The Man with the Iron Fists

The Man with the Iron Fists, 2012 remake by hip-hop artist RZA, starring Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu. With all of its obvious flaws, I found myself enjoying this decent attempt at a traditional Chinese kung fu movie. RZA made some partial attempt to stay true to the traditional format, but he gave the movie his own hip-hop, cowboy-like feel and atmosphere – I applaud that, but sometimes it fell flat and just seems to be downright silly. The dialogue was absolutely comical. I wonder if the writers really wanted it to be funny? Perhaps they did. The acting was pretty decent, but over the top in some places. I think RZA could've easily made the movie without Russell Crowe. He seemed fat and lackluster as the British expatriate –Emperor's emissary. RZA himself, did a decent job, though he didn't really have much to say. Lucy Liu is always great. The story was typical Chinese kung fu, good guys versus bad guys, with lots of interesting characters in between. The plot had enough twists and turns, and semi-believable intricacy to keep me engaged. The kung fu fighting was pretty decent, but there was heavy emphasis on swords and knives – lots of gratuitous blood and limbs flying everywhere. The music was interesting, in fact, this is perhaps what I enjoyed most about the movie – the fusion of hip-hop music with traditional Chinese kung fu story and characters. Picture the protagonist sauntering down the main street of a Chinese village to hip-hop music, wearing a hoodie – pretty cool if you're willing to just sit back and suspend all sensibility for a while. If you like these types of movies, this one is probably worth a rental.