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“The Man with the Iron Fists,” is the directorial debut of RZA, mastermind of hip hop supergroup, The Wu-Tang Clan. Wu-Tang elevated Kung Fu movies beyond guilty pleasure, to a metaphor for social conflict and cooperation as compelling as the “gangsta” rappers found in “The Godfather” movies. The RZA, with the help of writer Eli Roth (“Hostel”) and producer Quentin Tarantino, is about to raise the cultural currency of the Kung Fu movie again, building on the innovations of Ang Lee’s brilliant “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and Jackie Chan’s hilarious “The Forbidden Kingdom”.
The fast-paced trailer, which claims that the movie will put the “F-U back in Kung Fu,” has all the things young (and not so young) men (and not just men) look for in entertainment: sex, violence, humor, great music, did I say sex? Lucy Lui seems to run the show, saying, “Power belongs to no one until it is seized through sex and violence.” The violence includes swordplay with exotic weapons, choreographed ribbons of blood and an eyeball dislodged by the titular “fists.”
“Iron Fists” has the gonzo intensity of everything associated with Tarantino, and RZA seems up to the task of learning from the master. Along with a love of Kung Fu conventions, and a desire to subvert them, RZA has pulled in sound track favors not only from his Wu-Tang brethren, but also Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa and the Black Keys.
With a high tolerance for all of the above, the trailer will make you want more. No release date other than “soon” has been announced. I’m looking forward to finding out more from the RZA about crossing over from music maker to movie maker, and what’s next for Wu-Tang and beyond.
With RZA making his first directional debut and starring Russell Crow and Lucy Lu, the film should have all the action, drama and hip hop one could only expect coming from this top notch cast.
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