Ye Wen: Zong shi jue xing

Those responsible for this ignoble movie should at least be fined for defaming the Yip Man legend.

They did not even try to tell something new and even less original: they just patched up a few episodes from the previous fine films with some unbelievable ludicrous evil characters with the gullible heroes they were just dumb enough to conceive.

Not Really Ip Man But Still a Lot of Fun. Ip Man has become one of the great Chinese exports, and the subject of numerous films, of the last decade and a half, and the world can not get enough of these action packed, loosely based bio-pics. Ip Man: The Awakening (2022), is the latest film in a series of stories about the life and legacy of Bruce Lee's legendary Wing Chu Master, Ip Man, to hit the US market this week. Here is a synopsis and review of this Well Go USA Entertainment release.

While visiting Hong Kong, a young Master Ip intervenes in a kidnapping attempt, unintentionally igniting a turf war with a ruthless human trafficking ring. In retaliation, the gang kidnaps one of Ip Man's close friends, leaving him with no choice but to challenge the group's notoriously brutal boxing champion head-on.

To be clear this is not part of the highly successful four part, Donnie Yen, series about the Chinese, Wing Chun legend. However, it is based upon the same character.

This film is a prequel of sorts to the Wilson Yip, Donnie Yen blockbusters. It takes place prior to the original Yen film, and prior to the unrelated film we previously reviewed, Ip Man: Kung Fu Master (2021). It further varies from the biographical authenticity of any of the prior films. This is a fictional tale featuring a real cultural and historical icon.

For those looking for more of Donnie Yen and the triumphant filmmaking of the four (4) unrelated films, you may be disappointed. However, for those looking to revisit this beloved character in a fun, action packed movie that is cinematically pleasing, this film is a winner. It is engaging from the opening action packed fight scene to the climactic final fight scene.

Miu Tse does a great job in the lead role. Unlike Dennis To's Donnie Yen impression, Tse seems to channel Yen in his interpretation of the role. He does a good job of carrying the film. His fighting resembles Yen. His acting works. His martial arts is high level and very watchable.

The story line involves a young Ip Man's blind quest for justice and righteousness as he takes on serious adversaries in an attempt to stop British, human trafficking out of Hong Kong. While his pursuit is righteous, Ip did not stop to consider the consequences and the collateral damage his actions caused. This sets up the dilemma posed by the film; what is the cost of justice?

The film's fight choreography is mixed. Tse and some of his costars are clearly adept martial artists, but it seems many of the others are not. This leads to many choppy fight sequences and super close up shots, which deprive the audience of the full flavor of the fights. On the other hand the film manages to do a good job setting up a climactic fight scene which pits Wing Chun against Batitsu, the British martial art of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. This art blends Boxing, Japanese Jiujitsu, Savate, and Cane fighting. This fight scene is as close as the film gets to the original films.

The film, like many Chinese films, has many Nationalistic themes.

This film surprised me and I think it will surprise martial arts film fans, whether you have seen other Ip Man films or not.

I recommend it.

One reviewer stated that it slaps Donnie Yen in the face; I didn't really mind that they cast Tse Miu (who oddly is not listed in the casting) to play Yen's character at a young age, his acting was actually decent. But the problem wasn't that Yen wasn't cast, it's that it lacked Wilson Yip's directorial magic, and Edmond Wong's creative writing - both of whom did all the previous Ip Man films (I've seen them all) that made me a fan of the franchise. The real slap in the face goes to those two, because it's evident this film was missing their magical touches, especially the fight scenes.

Here, you have two directors in this one - Li Xi Jie and Zhang Zhu Lin, and Fang Lan and Liu Bayin as writers, who instead gave us 1980's slow-mo cheesy and sappy scenes. Some of the choreography, especially at the beginning, was just as bad as the writing and directing.

Although the cinematography was up to par as the previous films, and the actual story had its merits, the rest of the production was a let-down of my expectations. Would I recommend this one? Well, if you're a fan of the franchise, it's a decent (but not great) origin story, so I'd say yes. But don't have high expectations like I did, as this production if far from the greatness we'd expect from Yip and Wong. Hopefully this mess inspires them to give up a better origin film. Sadly, it's a generous 6/10 from me, most going to the cast who I'm sure tried their best with what they were given.

Fight scenes are ok which is the main reason I ended up watching, final fight was terrible. Would not recommend, should have just watched the clips on YouTube.

Acting is bad also, especially from the British actors and the music doesn't hold up well in any of the scenes.

Went in hoping it would be good and gave it a chance, doesn't match or compete with Donnie Yen's portrayal of Ip Man.

Skip.

This doesn't feel like Ip Man at all. Not just that, but as far as martial arts movies go it wasn't even enjoyable. The acting was bad, the story was bad, everything about this felt really sub par. I may have enjoyed it as a bad martial arts movie more if it wasn't trying to pass itself off as an Ip Man movie.

Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time on this. The martial arts felt more 80s martial arts than modern day. The acting was rough, I struggled to watch the fights. This is not anywhere close to Donnie Yen quality.