The Iron Claw

A tale of men in trunks and toxic masculinity.

I need to remind myself again that I want to keep my points short and to the point, as I've noticed I'm heading dangerously towards paragraph territory again at times.

And just a reminder to everyone reading that I'm only really going to talk about what stood out to me, so anything I don't bring up is most likely just fine.

If an issue isn't bad enough to detract from the experience, then that's a good thing - just like something not standing out as being noteworthy doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing.

It's perfectly fine for a thing to serve its purpose and nothing more.

MOVIES

- The Iron Claw is a really good movie that I think a lot of people will remember very well after watching because of how strong the second half of the movie is.

- That being said, the first half is very, very slow and you might find your attention wandering until the first tragedy strikes the Von Erich family.

- Zac Efron is fantastic as Kevin Von Erich, even if his insanely-muscular physique seems impossible at times and me feel like he was wearing a bodysuit of some kind!

- I haven't seen much of Efron's work (because most of it hasn't seemed worth watching), but he absolutely nails his performance here and is the emotional heart of the film.

- Jeremy Allen White is also good, but it's not really a surprise that he's going to do well in a role that puts him in the centre of a toxic family business, is it?

- The other standout of the cast is Holt McCallany as Fritz, the patriarch of the Von Erich clan, whose selfish nature and toxic view of masculinity is what ultimately destroys his own family.

- The movie brings up the 'Von Erich curse', but it's plain to see that it's Fritz who embodies the ill fortune his family continually suffers.

- I want to say more about Fritz and his awful treatment of his sons, but I'd be regurgitating spoilers and I think it's best you become appalled at his 'fatherly' nature yourself.

- Just to reinforce the point, this is absolutely more of a family drama than a wrestling movie, although the in-ring action is still pretty enjoyable to watch.

- But that second half of the movie and the repeated tragedies of the Von Erich clan are really tough to watch.

- I'd even go so far as to say that if you have any kind of mental health issues of your own (for whatever reason, not just those caused by a horrible dad), then it may be best to watch this with someone else present.

- If the first hour of the film had been as good as the rest, then this would've been an all-time classic.

- Unfortunately, I found it far slower-paced than it needed to be and I honestly wouldn't blame anyone for calling it boring.

- That said, I still really enjoyed The Iron Claw and would encourage you to push through any boredom or lapses in concentration, as Efron's performance from start to finish deserves it. [8/10]

GAMES

- I've finished Killer Frequency and will be writing about it in a couple of weeks.

- I'm still not done with the bounty hunters in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor yet, but have a long weekend coming up and hope to finish off the entire game in that time.

- My latest run of Baldur's Gate 3 is still proving to be the easiest so far, including defeating a boss the hard and getting an achievement without intending to do so.

- The biggest news: I've cancelled Game Pass and will be getting rid of my Series S once Survivor is done.

- The latest price increase just isn't worth it when PC gaming is so cheap (the games, at least).