The Man With The Iron Fists (2012) – Not Perfect But Still Fun

The Man With the Iron Fists is a 2012 American Martial Arts film, set in 19th Century China (in a town called “Jungle Town”), and stars RZA, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, David Bautista among many others.

This film is very stylish and tells the story of a man getting vengence on the murder of his father, the leader of the Lion Clan, by his adopted son, Silver Lion. To do the movie a little more justice, here is the first paragraph of the Wikipedia plot summary:

In nineteenth century China, Jungle Village is home to several warring clans. The village Blacksmith creates deadly weapons for the clans, intending to use his payments to purchase the freedom of his lover Lady Silk, and leave the village. The region’s governor tasks the Lion Clan’s leader Gold Lion with protecting a large shipment of gold that must pass through the village. Gold is betrayed by his lieutenants Silver Lion and Bronze Lion, who plan to steal the gold. They use the chaos of a fight with the Hyena Clan to allow their co-conspirator Poison Dagger (the governor’s aide) to assassinate Gold; Silver becomes the Lions’ leader. Gold’s son Zen-Yi learns of his father’s murder and sets off to the village to seek revenge.

Man – this is a stylish Kung Fu fest like I’ve rarely seen. Lots of flying around, and silly amazing moves. If you’ve seen Hidden Dragon Crouching tiger (or whatever it’s called), then you know the style of martial arts in this movie. Now, while a Kung Fu movie, RZA throws in a generous amount of Steam Punk (something I enjoy a lot).

While not perfect (or even close), I found this movie quite enjoyable. In certain ways, it reminded me of something Quentin Tarantino might create. I say watch this movie.

Here’s the trailer: