The Man with the Iron Fists 2 (2015 Video) User Reviews

The iron has accumulated rust

[quincytheodore · 3/10 · 14 April 2015]

RZA is definitely passionate about martial art movie and he invests a lot of time for this niche, but The Man with the Iron Fists 2 is a subpar action movie. It has low production value, the exotic location surprisingly isn't appealing, the script is flimsy and most importantly the action choreography is utterly disappointing. Fights are no better than scenes from ancient action flick from decades ago, and with this flaw the movie just loses its main appeal.

Story goes that there's an entity on a mining town that feeds on life force. The people of this town also have to content with oppression from the ruling clan. Meanwhile Thaddeus (RZA) is unexpectedly involved in a rebellion against the dictator. Main focus of the movie is the struggle of town folks, there's barely any continuity from the first movie and RZA himself only here as a supporting role. The plot tries to resolves its several subplots, only to be hampered with poor execution.

Writing and characterization are not satisfying, it follows the usual rebellion theme with screeching pace. Though it has a couple of twists, the direction is so slow, one can skip thirty minutes of the movie and doesn't miss much. The build-up is inconsistent with shady acting, and change of setting to beach town doesn't prove to be amusing as well. Environment only consists of a dark barren town and a rural village. The use of color contrast feels archaic, it's nothing more than the visual of B-movie. Furthermore, the soundtracks don't fit the theme, it may be intended as clash of cultures, but the end result is borderline intrusive.

While the first movie wasn't that great, it still had production value with famous names and stylish design. This one definitely has less budget as everything looks lackluster. Whereas the screenplay is abysmal, the action might fare worse. The motion seems fake even though it uses slow mo to mask it, some scenes even depict missed punches and overacting but these are still edited clumsily for the final product. It looks awkward for an action film not being able to deliver action sequences.

While it may benefit from oriental ambiance, the cumbersome plot and underwhelming choreography sink the movie like two giant anchors strapped on its limbs.

Sequel lacks stars, action of first

[filmcritic3 · 4/10 · 22 April 2015]

When THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS was first released, I think I was one of the few critics in the nation who gave it a favorable nod. While it was a glitzy martial arts affair, it did boast a few rather impressive fight scenes and a bevy of heavyweight stars including Dave Bautista; Russell Crowe; Rick Yune and Lucy Liu.

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS 2 lacks all of that. The stars have bolted, with RZA the only hold over from the first. The fight scenes are good, but not spectacular, and the story is culled from the plot lines of many of the original martial arts films that inundated the Silver Screen in the 1970's.

Thaddeus Henry Smith (RZA), after the events of the first film, decides his soul is uneasy as a vigilante warrior. He begins a journey to return to his beloved temple, strengthen his chi (inner strength) and unite his mind and body. Along the way, he is beset by old enemies who refuse to buy his assertion that he is now a man of peace. While Thaddeus thwarts his attackers, he is rendered unconscious and sent adrift in a river. He lands in a small mining village, ruled by the evil Beetle Clan; a gang of cutthroat bullies led by Master Ho, played by Carl Ng and Lord Pi, played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who allows those who disagree with him the opportunity to fight in what appears to be the original octagon of the UFC. The people of the village are mere cannon fodder for the Beetle Clan, but one family, Li Kung, played by Dustin Nguyen and his wife Ah Ni, played by Eugenia Yuan, are secretly members of the Praying Mantis Clan. Why they are in hiding, or why the Praying Mantis fighters are reluctant to reveal themselves to the Beetle Clan is never really explained. I guess if there are too many Beetles and Praying Mantises, the members of the Orkin Clan will appear. Thaddeus doesn't want to become involved in the village's conflict, but obviously, circumstances will dictate that he takes a side and fights for honor and friends.

RZA desperately wants to promote himself as a martial arts star, but frankly he was the weak link in the first film and his sole fighting expertise is pummeling thugs with his iron fists, complete with a multitude of spraying blood packets. The fight scenes in THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS 2 are okay, but there is nothing stellar, and certainly nothing that compares with what Jason Statham and Tony Jaa are doing in FURIOUS 7.

