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THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTSMovie Reviews
Action adventure about warriors, assassins and a lone outsider hero in nineteenth-century China who must unite to destroy the clan traitor who would destroy them all. Cast:Russell Crowe, Jamie Chung, Lucy Liu, RZA, Osric Chau, Dave Bautista, Pam Grier, Zhu Zhu, Rick Yune, Cung Le, Chia Hui Liu, Daniel Wu, Grace Huang, Byron Mann, Brian YangDirector:RZARelease Date:November 2, 2012DVD Release:February 12, 2013From:UniversalRating:RLength:1 hr 36 min
The Man With the Iron Fists played to fair reviews. • Steve Macfarlane wrote for Slant, "...takes itself just seriously enough to get from one ludicrous set piece to another... the film serves up spectacle in bulk quantity. Make that stoner-friendly bulk quantity." More Reviews Below...
The Man With the Iron Fists Positive Reviews (19 Reviews, reviews below)
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: WEAK(cg) "...made with a great deal more attitude than skill.... the bodies fly and twirl, but mostly they spurt geysers of digitized blood, all set to a nihilistic beat."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 394 words, 11/09/12
Scott Bowles, USA Today: WEAK(cg) "...goes a long way in demonstrating that a bad movie with big names is still a bad movie. Just prettier... plays more like a 95-minute music video..."(See all of Scott Bowles's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 386 words, 11/02/12
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a genre-mash-up meta-movie... plays at least a little like an authentic martial arts picture.... It's relatively smart about being dumb. But not that smart about it either."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 833 words, 10/31/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (8 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "As erratically enjoyable as it is consistently ridiculous... a sweetly sincere, lightly cheeky gloss on the film genre wuxia ('martial chivalry')..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 639 words, 11/02/12
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a gonzo, ultra-violent throwback.... anyone who's sat through enough of those knows that it's no small accomplishment to make exploitation that's entertaining."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 304 words, 11/03/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a wildly whirling martial arts spectacle.... If you're in a kung fu fighting mood and have some cash to burn, this film can be something of a guilty pleasure."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 747 words, 11/02/12
Kyle Smith, New York Post: POOR(cg) "At 96 minutes it is exactly 93 1/2 minutes too long. If they're going to put this artifact in theaters, they'd better charge 1973 grindhouse prices: a dollar a ticket."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 401 words, 11/02/12
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: POOR(cg) "...there's little happening here except slavish imitation and embarrassing hackwork.... the film fails on all fronts, most fatally in the visuals."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 449 words, 11/03/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...if it is sometimes badly made, it is refreshingly badly made. It has a homemade charm that comes from a sense of having gestated in a lifelong obsession."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 273 words, 10/31/12
Radheyan Simonpillai, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "This is kung fu to the power of hip-hop... a clumsy pastiche of Shaw Brothers films... It's a flawed film, but one that remains endearing and entertaining."(See all of Radheyan Simonpillai's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 252 words, 11/01/12
KEY CITIES (1 Review)
Roger Moore, Seattle Times: POOR(cg) "RZA's a terrible actor, an incompetent narrator, a mediocre writer and paint-by-numbers director.... a lurching, stumbling movie that botches most details..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 766 words, 11/03/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (7 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...if it is sometimes badly made, it is refreshingly badly made. It has a homemade charm that comes from a sense of having gestated in a lifelong obsession."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 273 words, 10/31/12
Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend: WEAK(cg) "...the whole thing suffers from poor structure and character development, a lack of consistent tone, and an inability to commit to its own period."(See all of Eric Eisenberg's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 569 words, 11/03/12
Jake Mulligan, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "It desperately wants to be 'Kill Bill' -- Quentin Tarantino even serves as 'presenter' -- but unlike that picture, 'Iron Fists' never transcends its genre shackles."(See all of Jake Mulligan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 160 words, 11/08/12
Nathan Rabin, AV Club: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the kung-fu epic RZA has been dreaming about making since he was a snotty-nosed kid sneaking into martial-arts double features.... shockingly worth the wait."(See all of Nathan Rabin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 521 words, 11/02/12
Steve Macfarlane, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "...takes itself just seriously enough to get from one ludicrous set piece to another... the film serves up spectacle in bulk quantity. Make that stoner-friendly bulk quantity."(See all of Steve Macfarlane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 536 words, 11/01/12
Radheyan Simonpillai, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "This is kung fu to the power of hip-hop... a clumsy pastiche of Shaw Brothers films... It's a flawed film, but one that remains endearing and entertaining."(See all of Radheyan Simonpillai's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 252 words, 11/01/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "As erratically enjoyable as it is consistently ridiculous... a sweetly sincere, lightly cheeky gloss on the film genre wuxia ('martial chivalry')..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 639 words, 11/02/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a wildly whirling martial arts spectacle.... If you're in a kung fu fighting mood and have some cash to burn, this film can be something of a guilty pleasure."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 747 words, 11/02/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Andrew Barker, Daily Variety: GOOD "As endearing as it is exhausting... a postmodern martial-arts experiment that's equal parts Shaw Brothers, Adult Swim and amphetamine-fueled student film."(See all of Andrew Barker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 650 words, 11/01/12
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD "...feels like both a lavish vanity project and an earnest attempt to deliver a compendium of cool hand-to-hand combat set pieces.... sufficiently well done..."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 840 words, 11/01/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...a wildly whirling martial arts spectacle.... If you're in a kung fu fighting mood and have some cash to burn, this film can be something of a guilty pleasure."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 747 words, 11/02/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD(cg) "...an old-fashioned action-adventure inspired by -- and borrowing from -- countless kung fu movies.... delivers the basic goods expected from this kind of formulaic fare."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 682 words, 11/01/12
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "As erratically enjoyable as it is consistently ridiculous... a sweetly sincere, lightly cheeky gloss on the film genre wuxia ('martial chivalry')..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 639 words, 11/02/12
18.5 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Man With the Iron Fists's reviews are separated by an average 18.5 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Man With the Iron Fists (19 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Man With the Iron Fists's reviews cover 27.8% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 9,675 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 509 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Man With the Iron Fists Coverage, Volume & Length (19 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 39.4 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Man With the Iron Fists's reviews on average broke 39.4 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Man With the Iron Fists's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Man With the Iron Fists (19 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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