MovieChat Forums > The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) Discussion > WTF, everybody was wrong about this movi...

WTF, everybody was wrong about this movie!

posted 11 years ago by cyguration
7 replies | jump to latest

Goodness, this will go down as a modern kung-fu, dark-comedy classic.

I was afraid that this movie would suck given all the terrible press, (pretentious) reviews and awful Tomato score. But at the end of the day, I actually loved this film a lot more than I thought I would.

Naysayers said: The scenes sucked.

No, they did not suck. They just weren't as good as some other kung-fu classics and reasonably so. There was only one REAL martial artists involved in any of the extended fight sequences and that was Cung Le, which is probably why he had the most screen time actually fighting. Having a bunch of actors and expecting them to perform on the level of Legend of Drunken Master 2 would be absurd. The editing was decent for what it was and the fight scenes -- while they lacked finesse -- were at least inventive, especially for the introduction of X-Blade (his suit design, by the way, was absolutely phenomenal).

Naysayers said: The movie had no plot.

So I'm going in expecting some aimless throwdown of characters in a pointless grindfest, sort of like The Tournament, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate or that dreadful film Arena. If anyone bothered to pay attention to what was going on on-screen, the plot to the movie was pretty straight-forward, and done in a somewhat non-linear, non-predictable fashion. I imagine only die-hard haters, fools and inane neanderthals with a penchant for internet trolling and some modicum of typing skills (and an amazing affinity to write reviews for online websites) would bolster the film as "lacking a plot". I would explain it to the naysayers, but then they could have just watched the movie and it would have explained itself.

Naysayers said: RZA shouldn't have acted in the movie.

Okay, some people have a bit of a point on this one. RZA's acting wasn't entirely dreadful but it wasn't grand either. Many suggested Michael Jai White, to which I say "nay". I love MJW, and he's a fantastic martial artist with a great sense of character gravitas about him, but he would have been way too "heavy" for the role of a subdued and somewhat passively-aggressive blacksmith. As the movie unfolded and RZA's character received some additional story depth, it became apparent that he wasn't too far fetched for the role after all, and I really couldn't see MJW dropping down so low with the barometer of his character portrayal as somewhat like the Blacksmith. All in all, by the end of the movie I was actually somewhat attached to RZA as the Blacksmith, but I at least understand the criticism of this one.

All in all this board is either filled with angry trolls or rom-com critics who were banned from the Katherine Heigl boards and somehow ended up here. It wasn't the greatest film ever but this was a better characterized martial arts action flick than a ton of the stuff Hollywood has been churning out. Bulletproof Monk, Killers or Jack Reacher...anyone?

[–] Taylorfirst1 11 years ago

I wasn't wrong. I like this movie.

[–] relaxedrob 11 years ago

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie: it was cheesey, action packed, full of tongue in cheek dialog and CGI that fit the mood of the movie perfectly!

I was expecting this movie to be a tournament movie too - and I am very grateful that it broke out into a rollicking story.

Dave Bautista and Lucy Lui rocked. :)

[–] cyguration 11 years ago

Dave Bautista and Lucy Lui rocked. :)

Totally agreed!

I love Bautista and I'm really hoping this guy has an extended career in action movies. We've been really lacking someone to fill in the gaping hole left by Arnold and Stallone. I know a lot of people point to The Rock as our new-gen action hero savior, but he's more of a charismatic cartoon than a hard-boiled action hero.

Nevertheless, the twists and turns in Man with the Iron Fists (especially with Russel Crowe's character) were well done, and I'm glad there's a few of us out there who still appreciate good cheese every once in a while.

[–] A_Saucerful_of_Secrets 11 years ago

Great post, and I have to say I completely agree.

I've just watched this movie for the first time, and I loved it.
It stayed perfectly true to everything that made me fall in love with old Kung Fu movies when I was growing up.

I didn't particularly have anything against RZA playing his part, and like you I felt kinda attached to his Blacksmith character by the end.
However, I would have preferred someone else to have narrated. I didn't think his voice quite matched the feeling of the movie.

The final scene as the credits were rolling has gotten me quite excited about a sequel now too.
Eagle ninja/assassin type things, yes please!

[–] cyguration 11 years ago

Dang my original post is full of a lot of typos, lol, oh well.

But yeah, if someone like Samuel L. Jackson did the narration that would have been pretty slick. RZA kind of lacked the vocal emotion necessary to convey some of the story elements in his narration, but it wasn't intolerable.

Anyway, I agree about a sequel...it would be nice to see what Rza could do, as a director, with an expansion on this style of a modern kung-fu classic. Too bad Batista wouldn't be able to return, though, heh.

[–] movieLoader 11 years ago

It's an awesome movie. It's "silly" in a lot of places, but it's not pretentiously silly. It's aware of its own craziness, which is very important.

Highly recommended. To anyone wondering whether this is worth watching, definitely watch it if you like the idea of Tarantino-style stories and characters. I think the fight scenes are shot in a really interesting way. Just glimpses of action, keeps the pace really moving. Wish more movies did that.

[–] blades_of_chaos77 11 years ago

I have to agree this was one fun movie to watch and people who dont like these types of movies should stop watching them. pretentious movie snobs who feel the need to hate everything and try to belittle people who dont share their views get annoying quickly.
fat pink mast!