The Iron Claw Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

2. An Imperfect Hero

Zac Efron The Iron Claw
A24

As the last surviving Von Erich son, Kevin was very clearly the main protagonist of the film, but he was very clearly a flawed hero.

Kevin was a well-meaning, caring big brother who loved his siblings, wife and kids. On the exterior, he was the All-American hero. But beneath the surface was a man who couldn’t save any of his brothers from the excesses of professional wrestling or from Fritz’s relentless pressure. He’s scarred, damaged. Kevin’s burden was so great that at one point, he moved out of his home to prevent the Von Erich curse from “infecting” his sons.

Viewers can’t help but root for Kevin to come out of everything OK, but those who know the story know that it’s going to keep getting worse and the universe is going to continue beating him down. In the end, he’s left to sell his dad’s promotion and carry on without his brothers. It would be a tragic ending if not for the fact that Kevin has found peace and a normal life in the aftermath.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.