Despite enticing cinematography by Roel Reine and several scenic shots from the Thailand locations, THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS 2 is an average view. It seems RZA is planning more films to highlight Thaddeus' journey back to the temple. Until he reaches his destination, he'll walk the Earth, helping people, like Caine in Kung-Fu. Let's hope his next adventure has better fight choreography and a handful of grade A list stars to help the endeavor.

more B-movie

[SnoopyStyle · 3/10 · 23 September 2017]

A village has been ruled by the ruthless Master Ho who runs the mine. Li Kung preaches patience in cases of young girls being killed. Lord Pi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) is the ineffective Mayor. Li Kung's brother challenges Ho's man and actually wins. Thaddeus Henry Smith (RZA) is the Man with the Iron Fists. He is attacked and falls into the river. Li Kung's daughter Innocence saves him and returns him back to health.

I'm sure RZA loves the old kung fu movies and seeks to recreate them in his vision. In a way, he has recreated kung fu B-movies. The acting is functional to amateurish. There are fights that are fight-like. In the old days after Bruce Lee's death, there were many movie with actors who have similar names to Bruce. This is on par with one of those movies. It is lacking the spirit of a master and can only be a shadow of other better films.

Overall opinion of the movie.

[christianfheins · 2/10 · 19 April 2015]

Really bad movie, the first version of "the Man with the iron fists" is interesting; photo, music, plot, cast. But this second version is bad from start to end; aerial shots are really poor (drone shakes once in a while as well as the color quality), acting of the secondary characters is poor as well, not even overacted is just bad acting (90% of the cast is secondary or not decently known actors). The plot, visual effects, make up and fight choreography is also poor. After 10 min is really hard to keep on watching, you really have to try hard to kind of enjoy it. The music is kind of OK, but not compared to the first movie, which in my opinion was the most interesting part of a Kungfu kind of movie with the RZA music taste.

Unfortunately a really, but really bad sequel.

If you like B type of movies, like the 80's delta force or American ninja, you might like this one, I say might.

Keep your expectations very low...

[Deathracer · 12 April 2015]

The positives in this movie would be the story, which is quite decent. And apart from Tagawa I was only impressed with Carl Ng's performance that made the story watchable till the end.

With all the great, good looking Chinese actors and actresses we see, I must say this was the weirdest cast I have come across.I expected more of RZA but way past the halfway mark of the movie I realized he may not be playing the main role. RZA, who I would say really did good in "Brick Mansions" was terrible, flapping his "rubber" Iron Fists.

As I mentioned Carl Ng does a pretty decent job in the beginning building up his character to be a real bad-ass, although it leads to big disappointment as the story progresses with very bad fighting scenes. A good fight would be one key factor we expect from this movie that lacks, apart from number of other elements like poor acting, poor selection of cast.

Total waste of time and money! 2/10

[leonblackwood · 2/10 · 6 June 2015]

Review: What a complete waste of time! I thought that RZA would have learnt from the first movie but this one is even worse. Without Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu, this sequel really didn't have a chance, especially with its terrible storyline and weak characters. Basically it's about a evil man who runs the village and forces the men to work in a mine. The miners group together to try and take out the vicious evil-doer but they always end up getting murdered, until Thaddeus comes along. After getting saved by one of the miners daughters, Thaddeus makes them weapons to take out Master Ho and the leader of the miners, Li Kung, challenges him to a duel. With the help of his fellow miners and Thaddeus, they battle to take down his clan with there martial arts skills and weapons. The storyline is really bad and the heavy hip hop beats throughout the movie didn't match the mood of the film. The acting is pretty poor but it does look authentic and some of the scenery was impressive. Personally, I don't know how RZA was able to release another one of these movies because the first one was a joke. He seemed really out of place throughout the film and his fighting skills were terrible and hard to watch. Anyway, I personally think that this was a total waste of time and money and I'm not surprised that it went straight to DVD. Terrible!

