Trailer Trashin’: Blood and Blades Go Flying in The Man with the Iron Fists

With the end of August, the summer movie season finally ends with the last handful of releases. Of course, ridiculous B-movies are in no way restricted to the summer months, and the subject’s of today’s column is proof of that. This week’s Trailer Trashin’ looks at the second trailer for the blood-soaked, hip hop-infused martial arts extravaganza The Man with the Iron Fists.

Premise: In 19th century China, a blacksmith (RZA) is forced to create elaborate weapons for a small village. When a traitor threatens to destroy the village, the blacksmith must join both warriors and assassins to protect the community.

NOTE: This is a red band trailer, which means it can only play in theaters with R-rated movies, and therefore is not appropriate for those under the age of 17. This trailer contains tons of violence, plenty of blood and gore, and a bit of nudity – in other words, it is definitely Not Safe For Work.

My take: From their inception, the rap group Wu-Tang Clan was inspired by martial arts films, particularly those created by the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studio. Now, Wu-Tang co-founder RZA is making his directorial debut with The Man with the Iron Fists, an over-the-top loving homage to the chopsocky movies of the past. So far, we’ve had two red band trailers for the film, and I think The Man with the Iron Fists looks like it’s both absolutely ridiculous and a lot of fun.

The movie certainly has an eclectic cast. Russell Crowe – who previously worked with RZA in American Gangster (2007) and The Next Three Days (2010) – plays the awesomely-named Jack Knife, and he still looks pretty badass for a guy who’s pushing fifty. Lucy Liu is beautiful and deadly as Madame Blossom, and she’s playing the archetypal “dragon lady” character to the fullest. Rick Yune, who I really liked in Die Another Day (2002) and Ninja Assassin (2009), looks quite cool as the knife-wielding X-Blade, and is putting his real martial arts skill to good use. Pro wrestler David Bautista plays Brass Body, who has the presumably magical ability to transform his skin into metal, much like Colossus from X-Men. You have to be wary about wrestlers moving into acting, but most of what he does here is roar and fight, which isn’t too much of a stretch. I was actually surprised that RZA as the Blacksmith, the eponymous man with the iron fists, was not focused on more than the other characters; that shows an admirable lack of ego on RZA’s part, and I think he’ll do a solid job with this role. The person in the cast I most want to see who didn’t appear is Pam Grier; guess I’ll have to wait for a later trailer.

I just love the over-the-top, completely gonzo style of the action. It’s not remotely realistic, and turns material that could be disturbing into something that’s almost funny. When throats are slashed, the blood erupts like a fountain. The Blacksmith punches a guy in the face with his iron fist, and the guy’s eye pops out, Evil Dead-style. When I watch the trailers, the thing I’m most reminded of is MadWorld, one of my favorite video games, which takes a similar approach of playing violence that would be horrifying so over-the-top that it becomes hilarious.

Another aspect that reminds me of MadWorld is the hip hop music used in the trailer. I really like the juxtaposition of historical/period settings with more modern music. The soundtrack for the final film will include music from the Black Keys, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, My Chemical Romance, John Frusciante, and Sally Yeh, along with new tracks based on excerpts from master recordings of Wu-Tang Clan.

But as excited as I am about this trailer, there’s a couple things I’m not crazy about. It’s clearly going for style over substance, which isn’t necessarily a horrible thing, but could mean that the non-action parts of the movie might drag a bit. My other concern is that, based on the trailer, I’m not sure which characters I’m supposed to be rooting for. I presume the Blacksmith and Jack Knife are good guys, and that Madame Blossom is a villain, but I don’t know whose side X-Blade, Brass Body, and the others are on. Of course, I assume the film itself will make this clear.

But my few reservations aside, this still looks like a hell of a lot of fun. We don’t get martial arts films released to theaters in the States very often, so it’s always nice when one does show up. With a cool cast, over-the-top action, and a kickass soundtrack, The Man with the Iron Fists looks like the perfect counter-programming for the upcoming Oscar season.

ANTICIPATION: This stuff looks off the chain, yo! Gotta go see it!

Release Date: November 2nd, 2012

Starring: Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, RZA, Rick Yune, David Bautista, Cung Le, Byron Mann, Jamie Chung, Pam Grier, Jin Au-Yeung, Daniel Wu, and Grace Huang
Director: RZA
Writers: RZA and Eli Roth