"When you forge a weapon, you need three things: the right metal, temperatures over fourteen hundred degrees... and someone who wants to kill. Here in this village, we got all three."

Year: 2012

Directed by: RZA

Written by: RZA & Eli Roth

"On the hunt for a fabled treasure of gold, a band of warriors, assassins, and a rogue British soldier descend upon a village in feudal China, where a humble blacksmith looks to defend himself and his fellow villagers."

-Summary Written by anonymous

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I remember finding this film in a store like a year or two ago. I didn't get it, put when I saw it in the rental store,  I had to rent it. It was mostly because it seemed absolutely ridiculous, but in the way I'd totally love this film. I was right.

First of all, the story is way more interesting than what it might sound in any summary. It was intriguing, just like all the actually Chinese kung-fu films I've seen. They are a weird mixture of violent action and some sort of low-key fantasy. The plot structure is interesting, because at first it introduces a several characters, whose stories intertwine with each other and the main plot. That doesn't work unless the characters are as interesting as they are in The Man With The Iron Fists. Of course the story isn't the greatest one out there, but it's surprisingly good. It's better than I expected, but it's very typical for an action film, apart from few details. But then again, almost every movie plot has those few details to make it different from the mass, but what is now very typical for the mass.

If I could choose one thing I love the most about this film, it would absolutely be the soundtrack. There's no reason for hip hop to work in a kung-fu film, but it did, and I was in love since the opening credits because of the weird contrast between the picture and the sound.

And now that I'm talking about picture, wow. Visually this film was astonishing, and I don't just mean the cinematography in general. This film definitely had some astonishing shots, but mostly I love the choreography of the fight scenes. Now I read that someone said that the fight scenes were too ridiculous, now absolutely there was some dark humour mixed in there, but it made them even more fun to watch. And during several fight scenes I just was astounded by how clever some of the fighting techniques were.

The Man With The Iron Fists is absolutely worth seeing, even if it won't become your favourite film. It's worth seeing even if you might not like it. The thing is, it's violent and it's definitely very marginal, but it has a weird combinations you'd never expect from a movie like this.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

7 / 10