aequitas_veritas_007

I am always apprehensive about viewing sequels to films I love. Hollywood's trend of destroying everything that attracted me to a movie has scarred me. Examples such as The Expendables 3 and The Mechanic 2 are recent ones that come to mind.

That being said I was pleasantly surprised with this entry. It expanded on the curiosity-grabbing sub-culture of the hotel from the first film. They wisely kept Keanu in his element...not speaking much, just kicking, punching, and shooting. It actually felt like an extension of the first movie. I am looking forward to the third, and hopefully final film. Baba Yaga.

This film is yet another in the line of stories being ground out about Ip Man. It starts off promising with a visually stunning fight scene that gave me high hopes for the film overall. Directly following the initial fight scene the story line (at least to me) seemed to bounce around incoherently. Stretching certain scenes too long, rushing through others, and generally providing no "meat and potatoes" of the Ip Man story. In the end the story was full of fluff with no emotional grab on it's viewers.

The editing seemed rushed in parts, but I have seen worse. The fight scenes (which is all anyone cares about?) were done well, fairly eye grabbing, with good technique. If you are in it simply for the action and care not about the story, then give this a view.

Overall I would say this is completely inferior to the 2008 Ip Man starring Donnie Yen. The acting was not as good, the fighting not as smooth. For a fan of the genre such as myself I do not feel my time wasted with watching it, but I will not be buying this film on BluRay.