Copper Lion, Poison Dagger, Yellow Hyena, Crazy Hippo and Madam Blossom! Sorry, running out of paper. I can't wait, Santa. This is gonna be the best Christmas ever! Your best friend, The RZA.
Bloodied but not beaten...
China. The mid-19th Century. The execution of Lion Clan leader Gold Lion (Kuan Tai Chen) and the rise of his traitorous lieutenant, Silver Lion (Byron Mann, channeling Prince), sends Jungle Village spiraling into chaos. Alliances shatter, betrayals abound and rival clans -- the Hyenas, the Wolves, the Rodents and the Black Widows -- struggle to adapt to the new rules of the game. In the middle of it all stands a solemn Blacksmith (RZA). A fugitive slave who's devoted his heart to a prostitute named Lady Silk (Jamie Chung), his loyalty to no warrior but himself, and his strength to his trade and his trade alone. As the rival clans demand more and more weapons, though, and as more and more assassins and mercenaries enter the fray -- metal-skinned bruiser Brass Body (David Bautista), icy twin killers The Gemini (Andrew Lin and Grace Huang) and cloaked power player Poison Dagger (Daniel Wu), just to name a few -- the Blacksmith must decide whether to fight or flee; to join forces with the Emperor's undercover emissary, Jack Knife (Russell Crowe), help the son of Gold Lion, Zen-Yi the X-Blade (Rick Yune), come to the aid of Lady Silk's employer, Madam Blossom (Lucy Liu), or rise from the ashes of a devastating setback and purge the evil from Jungle Village with the assistance of all his new allies.
The problem with The Man with the Iron Fists is one of overindulgence. RZA clearly adores the genre and all the rickety martial arts cult classics that go with it, but he exercises little restraint, cramming anything and everything remotely kung fu into a clunky splatterhouse actioner chock full of far more characters, conflict and feuds than screenwriting rhyme or filmmaking reason. And it's a real shame. RZA, not to mention everyone behind the camera and on set, seem to be having an out and out blast making the movie. Even Russell Crowe (whose friendship with RZA began on the set of American Gangster) cuts loose, gnawing through scenery and slathering himself in pricey alcohol and pricier girls, just 'cause he can. Normally a lack of restraint is all but a prerequisite to making a film in the vein of Fists. But examine the best of these deceptively rudimentary throwbacks -- Kill Bill: Vol. 1 chief among them -- and you'll uncover near-obsessive levels of restraint disguised as bumps and bruises. RZA, by contrast, is so excited to be playing in a sandbox filled with all his favorite genre toys that he loses sight of anything resembling a cohesive story or a thrilling martial arts epic. The elements are in place -- and then some -- but RZA isn't as well-equipped to piece them together or unlock their full potential as other, more seasoned filmmakers might have been.
"That's the point," some will say, and to an extent, they're absolutely right. Vision, though, doesn't equal technical skill. Passion isn't always partnered with prowess. Desire isn't synonymous with craft. RZA is a decent enough actor when playing a strong, silent peasant turned skull-cracking hero... until he's required to stretch beyond tough talk, smooth moves and iron resolve. (The Blacksmith's left-field, unintentionally laughable Deep South origin story is a mess, to name his most bewildering scene.) More credit is due? I'll concede. I'll even go so far as to say he's a raw but competent director and screenwriter, although it's a bit foggy as to how hands-on he was in post-production and how much of the final script was Roth's handiwork. I'll go a step further. Blaming RZA for all that ails the film would amount to being overly harsh. Especially when too many of the actors' performances fall somewhere between wooden and awful (Liu included), and some of the Corey Yuen-choreographed/Joe D'Augustine-edited fights lack crucial weight, flow and hard-hitting precision.
