'The Man with the Iron Fists' starring RZA and Russell Crowe - red band trailer review
The Man with the Iron Fists Directed by: RZA Starring: RZA, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu Rating: R Release Date: November 2, 2012
TRAILER SCORE: 8/10
Thoughts by TSR: Well, The Man with the Iron Fists certainly looks like it will be memorable. How can it not be considering it features a guy getting his eyeball punched out of his head! I don’t know whether the full film will be able to maintain the insanity that is on display in this trailer – or whether it will grow tiresome if it does – but I am definitely interested to see just how crazy this thing gets.
If there’s one aspect I have an issue with it’s that there is a lot of CGI. It looks pretty good, sure, but practical effects are always ideal. Still, it’s obvious that some of this would be difficult to achieve without going the CGI route, such as the shot of the guy hacking up a number of assailants and leaving the ribbons of blood floating in the air. There is some pretty neat weaponry featured here as well. Lucy Liu’s weaponized geisha fan is great, but the spinning knife gun Russell Crowe’s character utilizes takes the cake. All the insane in-your-face action and mayhem is probably enough to sell most, but it’s still nice to see some attention being given to the production design and costumes – both of which are gorgeous.
When stretched out to feature-length it could definitely result in sensory overload. Luckily there is a talented man who has a love for this kind of thing pulling triple duty as star, co-writer, and director – not to mention having the names of Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth attached – so odds are that it will at least be an entertaining ride.