Round-Up: Although the music throughout the movie didn't suit the scenes, I was bopping my head to RZA's beats so he should really stick to what he's good at. The whole iron fist concept really didn't play a big part in this movie and RZA seemed to be missing most of the time. On the plus side, the film didn't look low budget and some of the gory fighting scenes were OK but RZA really needs to do something with Thaddeus, who just seems to be in a bad mood all of the time. If he's going to come out with another movie in this franchise, he's need to do the Iron Fists in America because the Oriental flavour really isn't working. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their martial movies about a group of miners who want to take down there evil boss with the help of Thaddeus. 2/10

An epic waste of time

[eaf-uddin · 2/10 · 3 April 2016]

What an epic waste of time and money. Far more worse than the previous one. Poor story line, screenplay, casting. The title is inappropriate also as RZA is playing a side role. Action scenes are not up to par.A complete rubbish. Only good thing is the story. It has some twist . But one can predict that easily. The castings are not good as the previous one. Without Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu and Batista this sequel don't stand a chance . The music is not appropriate with the scenes. And too much unnecessary violence. Personally, i watched it because i kind of like the first one. But the story lack continuity. It will go down as one of the worst movie in recent years.

"Where There is Ion There is Russ" Thus Speaks RZA

[LeonLouisRicci · 2/10 · 9 October 2015]

The Best Thing about this Thing is that the Diction Challenged Rapper Turned Director/Screen-Writer/Actor RZA, does Less Acting and Speaking in the Sequel and gave the Directing Duties to Someone Else.

Therefor the Ears Bleed Less as the Mushed Mouth Mumbles and Horrible Pronunciation of the English Languish are Not as Frequent. RZA's Non Acting is also Not as Hard to Endure because He is On Screen Less in this His second Vanity Project with the Same Name.

The Film Tries hard to be Blood Spurting Stylish and Copies many of the Action Flourishes from the Movies of its Influence. Namely Shaw Brothers Kung-Fu Films and Their Ilk. The Mythological Mixed with Hip-Hop is what is Attempted here along with Dialog Using 20-21st Century Street Slang and Idioms.

Not Much of it Works and is Embarrassing Most of the Time and is at its Most Cringe-Inducing whenever RZA Narrates or is "In Character". Worth a Watch Only for those that for some Reason Like this Guy, but even RZA Fans will Require a Thick Skin and Blind Devotion and Ears Made of Iron to Put Up with this Ego Trip.

Lost on all accounts

[kosmasp · 2/10 · 12 January 2016]

While the first Iron Man ... sorry Iron Fist movie had some good actors in it (alongside RZA), this one is even more straight to video/DVD, than that. If there is going to be a third one, I hope they'll go either back to hire some good acting talent and/or someone who's gonna polish the look (action wise and just framing and set design wise too).

Whatever you thought about the previous entry, you couldn't fault it for its looks. Russell Crowe seemed a bit nonplussed by it, but at least he was in it. And while I really like Wu Tang and RZA music wise, he really should go back to producing. Or get a great director and just a small role (like he did in Ghost Dog). There really isn't much to save this, watch at your own peril (to waste your time that is)

Not as bad has some reviewers say

[dctr666 · 7/10 · 16 January 2016]

I enjoyed the first one... OK, it's nothing new, and it's was nothing outstanding, but still, it was very entertaining...the cast had some world class names, from Russel Crowe to Lucy Liu and Dave Bautista as well...

I was awkward to see this second one... I've read the reviews, and I found myself thinking: "The first one was entertaining... the second one, as any sequel, will be mediocre, at best..."...and so, last night, I give a try.. Glad that I did... first, the cast here, is more "B-level". They are well known from Asian movies or action B-films... Dustin Nguyen, Carl Ng, Sahajal Boonthanakit and the most famous of all, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.

This second movie, doesn't evolve around Thaddeus (Rza), but over Li King (Dustin), as the leader of an enslaved mining village. MAster Ho, and his henchmen, abuse physically and mentally of every villager, and those who do not submit to his will, are tortured and killed. The arrival of Thaddeus to the village, is the sign the villagers were waiting for, to fight back, against tyranny.

So, this second movie is more about martial arts, itself. Nguyen is awesome, as always, and the old kungfu moves, are very good. Even though it has it's flaws, the movie is good... from my personal point of view, I prefer this one to the first one...

