The Man With the Iron FistsMovie Reviews

Poster art for "The Man with the Iron Fists."

So-so

Avg. Critic Score: 51 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 16+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

70

The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy
It's all sufficiently well done and amusing enough to satisfy the appetites of fans who mainline this sort of thing, but it also sports a concocted, second-hand feel common to this sort of throwback homage. Read full review
70

Boxoffice Magazine |
It's a real film, and a fun one, made with gonzo good humor and plenty of action from the opening brutal battle over which the sound of The Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 single "Shame on a N***a" roars. Read full review
60

Total Film |
Grisly and goofy, this ode to the Shaw Brothers' '70s-era kung fu epics serves up 96 minutes of murder and mutilation and not a lot else. Sweet soundtrack, though. Read full review
60

New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman
The movie plays things relatively straight, acknowledging clichés without the winking irony in which modern homages usually indulge. As such, it's giddy fun - a well-made genre picture that sends up its influences even as it clearly reveres them. Read full review
60

Empire |
Don't let the 'Quentin Tarantino Presents' tag deceive you, this is a mixed bag of lumpen dialogue and martial-arts magic that never quite coalesces into the delirious mayhem we'd hoped for. Read full review
50

Slant Magazine | Steve Macfarlane
The chop-socky wire-fu scenes are beautifully choreographed, but pretty crudely edited; despite its gourmet neo-grindhouse trappings, the film won't bring the heat like you've never seen before. Read full review
40

Time Out New York | Ben Kenigsberg
Both the martial arts and the slightly dull narrative patchwork are too choppily edited to gain much of a foothold. Read full review
38

USA Today | Scott Bowles
RZA's directorial debut is heavy on bloody kung fu action...and light on just about everything else. Read full review
33

Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman
The movie wants to be deadly cool, but mostly it's just deadly. Read full review
25

New York Post | Kyle Smith
At 96 minutes it is exactly 93 1/2 minutes too long. If they're going to put this artifact in theaters, they'd better charge 1973 grindhouse prices: a dollar a ticket. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for The Man With the Iron Fists on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Violent but blah martial arts tribute from rapper RZA.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that The Man with the Iron Fists is a martial arts action film from rapper RZA, of the Wu-Tang Clan, a lifetime fan of this genre who makes his directorial debut here. Violence is strong, albeit with a somewhat cartoonish feel, with several scenes of fighting, spurting blood, slicing and dicing, severed limbs and heads, and other intense moments. The action takes place largely in a brothel, and although sexual suggestion is fairly strong, there's no actual nudity. In one scene, a main character appears to have been giving oral sex to a woman in a bathtub (he emerges from under the water). Language includes a handful of uses of "f--k," "s--t," and the "N" word. Several characters drink and smoke, and opium is used by one major character. Fans of Quentin Tarantino -- who's a "presenter" -- are likely to be eager to see it.

Families can talk about The Man with the Iron Fists' violence. How does its over-the-top style affect its impact? What were the consequences of the violence?
Why do you think the Jack Knife character drinks so much? Are the consequences realistic?
Which of these characters appeared to be trained martial artists? Were any of them role models?
Director RZA is a lifelong fan of martial arts movies who finally made one of his own. What kinds of movies would you make if you had the chance? How would you use your knowledge as a fan to make them?

The good stuff

Positive messages: Most of the movie is about revenge: A good son is on the trail of a bad soldier who killed his father. A man who has been hiding from his violent past finds himself redeemed ... by more violence. No one learns much of anything.
Positive role models: Aside from the skilled martial artists in the cast, who might inspire teen viewers to look into classes, most of the characters here behave poorly, and no one changes or grows over the course of the movie.

What to watch for

Violence: Over-the-top martial arts violence, with much slicing and dicing and huge geysers of blood spurting from necks and limbs. In one intense scene, a man's wounds are cauterized with red-hot metal. A man attacks and kills a woman in one scene. Several severed heads, two severed arms, and a flying eyeball. A man is slashed down the length of his chest. Several characters are killed by poison darts. A character is briefly tortured. Several minor/supporting characters die.
Sexy stuff: Although the movie -- which takes place largely in a brothel -- doesn't have any nudity, there are several strong suggestions of sexual activity. One of the main characters has three to four prostitutes in his room at various times, with the suggestion that he's slept with them all. In one scene, he appears to have been orally pleasuring a woman in the bathtub, with his head underwater. He briefly caresses a woman's privates under her negligee. Viewers also see several minor characters having sex with various prostitutes (all clothed or covered up). Also other, minor examples of sexual suggestion and/or innuendo.
Language: Language is sporadic but features three or four uses of "f--k" and "s--t," as well as a half-dozen uses of the "N" word. Other words include "ass," "hell," and "bitch."
Consumerism: Not an issue
Drinking, drugs and smoking: One of the main characters constantly sips from a flask and is seen drunk on at least one occasion. He also enjoys opium and gives booze to another character for a painkiller. Various other characters are seen smoking and/or drinking in a brothel.

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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