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.
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.