Still, The Man with the Iron Fists is RZA's baby, and the full brunt of the final film comes to rest on his shoulders. The storytelling and plotting is convoluted. The dialogue is terrible. (Albeit enough on the so-terrible-it's-amusing side to earn partial forgiveness.) The soundtrack edges nearer and nearer to being distracting and disjointed, the legend of The Blacksmith lurches all over the place, the second act drags and almost stalls, and the entire experience wears out its welcome pretty fast. (Even faster if you choose the notably longer but notably more meandering and sporadic 107-minute Unrated Cut over its 95-minute theatrical counterpart.) Unapologetic fans will undoubtedly emerge -- some already have -- and embrace The Man with the Iron Fists with as much enthusiasm as the director himself, fundamental flaws be damned. And I'll admit there is fun to be had, so long as you're willing to overlook a few gaping wounds in RZA's genre scrapper. Who knows? Maybe if I'd caught the film on a better day I'd have been laughing and cheering more often than I was scoffing and shaking my head.
The Man with the Iron Fists boasts a killer AV presentation backed by a remarkably refined (and decidedly un-grindhouse) 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer. Colors are rich and decadent, primaries flex muscle (particularly reds), skintones are strikingly lifelike, black levels are deep and satisfying, and contrast is dialed in beautifully. Moreover, detail is excellent, bolstered by crisp, clean edges, precisely resolved fine textures and solid delineation. Grain is intact as well, and compression issues and another anomalies are few and far between. (Slight macroblocking mingles with the grainfield on occasion -- watch RZA's face closely at the 33:00 minute mark for the worst of it, minor as it still is -- but it's a rarity, and one that will go unnoticed by most. Whether you love the film or loathe it, it's tough to deny The Man with the Iron Fists looks every bit as good as it should in high definition.
Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track hits hard and often, reveling in the bone-snapping tenacity and gory glee of RZA's bloody celebration of old school kung fu cinema. Dialogue is intelligible, suitably weighty and nicely prioritized, and every last hyper-inflated '70s-era sound effect lands its punch without fail. LFE output is meaty and aggressive (almost to the point of being overwhelming at times) too, and rear speaker activity is bubbling over with enthusiasm for everything RZA hurls at the screen. Directionality is mischievous and convincing, pans leap gracefully from channel to channel, dynamics are dead on, and the soundfield has as much fun as the cast. The RZA's soundtrack selections are, on occasion, either too loud or too subdued, but it's most likely intentional and hardly a distraction. Ultimately, The Man with the Iron Fists sounds as good as it looks.
Theatrical and Unrated Cuts: The Blu-ray edition of The Man with the Iron Fists features a 95-minute R-rated theatrical version and a lengthier 107-minute unrated cut, which ups the ante by 12 extra minutes. Not that it makes any difference. More indulgent than beneficial, the unrated cut simply draws out the pain. (Or the pleasure, I suppose, depending on your take.)
Deleted Scenes (HD, 24 minutes): Sadly, there are only a fistful of extras. First up? Five deleted and extended scenes, among them "The Saga of Gold Lion," "Jack Knife Journey Through Wolf Mountain," "Zen Yi and Chan Make Camp," "Blacksmith Doctors Zen Yi" and "Mirror Maze."
A Look Inside (HD, 2 minutes): The RZA, self-proclaimed Abbott of the Wu Tang Clan, talks about teaming up with "my boy Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth to make a fat joint of my own" in this brief EPK. RZA is an engaging, enthusiastic host, though; so much so that I found myself wishing the disc had a fuller production documentary.
On the Set with RZA (HD, 5 minutes): I had high hopes for this five-part tease. Unfortunately, it's nothing more than a series of five one-minute promos: "The Journey Begins," "Casting Legends," "Respect the Classics," "Visualizing the Story" and "First Person Shooter."
A Path to the East (HD, 2 minutes): Yet another quick peek behind the scenes with RZA.
The Man with the Iron Fists is too slick to be a neo-grindhouse kung fu classic, too convoluted to make a whole lot of sense and too undisciplined and unwieldy to be an able-bodied genre pic. There's fun to be had, sure, but it's almost always overshadowed by awful dialogue, scattershot storytelling and indulgent (albeit infectiously enthusiastic) genre throw-backing. Fortunately, anemic supplemental package notwithstanding, the Blu-ray release of the film is much more satisfying thanks to a sharp, serrated AV presentation. For genre junkies only. Just not this genre junkie.
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The Man with the Iron Fists Blu-ray, Forum Discussions