But still, I recommend you to see it, and make your own conclusion. Remember, it's not class A material... but is still, a good movie.

Awful

[nicholls_les · 1/10 · 2 October 2015]

Just watched this film based on the fact that I saw and liked the first one. However almost from the start I knew i was going to hate this so called martial arts film, more in the kill bill style. What was all that stupid rap music about? It didn't fit in with the film at all and added to what seemed to be the film makers only criteria of this film which was to shock. The violence is unnecessarily gruesome and graphic with arms and heads lopped off for no particular reason. It is a shame because the storyline was a good one, the cast were good with a few exceptions and it could have been so much better. So unless you like Quentin Tarantino films with his excessive type of violence give this a miss.

Less violent and less exciting than the first film

[Elvis-Del-Valle · 8/10 · 26 March 2023]

Although there are good action scenes, it is not as violent as its predecessor. The funny thing is that the classic action star Chuck Norris was the editor of this movie (according to the credits) and RZA also composed the soundtrack for this sequel. It is not surprising that this installment has dropped in level, since it was only released in home format and critics, like the public, considered it inferior to its predecessor and the truth is that it does not surprise me. Of course, no more installments were produced and it was better that way, since the first film is unique and maintains the essence of classic martial arts films. I would say that these movies are more for those who like classic martial arts movies and from my point of view I think that the first movie deserves to be considered cult in the future. I give this sequel an 8/10.

Man With The Iron Fist 2 is not a top shelf movie but I did enjoy it

[sweeeetmikey · 6/10 · 15 July 2015]

MAN WITH THE IRON FIST 2 review by: Mike Smith

Thaddeus The Blacksmith (RZA) is back in this action adventure inspired by Kung-Fu classics. A reluctant villager joins forces with a mysterious outsider to fight off powerful evil forces, both earthly and otherworldly, in a 19th century Chinese mining town.

Let me start by saying I didn't mind the first Man With The Iron Fist movie; it was a nice Kung-Fu action Grindhouse movie but it was forgettable. Besides the start of the film, Man With The Iron Fist 2 shys away from the Grindhouse feel of the first film and focuses more on the Kung-Fu genre. One thing I was disappointed about is that this films story isn't really based around the adventure of Thaddeus The Blacksmith. The story is about a minor who must save his village with the help of Thaddeus The Blacksmith. Man With The Iron Fist 2 just helps build the legend of Thaddeus The Blacksmith a bit more, so don't expect just to watch RZA whoop ass through the whole film like the first one.

I'm not the biggest Kung-Fu movie fan but I really enjoyed myself. The fight scenes are really well done and kept me wanting more. The story is a classic stand up to evil story and this film tells it well.

Unlike the first film, there are not a lot of big named stars in this movie, but it doesn't take away from the film. Everyone does a great job in Man With The Iron Fist 2 and it feels like a love letter to classic Kung-Fu films.

But like all films, Man With The Iron Fist 2 does have some flaws, like the use of modern day lingo. You kind of forget that everyone is supposed to be in 19th century Chinese, even though it takes you out of the film I find it part of the charm. The music is all rap and/or big rap beats; I'm not by far a rap fan and yes I know RZA is a rapper so I knew what to expect and I enjoyed the beats and the scores.

Man With The Iron Fist 2 is not a top shelf movie but I did enjoy it even though it's not what I was expecting after seeing the first film 3 years ago. This film is strongly forgettable but has some fun lines of dialog. If you want to watch something a bit different and turn your brain off for 90 minutes check this out and no you don't need to watch the first film to watch this one.

Cheers and remember like won't suck as long as there is a good movie to watch.

6 out of 10

Edited by Samantha Locke

twitter: FatMikeTPK Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FatMikesMovieReviews

It's Watchable !

[unclet-30169 · 5/10 · 9 August 2020]

I'm only writing this review because some of the other reviews are far too harsh. Yes, this is a bad movie, but it's not any worse than most other low budget chop socky I've watched, if anything it suffers from a lack of fighting. My biggest complaint would be that the asians in this flick all speak english to well and detracts from that asian market grindhouse martial arts feel. Anyway if you've watched more than five none hollywood kung fu movies you'll see it's Ok.

