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The Man With the Iron Fists

The Man With the Iron Fists (2012)

tomatometer

55

Average Rating: 4.1/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 5

No consensus yet.

audience

54

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 18,677

My Rating

Movie Info

Making his debut as a big-screen director and leading man, RZA-alongside a stellar international cast led by Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu-tells the epic story of warriors, assassins and a lone outsider hero in nineteenth-century China who must unite to destroy the clan traitor who would destroy them all. Since his arrival in China's Jungle Village, the town's blacksmith (RZA) has been forced by radical tribal factions to create elaborate tools of destruction. When the clans' brewing war boils

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Action & Adventure

$7.9M

Universal Studios

The Man With the Iron Fists Trailer & Photos

More Photos (28)
More Trailers and Videos (20)

Cast

Critic Reviews for The Man With the Iron Fists

All Critics (40) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (18)

Lunatic, slipshod, absurdly violent, horribly acted, and borderline incomprehensible.

November 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Boston Globe | Comments (4)
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's little happening here except slavish imitation and embarrassing hackwork.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comments (6)
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If Iron Fists is sometimes badly made, it is refreshingly badly made.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Village Voice | Comment
Nick Pinkerton
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

(RZA) is a terrible actor, an incompetent narrator, a mediocre writer and (spatter) paint-by-numbers director.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service | Comments (57)
Roger Moore
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Top Critic IconTop Critic

"The Man With the Iron Fists" is the type of movie that feels like you are always coming in half-way through, even if you watch it from the beginning. As an exercise in genre, this is the highest compliment.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Film.com | Comment (1)
Jordan Hoffman
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

At 96 minutes it is exactly 93 1/2 minutes too long.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: New York Post | Comments (9)
Kyle Smith
New York Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

As befits a Tarantino-endorsed production, the anachronisms, one-liners and clashing acting styles are ostensibly part of the fun, but both the martial arts and the slightly dull narrative patchwork are too choppily edited to gain much of a foothold.

November 6, 2012 Full Review Source: Time Out New York | Comment
Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out New York

The Man with the Iron Fists is fun as hell and it knows what it is. RZA's Blaxploitation, Kung Fu Remix debut sounds and looks stellar.

November 5, 2012 Full Review Source: 2UE That Movie Show | Comment
Blake Howard
2UE That Movie Show

A combo of kung fu choreography and Hollywood gore carefully held together with cheese.

November 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | Comment (1)
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

This film is what you would get if you took somebody who had watched all the martial arts films in a 1980s video store...if you took their id and ran it through a juicer.

November 4, 2012 Full Review Source: Needcoffee.com | Comment (1)
Widgett Walls
Needcoffee.com

The Man with the Iron Fists is all appreciation and no perspective. It hopes to get by on a certain level of considered cool. For the most part, it does.

November 4, 2012 Full Review Source: PopMatters | Comment
Bill Gibron
PopMatters

While fun and made to fully maximize the stylized action, the movie is the work of a serious student of the genre rather than a master with a gift for reinvention.

November 3, 2012 Full Review Source: honeycuttshollywood.com | Comment
Kirk Honeycutt
honeycuttshollywood.com

Equal parts Jack Burton and Richard Burton, Russell Crowe bellows and bloviates through the entire movie. That's a compliment to this lovingly cheeky and aggressively choreographed, if not overly exciting, valentine to shabby-grindhouse martial arts.

November 3, 2012 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment
Nick Rogers
Suite101.com

Highly stylized kung-fu spoof, filled with blood-spurting and limb-hacking

November 3, 2012 Full Review Source: SSG Syndicate | Comment
Susan Granger
SSG Syndicate

...nothing less than a misbegotten mess that frustrates and annoys more than it entertains.

November 3, 2012 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

paying homage to crappy films simply leads to yet another crappy film

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comments (3)
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

No matter the medium, RZA is a world-builder who has conceptualized the contours of the rich, bloody, dense universe he created down to the most insignificant details.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: AV Club | Comment
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

The blood spurts, the knives shoot out, and the fists fly - but The Man with the Iron Fists never takes off.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: The Wrap | Comment
Alonso Duralde
The Wrap

Whatever it is, The Man with the Iron Fists is more plodding than riotous, in desperate need of an actual filmmaker to clarify its sincere tributes and silly winks.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Blu-ray.com | Comment
Brian Orndorf
Blu-ray.com

Goofy and derivative in all the right ways.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Mania.com | Comment
Rob Vaux
Mania.com

Only for those who love their martial arts flicks no matter how cheesy or silly - or those who love the (sometimes discordant) mix of Asian and hip-hop culture.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: ScreenRant | Comment
Kofi Outlaw
ScreenRant Source: ScreenRant
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Man With the Iron Fists

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In feudal China an African-American blacksmith, British soldier of fortune and a avenging son with a suit that fires daggers fight against a man who can turn his skin bronze, a brothel full of ninja prostitutes, and a wildly inappropriate funk/rap soundtrack. Rapper turned writer/director/star RZA is just enthusiastic

November 7, 2012
366weirdmovies
Greg S

Super Reviewer

The feature film debut of Wu-Tang Clan scribe RZA has the spirit of a wuxia film processed through the sensibilities of a blaxploitation artist, but it's heart remains firmly planted in the American grindhouse tradition. While the conflicting styles may prove to be too jarring for some viewers, those familiar with

November 6, 2012
MovieGeek13
E.J. Boxler

Super Reviewer

The Man With the Iron Fists Quotes

View All

    1. Poison Dagger: I'll see you in hell.
    2. Jack Knife: I suppose you will. Save me a seat by the fire.
    – Submitted by Trey M (3 days ago)
    1. Jack Knife: [Screaming] My name is Mister Knife, You may call me Jack.
    – Submitted by Tyler C (4 days ago)
    1. Madame Blossom: Power belongs to no one.
    – Submitted by Chris P (16 days ago)
    1. Jackknife: You are business. [looks at knife] This is pleasure.
    – Submitted by Chris P (16 days ago)

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Latest News for The Man With the Iron Fists

November 2, 2012:
Critics Consensus: Wreck-it Ralph, Flight Are Certified Fresh
This week at the movies, we've got a sensitive villain (Wreck-it Ralph, with voice work by John C....

October 29, 2012:
RZA Lines Up Two More Movies
He's set to direct John Milius' Genghis Khan biopic and an action flick titled "No Man's Land."

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Foreign Titles

  • El hombre de los pu�os de hierro (ES)
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