Australian Wrestling Legend Ken Dunlop Reviews The Iron Claw
First l had the pleasure of seeing this film with the Iconic Ring Announcer Ed Lock ( we have been friends for nearly 40 years) and Martial Arts Guru and Motivational Speaker Mr Ron Lee. It’s funny we went to the 10.15am session on a Monday morning and there was only 2 other people in the whole theatre.
Now the movie. Two people really stood out as the stars of this were Zac Efron ( Kevin) and Holt McCallany ( Fritz) Now before l start whoever did the casting for this film should have been sacked and never work again, Zac Efron as l said was brilliant but he should have been cast as Kerry not Kevin, and Jeremy Allen White who played Kerry should have been cast to play Kevin.
Aaron Dean Eisenberg who played Ric Flair was woeful and Cazzey Louis Cereghino were badly miscast as Bruiser Brody. There was way to much emphasis on Kevin and Mike( greatly played by Stanley Simmons) , l mean everyone knows that Kerry and David were the two standout stars from that family. The parents Fritz and Doris ( played by Maura Tierney) who were deeply religious, however both were terrible parents who in my opinion should never have been allowed to have children.
The mother totally ignored cries of help from her children, Fritz came across as a egotistical sadistic bastard of a father telling the children who was his favourite but that position can easily change. Again not enough of David especially when he went on the road with Flair for six months and the fatal trip to Japan. They could have easily had at least 15 minutes on that.
Also when Kerry jumped to the WWF there could have been so much more on that, his downfall and death were played out in minutes, again it needed at least 15 minutes on that. It was sad that when they did the “heaven scene” Chris was not mentioned yet they mentioned their first born Jack, crazy. Mike was probably the least known yet was featured in the film, l don’t understand why. So the direction of the film was off, definitely the casting was off but overall l did enjoy the film. Would l watch it again, No, my rating for the movie was 6/10.
Also a side mention for Chavo Guerrero Jr who did a remarkable job on the movie as the wrestling coach for the movie, creating some great wrestling scenes throughout the movie.
