Review: “Ip Man” a Masterful Martial Art Movie
Very loosely based on the life of the martial art grandmaster, Ip Man is a Hong Kong kung fu movie directed by Wilson Yip and starring Donnie Yen as the titular character. The movie is a great throwback to the apogee of Hong Kong actioners and focuses on the life of the revered Ip Man (aka Yip Man), most widely known for one of his student, the great Bruce Lee whom he taught the art of Wing Chun.
The film begins in 1930′s Foshan, the capital of Chinese martial arts, where numerous martial art schools are located. Although the Wing Chun master Ip Man (Donnie Yen) is the most skilled martial artist in Foshan, he lives a low key, unassuming yet comfortable life, taking no student and spending a leisurely life of training and enjoying his time with his friends and family. This doesn’t prevent numerous people who have heard of his prowess from challenging him and Ip Man, being a man of great composure and graciousness, is always willing to let his challengers test their mettle against him. Flash forward to the Japanese invasion of 1937 and Ip Man is now impoverished and working as a coolie at the coal mine to feed his family. When he finds out that the bored Japanese are holding martial arts fights to entertain their troops in exchange for rice, the unflappable Ip Man finds himself standing up for his countrymen against the Japanese occupants.
For the most part, Ip Man is a movie that sticks with the conventions of the genre most notably in terms of story-telling. It is obvious that the tale of Ip Man’s life was heavily fictionalized and given a heavy nationalistic message against the cruel Japanese occupation of 1937-1945. However, this doesn’t mean that the movie isn’t gripping and highly compelling. Director Wilson Yen skillfully blends rousing drama with breathtaking fighting sequences, and he allows the main character to undergo profound changes throughout his journey. Ip Man’s transformation from tranquil and leisurely family man to a symbol of the resistance against the Japanese occupier is truly satisfying and compelling drama.
Donnie Yen isn’t always a particularly charismatic actor and it really benefited him to play a mostly two-dimensional character that put more importance on his mastery of Wing Chun over his acting chops. Nevertheless, Yen has great screen presence here and he gives one of his best performance as the stoic and generous titular character. The fact that the fight sequences are so well-rendered can be largely attributed to his amazing martial art skills which gives all the stunts and action scenes as much authenticity as you will see in a movie. For the most part, the supporting characters are competent yet forgettable but Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, playing the Japanese general, infused what could have been a one-dimensional villain with complexity of motives and a hint of admiration for Ip Man.
From a technical standpoint, the set and costume design are impeccable and so is the scoring and cinematography. The filmmakers forgo the frenzied over-editing that has become the staple of most action fight sequences and superbly captures the skills of the participants. Nevertheless, the crowning achievement of this movie is the choreography by Sammo Hung which is truly the best I have seen in a martial movie to date. Hollywood filmmakers can only dream of choreographing action sequences as beautifully as those in Ip Man. The fight sequences progressively build up in intensity and levels of difficulty and every single one of them are a feast for the eyes.
One of the best choreographed kung fu movie ever made, Ip Man is a conventional yet highly satisfying film that combines compelling drama with dazzling fight sequences. Any fan of cinema will enjoy this instant classic.
A-
(8.5/10)
Notes: Rated R for violence, 106 minutes.
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17 Comments
An A-? Wow. When I watched this I quite enjoyed it, but I thought it got incredibly hokey at points, becoming almost melodramatic. Not to mention I found it a bit derivative with respective to Jet Li’s Fearless, which I believe is the better film. Both are high propaganda, liberal storytelling, about great people during a time of societal upheaval in China, but they are so much fun to watch.
I really enjoyed the fight sequences here. They never felt overly forced, cliche, or ‘wired.’ Gave a nice sense of realism to the whole affair, but I wanted to feel a greater sense of dramatic urgency with Ip Man. There’s never that feeling of ‘my god he could lose!’ that drives most narratives. That’s good in that the movie doesn’t succumb to bland, generic, storytelling, but it never required me to get emotionally invested.
I gave it an A so we basically had the same mindframe on this. Your point where you said that Hollywood filmmakers can only dream of choreographing action sequences as beautifully as this, well it is kind of ironic because they hire Asian choreographers on most of the big budget fight flicks; i.e. Matrix, Kill Bill, uhhh can’t think off the top of my head. But, Asia is the best that does it hands down.
Also Ip Man 2 isn’t as well-done, wasn’t sure if you’ve seen that or not. But, I am glad more movie blogs are covering these types of flicks, I feel less of an outcast
It’s true that Hollywood hires the choreographers (mostly Yuen Woo-Ping) but they don’t know how to edit so all the beauty of the movement it lost.
I’m so conflicted. I love kung-fu, but I hate biopics. Even if their loosely adapted.
the fighting sequences are really REALLY good though. Def. check out~~~
Nice review. This weekend I gonna watch this movie. I also suggest to see the movie ‘Rough Cut’. The screenplay was awesome. BTW the entire film is depends on 2 characters. Great film to watch. Cheers
Have yet to see this. Recently, I’m not really in the mood for pure martial arts flicks. But I’ll get to it, eventually. I just have a question. You said that the choreography is truly the best you have seen in a martial movie to date. Is it better than in “Ong bak”/”Tom yum goong” films?
For me, I enjoyed the choreography in this better than Ong Bak.
I do think that the tracking shot fight scene from The Protector, where Tony Jaa battles his way through the club in one shot, is such an amazing display of choreography and skill that is absolutely unparalleled.
Yes, that’s what I was aiming at, the scene Will mentioned. “Tom yum goong” (“The Protector”), even more so than “Ong bak”, had such amazing choreography that I seriously believed no one would top that for quite a while.
If Ip Man did it, then it must truly be something special. P.S. Castor, check out “Ong bak” & “The Protector” when you find the time. Just be careful with the latter, because the USA version has almost half an hour of scenes missing. I saw only the full, uncut version and it blew me away.
It’s really bad-ass Shaft, you will love it! I haven’t seen Ong bak yet so I wouldn’t be able to tell you.
I felt Ong Bak was bad-ass in a “wooo he’s flying, how does he do that” kind of way.
Ip Man is a bad-ass you are more likely to run in the streets. No flying. just a lot more hitting. xD
oh, forgot – my dad loves both Ip Man and Ong Bak though. But I think he loves Ip Man more because he’s this really really huge Bruce Lee fan. He loves Wing Chun~
Love this movie! One of the best kung fu movies to come out of Hong Kong in years. Donnie Yen has been a favorite of mine for years.
Ip Man 2 is fairly disappointing after how awesome this was, so keep that in mind if you’re gonna watch that one. It’s basically built on the Rocky IV framework.
Thanks for the heads up on Ip Man 2. The curse of the sequel I guess
Great review! I’m glad you do love the film as I do. This film is sure a solid return to form for Hong Kong action. Donnie Yen, a staple of the Hong Kong film scene since the mid-80’s had also found a director who could utilize his talents as well as push him to be one of the most talented actors working within the genre today.
Thanks Jaccstev! Yes, it has a great old-fashioned feel and Donnie Yen delivers a brilliant performance here.
Heard nothing but awesomeness about this so I’m glad it lives up to it. After seeing Red Cliff (International Version) I’m getting on an Asian film kick again…next up, this and the Yojimbo and a slew more Kirosawa:)
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