By Dylan Fair
Arts Editor
Someone who created a multimillion dollar career from a rap group entitled The Wu-Tang Clan should probably know something about Kung-Fu movies. However, in “The Man with the Iron Fists,” Wu-Tang founder RZA’s expansive knowledge of martial arts culture is impeded by his inexperience as a director.
As the film’s director, co-writer, composer and lead actor, RZA’s style and ambition is clearly visible in his directorial debut. Still, “The Man with the Iron Fists” is cinematically confusing and reckless due to RZA’s amateur work behind the camera. However, its plethora of gratuitous violence and its amusing story elevate the film to a possible cult classic.
“The Man with the Iron Fists” unfolds in the mysterious Jungle Village, a small town in rural China. The citizens of Jungle Village are informed that a large shipment of government gold will be passing through the town. Jungle Village’s most powerful groups, the Lion, Hyena and Wolf clans, all make plans to steal the lot for themselves.
The clans employ the town’s local blacksmith, Thaddeus (RZA), an escaped American slave, to create their weapons for the upcoming battles. Jungle Village’s brothel owner Madame Blossom (Lucy Liu) and British mercenary Jack Knife (Russell Crowe) also devise their own schemes to obtain the gold.
The most notable component of “The Man with the Iron Fists” is its abundance of bloodshed. RZA has certainly taken a page from his mentor, Quentin Tarantino, in crafting action sequences with almost laughable amounts of carnage. Scenes of RZA punching out a man’s eye and Lucy Liu kicking someone’s
head clean off his shoulders are visuals that epitomize the delightfully shocking atmosphere.
Despite excessive violence, the actual Kung-Fu scenes are held back by erratic camera work. RZA implores a technique where he divides the screen into comic book-like panels to show multiple fights, or the progression of a scene from multiple perspectives. However, this device is not used properly and simply leaves the viewers confused as to what they are watching.
Another shortcoming of the film is a large gap in acting ability amongst the cast. The film’s experienced actors, Crowe and Liu, are clearly in on the tongue-in-cheek atmosphere of the film. They play their roles with a subtlety that shows they are not taking the movie too seriously.
However, many of “The Man with the Iron Fists” less notable actors, including RZA, play their roles far too seriously for an over- the-top Kung-Fu flick.
One component of movie production that RZA has experience with is the score. He made his mark scoring Tarantino’s Kung-Fu homage “Kill Bill Part 1” as well as the critically acclaimed “Ghost Dog.” In “The Man with the Iron Fists,” RZA boldly blends various musical genres, making a sound track composed of rap songs fit perfectly into a Kung-Fu movie.
“The Man with the Iron Fists” is essentially a bad movie gone good. However, RZA was uncomfortably close to botching a film he had been developing for over two years. Without a significant improvement in directing ability, he won’t be so lucky next time.
“The Man with the Iron Fists” opened on Nov. 2. The film is rated R and playing nationwide.
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