It's B grade.

[richard2806 · 11 April 2015]

If you're OK with watching B-grade type movies with weird plot holes and fight scenes where you can often spot a completely missed hit, then this movie is OK.

But if you're expecting a great Kung-Fu thriller, this isn't it.

There are a lot of roll-your-eyes moments, where you could see it coming a mile away and the cheese factor is high. The script seems to have been written by the black dude starring in it, at least it feels that way.

It's about as good/bad as the first movie.

Then there's the cheesy soundtrack. It's crap. It reminds me of Kanye's stuff. It's crap too. (I just looked up the sound track and he is actually on it, so now it makes sense).

I did have fun watching it though, it's not awful if you can get past the obvious stuff and I think overall it deserves the rating it has right now.

5/10

my notes

[FeastMode · 1/10 · 22 July 2019]

Sucked. garbo straight to dvd movie with none of the big name actors from the first one. i couldn't get through it, even on fast speed. completely useless in every way (1 viewing)

Total waste of time

[abdllhy · 1/10 · 13 December 2019]

I had to watch it fast forwarded. Stay out of it. I couldn't even finish it.

Wow!

[gab-67599 · 3/10 · 24 January 2022]

If you thought the first movie was bad then this one has to be below that! At least the first one had more kick to it, I am sure the directing had a hand in it. That being said RZA SUCK'S as an actor and tbh his music is not all that either! I mean don't get me wrong I love rap but I cannot honestly say I have one of his songs saved in my playlist. I have at least one some from each rapper out there that I like. Choreography and fight scenes were so off it was laughable. Avoid this and the first movie, trust me when I say watching paint dry on a wall would have been a better use of time than seeing this movie!

Weaker follow-up

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 3 June 2022]

Another labour of love from RZA, but it looks like his allies have deserted him here because we get a no-name cast and a much lower budgeted production shot in Thailand this time around. As usual he steps in to save the villagers from a bad guy, played by the reliable Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, but the choreography is absurd and the whole thing crushingly boring.

One of the WORST Kung Fu movies.,

[wrahula · 1/10 · 23 February 2021]

Wow the first part 1 was not too bad but this was one of the lamest king fu movies ever. Most of the fight scenes are not exciting and my 6 year old niece has better moves! A meandering story with no proper plot, RZA trying to be a hero is really pathetic and his moves are actually in slow motion!. The only good thing is the Wu Tang music! Embarrassing and horrible king fu movie

Fun and not bad.

[brandon-mcanally · 7/10 · 14 November 2015]

It's a bit heartbreaking to see this movie trashed so readily by ungrateful curmudgeons wallowing in their sedentary lives on the couch.

If you go into this expecting an escape from your boring life, then you will be setting yourself up for success. Know a few things first. - This is a B movie - This is a martial arts movie sequel to a movie titled "The Man with the Iron Fists" - It's a well executed, rated R, modern take on the samurai genre - If you're some hoity-toity film buff elitist expecting to see the sequel to The Artist, you're going to be let down

The exposition drags a bit but bear through it and the second half certainly pays off. It really is not necessary to see the first film. This movie continues the tale of one man, but the plot is completely separate from anything that happened in the first. Overall, this is a great rental and extra fun to have playing in the background in your basement gym.

This film contains some unexpected magic...

[g-w-l · 4/10 · 28 April 2015]

Here you can learn, how a movie can start and actually also end as an real epic movie - with elements from one of the oldest and proudest cultures on earth and perhaps the greatest and oldest philosophy our human civilization has developed on earth, and get transformed to an B-grade movie, in no time. Lot of crap effects with red fluid in slow motion and meaningless violence. Nothing really fits in this movie - from HipHop to music from a old Western: 'the good the bad and the ugly'... A black American actor as black American blacksmith...? If the story were great, we will probably not care about the detail so much. But a weak story, the viewer begins to wonder about all the mixed up elements from different genres.

