Finally, guys, I am back to reviewing. I have seen a movies in the past few weeks, but haven’t had the time to review them. That’s what happens when you’re a football player in grad school I guess. Well now that I’m back let’s get to my review of The Man with the Iron Fists. This movie was written and directed by The RZA and I had high hopes for it from seeing the trailers. I have to admit that after seeing it I was a little letdown. The film wasn’t as much awful as it was corny. I was hoping for a serious kung fu movie with deep, round characters. As I found out quickly most of the characters were flat and the story was very straightforward. I felt like the film didn’t know whether it wanted to be serious or a parody. The acting also wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen. The RZA was one of the worst actors in the film and I know he can act better than that from other movies he’s been in. He looked tired the entire time and unenthusiastic. The better actors were Lucy Liu and Russell Crowe. I rather enjoyed their characters and how they interacted with each other. Lucy’s character Madam Blossom was strong and clever and reminded me of O-Ren Ishii from Kill Bill. Though just like in Kill Bill I thought she deserved a better death than she got. I would have actually been happier if she survived along with at least two other characters. Also, Russell Crowe’s Jack Knife was hilarious. His clever banter is what made some scenes of the movie endurable. They should have given him a little more screen time. Some of the fighting scenes in the film were sub-par which is what led me to believe it was trying to be a parody. This film had the opportunity to be great and an instant classic. Instead, it will stand on the shoulders of mediocrity. It may be because this was The RZA’s first attempt at directing, so he has a lot of time to get it right. I’ll give him props for developing such interesting characters, but next time he needs to take the time to develop them more on screen. Give this movie a couple of better actors, more enthusiasm from The RZA, more depth and rounded characters, and it could have been very good. Hopefully, he will do better in his next time behind the camera. I give The Man with the Iron Fists a Normal 5/10.