Ip Man

Forget "Flashpoint". "Ip Man" shows Donnie Yen at his brutal best. Telling the story of Yip Man, the man believed to have popularized the martial art of Wing Chun, before and mostly during the Sino-Japanese war.

Yen caught my attention after seeing him in "SPL". Then in "Flashpoint", I was stunned by his moves, and thought he was the next Jet Li. Well, after this I think he may very well be the next Bruce Lee. I mean it! Not only injecting humanity and superb characterization, Yen also demonstrates his brutality when it comes to fighting. And boy, it does not get more brutal than this! Seriously, Yen's fists move like machine gun bullets. And he makes sure that his opponents are down for the count... at their expense, and our enjoyment. Definitely Yen at his bruising best.

Other actors worth mentioning, Simon Yam and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as Ip Man's business partner/friend and the Japanese General respectively. The former portrays Ip Man's comrade with heart, while the latter performs with steely resolve and honor. This is a film that is not just made with action, but a good story as well.

The fight scenes here are arguably Yen's best so far, and the best in over a decade. People are getting beaten, martial arts duels are taking place, and blood is spilled. This is not an action movie, it's a kung fu movie. And it shows. Legendary kung fu star Sammo Hung brilliantly choreographs the fight scenes to perfection, and it looks like he's not going to slow down any time soon. The direction by Wilson Yip is slick and gripping as always, and he also gives the film a nice sepia tone to give feeling to the film.

In short, great. This is a must-see for kung fu film fans to get their adrenal glands pumping. It's one of the best kung fu films of the decade. See it if you have the chance.

Overall: 7/10

Directed by Wilson Yip (Killzone, Flashpoint) This movie is a "portrayal" of the famous Wing Chun master Yip Man, credited as being the guy that taught Bruce Lee kung fu.

The movie starts of a bit slow, and seems a bit awkward imo. The dialogue didn't really work on me, and I didn't quite feel the comedy or drama the dialogue was supposed to invoke. However, troublemakers enter the city and the fighting shall begin. When that part began, the movie immediately started to grow on me. The fighting is very well choreographed, and the stunts are really amazing. I am very interested in martial arts and fighting, and thus many movies loses me when I have to see a 300 pound muscular guy supposedly gets knocked out for 10 minutes by 1 jab from e.g. Jackie Chan or choked out by Angelina Jolie. However, in this movie the fight scenes are so amazing that I easily accept that a knee to the body can send a guy a flying across the room. The fighting is of course unrealistic (though not extremely so), but they somehow make it seem legit in this movie, and you actually start believing for the duration of the movie that Ip Man is capable of this stuff.

As for the cast, Donnie Yen is the one that stands out. He is a really great choice for Ip Man, with a very calm and intelligent charisma, and he shows in this movie that he is capable of being a diverse actor. The other actors did a fine job as well, most notably his wife (Lynn Hung) and General Miura (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), considering their acting experience. The cinematography, soundtrack, costumes and art direction are all well done. They got some fairly experienced people for that, but not anyone "really" famous (except for the movie buffs perhaps), most notably Kenji Kawai and Kenneth Mak.

My main critique lies in the fact that this movie markets itself as a historical portrait, while this is clearly not so. Apart from the fight scenes that has probably never gone down in reality, we also have the portrayal of the Japanese. While they definitely did invade China and committed some atrocities there, I somehow doubt they had karate tournaments with Japanese vs Chinese. The movie also claims that the city population was reduced from 300k to 72k, which I somehow doubt, but I am unable to find any source that either disprove or confirms that statement. But since the movie is from China I guess a non-biased portrayal of the Japanese invasion is too much to ask. But the thing that bugged me the most was the final part of the movie, which show a fight scene with following events that I am 100% positive has never happened, but the movie actually try to claim that it did (obviously I can't explain the scene to you without spoiling).

So all in all a great movie. The plot meets the required amount of relevancy that is needed to keep you interested, but what really stands out is the fight scenes which is what lift this movie to great heights, and what I assume has secured it a place on the IMDb top 250 list. I greatly enjoyed the movie, but the fact that the movie tries to sell itself as being a historic portrayal really bugs me the wrong way and drags it down a point.

Ip Man is very touching and full of mildness,considering it's an action movie. Wisedom, courage, elegance, humour...all the mixed elements you surely will feel from Ip man and they will definitely move you. All actors have done a great job. I believe this is the best movie that Zhen Zidan has ever contributed. This time he is not only a warrior, but also a wise, gentle, and conscientious man, a good husband. People clapped hands and weeped from time to time. I have watched it for two times,and longing for the third time when the DVD is coming. You know, Ip Man did not ballyhoo before it is shown, but it undoubtedly becomes a huge dark horse. It is really worthy of watching it.

Donnie Yen is a long time favorite of mine, although this is mainly due to his martial arts skills and screen presence rather than his acting skills. In Ip Man (or Ye Wen, as they were shouting in the seats next to mine) he delivers a truly solid performance on the acting side, carrying the burden of a nation on his shoulders with gravitas, at least that's what he conveyed to the audience at the cinema. They were actually applauding at times. Then again, moviegoers might be more absorbed over here on a regular basis. I digress.

I'm not going to delve deeper into plot details. The basic stuff is already outlined above, and I also feel the historical accuracy of certain events depicted can be debated. That's a bit of a moot point, though, since most people will watch this for the action scenes. Nobody will be disappointed. Donnie kicks twelve kinds of ass in this movie, and it is all accompanied by some of the meanest sound design I've ever heard. Every one of his rapid punches can be felt as he pummels the poor bastards in his way with the Ip Man-style of martial arts (imdb won't let me spell out the name for some reason). The final bout is epic,but for me it was one scene about halfway through that got my heart beating faster. It involves Donnie, ten Japanese karate practitioners and some of the most furious fighting I've ever seen on screen. You can really sense the anger of his character in this scene. Great stuff.

The film moves forward at a brisk pace and contains a surprisingly large amount of fight scenes. It totally lacks the vintage over-the-top-aesthetics of Donnie Yen's films of the 80's and 90's, but for some people that's a good thing. I personally think this is his finest performance to date.

Highly recommended for fans of martial arts cinema!

Excellent direction, photography and set design enliven this account of Wing Chun instructor Yip Man's life before he moved to Hong Kong. Every Wing Chun instructor today tries to make a lineage connection to Yip Man to legitimize their teaching so he is a very important figure in Kung Fu. Donnie Yen portrays the master with intense reserve and is possibly the best acting in his career. It surprised me for sure.

The story line of this film is invented as historical accounts show Yip Man to have been a police officer in the time frame this film covers, not staying at home and only practicing kung fu as depicted here. Also the film claims that he refused to teach anybody but that is also not true. He left for Hong Kong a few years after WW2 not in the middle of it as this film presents. The plot with the Japanese army seems invented although they did ask him to teach the troops which he refused.

However the film muddies up the historical record, that is not to say it isn't a great film. Sammo Hung's choreography is exceptional and a throwback to his great kung fu films of the early 1980's. The martial arts are done with great respect to traditional styles although some wire work is used to assist the actors with the difficult acrobatic moves. No flying across the room in this film.

Although the ending is a little abrupt, this is one kung fu film that can be recommended to people who don't like these films. Highly recommended.