Landscape from Thailand (with even elephants...?) - no Chinese language language at all and the play and fighting scenes are performed poorly, more like in a school theater - all of this is staffed inside a Chinese Martial-Art movie. With all this elements, incongruent set together, it seems like a awful wast of money - producing and to buying the movie.

There are beautiful scenes of Thailand... There are very deep spiritual thoughts in very small glimpses, but used like parsley on a inedible mush. Then back to the rather mechanical fight scenes. I could nearly hear the director on set: "People will see action, people will have distraction from their own miserable life, so don't bother with the story or anything else, just show some action". Underestimating the viewer and at the same time a perfect recipe to produce a B-grate Movie!

• Shooting a typical french movie in the Netherlands, with all the tulips and Windmills i the background, will probably be for some people in US not disturbing - it's all together in Europe anyway and doesn't matter for them. Or... Asia is Asia... Thailand, China... whatever... For us who are, or have been in China and Thailand many times - there are enormous difference in nature and building-styles and a totally different experience to be in this two different countries. I have never been a fan of Western movies - made in Italy in the 1970s - either. I had also he kind of experience like "something is not right and steals the focus"e already 40 years ago. Perhaps you will not buy this movie and see it instead on one of the millions of super commercial TV stations - with 5 minutes movie and 15 minutes commercials. With a good mix of toothpaste, call your plumbing specialist, hairstyling, Real Estate and Carwash - you will enjoy the 5 minutes movie, in between the commercials and don't realize any in-congruency anyway. It is still to us humans one of the finest Art to make a great movie, where there are being taking care of all the details and everything fits together. Then the whole world will stand up and applaud excited.

Metal is strong like me.

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 17 June 2019]

If you liked the first film, you should like this one. This is also done in a grindhouse style combining a martial arts film with a hip-hop soundtrack. Part 2 gives you the ending of previous film, which I found to be a confusing mess anyway. You don't have to have seen the first film to enjoy this one, it gives you enough information.

The silver mine is run by Master Ho (Carl Ng) who has enslaved the village to his will with his Beetle Clan. Li (Dustin Nguyen) speaks for the miners and is also a good fighter. Thaddeus (RZA ) gets his butt beat early in the film on his quest to find redemption, Buddha, and inner peace. He and his iron fists float up to the village.

There is also a string of murders happening to young girls. They are getting their chi stolen from them. Rumor claims it is the spirit of Lord Pi who died in the first film. There is the Golden Nectar pool guarded by monks for immortality. They eased up on the plot aspect.

The film boasts plenty of fighting, head rolls, blood squirts, and an exploding body.

Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity.

"You just walked into a windstorm of flying elephant sh.."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 16 September 2017]

The only association this film has with the original "The Man With the Iron Fists" is the appearance of RZA as the Blacksmith, who may or may not have had the name Thaddeus in the first film. I just don't remember. There is no other continuity to speak of, as this story zeroes in on the Golden Nectar of Immortality and an evil village master who intends to corner the market on it. The bad guy is Master Ho, a poor choice of name as I think about it now as it carries a terribly misplaced connotation. Think about it a minute and it will come to you.

What martial art action there is here is fairly sanitized compared to the original, not as bloody or as intricately choreographed with fancy wire work. The Blacksmith doesn't even seem to be the principal character after the opening sequence occurs, as the location of the story moves over to the village of Tsai Fu. The story's hero in this picture is Li Kung (Dustin Nguyen), who after taking his share of hits from the villagers for not doing a better job as leader of the opposition to Master Ho, finally decides to offer a challenge following the murder of his brother.

That about sums things up as I don't want to get too long winded here. I wouldn't say it's a terrible film but it's got a lot of the 'if you've seen one you've seen them all' quality to it. One thing that does stand out is the rap lyrics accompanying the martial arts action, that's something I don't thing I've seen or heard before. And lest I forget, the cast credits include what is perhaps the world champion of unpronounceable names for the character of The Abbott - Schnitrnunt Busarakamwong. That's even got Carl Yastrzemski beat.

An abomination

[TooKakkoiiforYou_321 · 1/10 · 18 July 2020]

Not worth anyone's attention. Stick to the first movie and it will be enough.