The Man with the Iron Fists 2 (2015)

Let's be realistic.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

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.

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.

Plot was a bit weaker than the first. These types of films are not made to win Oscars. The Rza has spoken widely on his, and the Wu-Tang Clan's love of Eastern thought and specifically Kung-Fu films. I think is just another love song to that genre and a reference to milieu that might be a little odd to westerners not familiar with the Asian culture. I think the Rza in his own small way is trying to touch on concepts and loftier concepts , just not being an adept at storytelling, one can see gaps and weaknesses in the arc and theme, but someone attempting this type of film, especially an African-American man from Staten Island, it is an interesting and fulfilling way to spend a couple hours.

I thought to avoid watching this movie, because is a sequel of a terrible-boring wrongly directed movie called THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS(2012), which is characterized by wrong choices and wrong decisions in all levels: Producer, Director, Actors, Writer... The first movie was a child attempt of RZA to become a Writer-Director-Producer-Music-Protagonist ...all in one: A monumental ego catastrophe.But finally, I saw the movie, and I was surprised. The movie continues with the story of Thaddeus and his journey through China, but now is a well done movie, with beautiful scenes, great camera handling and photography sometimes is precious. The plot is not predictable and has enough turns to keep you attached to the action developed in the movie. Dialogues are not boring or stupid ...an sometimes you could feel some poetry and oriental wisdom expressed in the lines. Fight scenes are well done and choreographs work well. The music is also a hit. CONCLUSION: if you like the action genre, the movie deserves to be seen, and the reason for it: the well done job on the Direccion, made by Roel Reiné(Dead in Tomstone, Dead Race 2-3).Maybe is not one of the best action movies of the year, perhaps far from that, but the movie has some valuable elements that make you feel satisfied at the end. Is a kind of crazy movie that some times make you remember the style of action of movies like Kill Bill.I give 7 stars rating, for this entertaining action movie.