Fists blends kung fu with Tarantino style

The Man with the Iron Fists is an action film directed by and starring RZA, probably best known for his hip-hop icon status and work as a producer. For RZA, Fists represents a long-in-the-works pet project that embodies his affection for kung fu and for the work of Quentin Tarantino, who prominently served as a mentor and presenter on Fists.

Fists draws most of its influence from classic wuxia kung fu action films, in which masters of martial arts are capable of almost supernatural feats of combat. The film takes place in a rural hamlet called Jungle Village in what seems to be a mildly anachronistic version of 19th-century China. (Imagine if the Chinese government had been in possession of a gold-plated gatling gun in the 1800s — the modern-day map of Asia would probably look very different than it does now.)

RZA portrays the title character, a village blacksmith who finds himself the reluctant weapons manufacturer for multiple factions fighting over a prize — but instead of a glowing briefcase a la Pulp Fiction, the prize here is a massive shipment of gold passing through Jungle Village. As the blacksmith becomes more personally involved, the stakes increase and the bodies stack higher and higher.

The supporting characters include Zen Yi (Rick Yune), whose clan leader — also his father — is murdered. His father’s death sends Zen Yi on a quest for revenge armed with a suit of armor that is covered with enough hidden blades and spikes to emasculate a porcupine. Then there’s Jack Knife (Russell Crowe), a gentlemanly gunslinger from England, and Madam Blossom (Lucy Liu), the archetypal brothel madam with hidden wiles. And that doesn’t even begin to describe the film’s villains. The ensemble of this film almost seems too large to follow, but with each of the characters flaunting a unique fighting style and visual design, it’s surprisingly easy to keep track.

The screenplay for Fists, co-written by RZA and Eli Roth, combines the quintessential themes of the kung fu action genre (revenge, love, greed) with all the hallmarks of a Tarantino film (stylized visual imagery and gratuitous violence). Even for an action movie, the dialogue is minimal, although what dialogue is present tends to be heavy on exposition.

The main story, though standard in most respects, is believable, even if the action isn’t. Nitpickers might find the justification for RZA’s former slave character being a blacksmith in rural China a bit hard to swallow, but it’s a testimony to RZA’s fondness for Eastern philosophy: Unlike the Americans shown in flashback, none of the Chinese characters consider the blacksmith’s race to be worth a second thought.

The difficulty comes in trying to connect emotionally with the characters. Some near cliché scenarios are used in the third act to lend weight to the character deaths in the film’s climax, but the body count is so high by then that it’s hard to care. Nevertheless, the characters’ motivations, especially those of Zen Yi and the Man with the Iron Fists, are easy enough for an audience to understand — if not necessarily to sympathize with.

The quality of the acting performances in Fists are mixed. Crowe is especially enjoyable as Knife; it doesn’t hurt that his character is the pragmatic rogue to the Man with the Iron Fists’ romantic hero, with charm and witty lines to match. Byron Mann as Silver Lion, the lead villain, has plenty of style of his own to bring to the ensemble. Lucy Liu is convincing as a feminine force to be reckoned with, particularly highlighted by a climactic speech that could easily have been corny but instead serves as a sharp insight into her character.

The rest of the characters don’t seem to have much for audiences to latch onto emotionally, but whether this is a function of their acting or their characters is hard to say. Yune and RZA spend most of the movie looking disagreeable, but it’s hard to argue that they don’t have good reason to be. Yune, at least, has the occasional outburst of furious anger to break the silence. And even when he’s brought to his lowest, the Man with the Iron Fists is either doing a pitch-perfect Buster Keaton impression or channeling a stoic serenity. In light of the explanation of his backstory that follows, the latter is entirely likely.

In any case, Fists, as a kung fu film, lives or dies by the quality of the action scenes, which are frequent and well-paced. Although the film has only a couple of truly memorable, standout sequences — which still don’t quite have the same frenetic tempo of a Jackie Chan sequence or the grace of a Yuen Woo-ping sequence — the sheer variety of choreography used and the creatively designed weapons on display help compensate for those shortcomings. The climax consists of three simultaneous confrontations between good guys and bad guys, which keeps any individual fight from dragging on too long.

Ultimately, The Man with the Iron Fists is a decent film that, though lackluster in some ways, offers a strong entry in the grand scheme of modern Western martial arts films. A surprisingly apropos hip-hop soundtrack gives fans of RZA’s music something to look forward to, though it’s not as intrusive as one might fear. And moviegoers with a passion for martial arts action or revenge stories will almost certainly get a thrill out of it, but should be forewarned of an abundance of bloody violence.

But considering the names on the poster and in the credits, that hardly comes as a surprise.