‘The Man with the Iron Fists 2’ is a Disappointing, Dull Sequel

The first The Man with the Iron Fists movie (released back in 2012) had a stupid, mess of a story.  However, it did feature a good amount of ludicrous, “themed” characters that delightfully made the movie look like an adaptation of an old-school fighting game like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.  Thus, despite its bad script and direction, it still resulted to a fun watch.  Unfortunately, the sequel doesn’t have the advantage of having a bunch of oddball warriors battling among themselves, which made this movie unremarkable and not as fun.

The Man with the Iron Fists 2 employs a familiar plot and a couple of clichéd tropes from old Hong Kong martial arts movies.  At the early part of the narrative, I was still finding it enjoyable because of the nostalgic appeal provided by its hackneyed tone (I adored Hong Kong martial arts flicks when I was a kid).  But as the movie goes on, I found myself getting tired of being able to predict every plot development and twist that unfolds.  By the time it gets to its last third, I couldn’t care less of the story. 

For a martial arts film, the fight choreography was impressive – if we’re still in the 80’s or 90’s.  By today’s standard (set by films like The Raid), the action was pretty lacking and lackluster.  It was as uncreative and unimaginative as its plot. 

The Man with the Iron Fists 2 is, simply speaking, a bad movie.  Even if you enjoyed the first movie – or, rather – especially if you enjoyed the first movie, you will find The Man with the Iron Fists 2 a disappointing and dull sequel.