Blacksmith Thaddeus  aka the legendary Man with the Iron Fists (Rza) ends up in a oppressed village where Li Kung (Dustin Nguyen) wants to free his people from the tyranny of Master Ho (Carl Ng).  There is also Lord Pi (Cary Tagawa) who was once a powerful man who lost the power of his legs who is now the one now gives wisdom to Kung.  Thaddeus and Kung must team up and help the village to rise up against Master Ho and protect the special chi water known as the golden Nectar.

 

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS 2 is a decent sequel with plenty of action sequences and good direction from director Roel Reine (who is also his own Director of Photography) who shot this film in 20 days in Thailand.  The action is clearly choreographed as Reine always uses four cameras and shoots a huge number of set-ups per day.  Sometimes Rza’s character is an afterthought as the movie is mostly about the struggles of Kung and his village against Master Ho.   The sequel isn’t as good as the first one, but Roel Reine has pulled off miracles with DTV sequels on small budgets.  I always wonder what he could do on a bigger budget.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio commentary with director Roel Reine and star/ co-writer Rza as they discuss the production of the movie, the director’s fast shooting style, his love of using back shots to help tell the story, how the movie was edited back and forth between Reine and Rza, Rza not liking water in addition to another actor who also doesn’t like being in water either, and the soundtrack.

 

Eight deleted scenes (11:39) include extra character scenes with Cha Po and Kung’s daughter innocence, and an extra battle scene cut before the climatic battle.

 

CHI WARRIORS: THE MAKING OF THE MAN OF THE IRON FISTS 2 (12:43) is a making-of featurette that reveals Rza was inspired by insects, the director’s fast shooting style, shooting in Thailand, and the more in a combo of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and clips.

 

Previews for BLACK SEA, THE BOY NEXT DOOR, BLACKHAT, and THE SCORPION KING 4

 

FINAL ANALYSIS: THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS 2 is a decent DTV sequel with plenty of action and great direction.

 

This review is ©4-18-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com