The RZA Strikes with His "Iron Fists"
Just a preface: when it says, "Quentin Tarantino Presents," they mean "he helped get this thing on screen, because there's no way a rapper-turned-first-time-director would be allowed to make something this crazy." Other than that, he has no influence (not even a producer credit.
"The Man with the Iron Fists" follows an epic story of intertwining assassins, prostitutes, gang members, and government officials as they fight each other over a bunch of gold. The gold is sent to a military operation by edict of the governor. However, when it passes through Jungle Village, it is set upon by multiple factions, who seek the riches for themselves.
The best way to describe the movie is probably "grindhouse meets kung fu meets western meets comic books." The level of care and devotion that went into making this movie is pretty fantastic. The RZA spent two years developing the script with Eli Roth, down to the look of the weapons and armor. It shows. Even the acting is a little wooden in some places, or a little much in others, similar to how martial arts movies from the 70s are. Unfortunately, RZA himself is not a great actor, although he may have known this himself, considering he's barely in the first half of the film, despite the fact that it's named after his character. Lucy Liu and Russell Crowe, really the only big name actors, are definitely the most over the top.
The action is really the main draw, and it doesn't disappoint. It's gory, fast, and insane. Every character has a different fighting style and weapon (or lack thereof), leading to some pretty varied combat. Once the supernatural powers kick in, things get more awesome.
If the movie has a flaw (and it does), it's that there's too much going on. The story moves super-fast, and there are sizable actors in parts that are only a minute or two. Apparently, the script was originally conceived as a four hour epic, to be split into two parts. Slimming it down to an hour and a half may be more audience friendly (after all, investing only 90 minutes into a bizarre movie is an easier sell than getting people to plop down for 150), but that doesn't make it a better movie. There's at least a dozen characters, many of whom give off the vibe of a backstory without ever being fleshed out. Also, the acting gets annoying sometimes, even if it is purposeful.
If you're a fan of Eastern action movies, this is the movie for you. Some twists and quirks of the film would also interest people with less passion for kung fu flicks, so that might be something to consider. If you're not into Wuxia, though, you'll find nothing of interest here.
