Ip Man 葉問 by Wilson Yip Wai-Shun (2008)
23 March 2009Donnie Yen goes the route of Jet Li in fearless to do a biopic of Bruce Lee’s Master Yip Man in his early years, and makes for one Donnie’s best films, but does not come close to Li’s best historical films in any way. Sure Donnie does some great action, and his most sedate performance is certainly one of his best, though he still does not have too much depth to his acting skills. And from what I have heard the film is not too historically accurate, but that doesn’t make it any less of a fun martial arts romp, which some Chinese nationalistic story telling, and Wilson Yip has once again made an impressive looking film. Very worth checking out, and the blu-ray looks very good (though there are some motion artifacting in some dark scenes that do distract).
Donnie Yen plays the titular Ip Man a Wing Chun martial arts master in a town of masters named Foshan, but one who likes to keep his skills secret, as he is not a show off. Ip Man lives a quite life with his wife Wing Cheng (Lynn Hung) and young son. One day Ip Man is challenged by a fellow master named Liao (Chen Zhi Hui) and Ip man easily bests him, and this is witnessed by a local named Aha Da Yuan (Wong You-Nam) who was getting his kite from a tree. Sha Da Yuan goes into town and tells everyone what he saw, publicly humiliating Master Liao. Master Liao starts a fight, and local Inspector Li Zhao (Lam Ka-Tyung) intervenes, saying people fight with guns now, and not fists, though Ip Man easily disarms him, and removes the cylinder from the gun. A martial artist from out of town named Jin Shan Zhao (Fan Siu-Wong) comes in and starts challenging the masters of all the schools, and defeating them all. The teahouse owner who is also a martial artist named Lin (Xing Yu) tells Ip Man, but Ip man can’t help because of his wife’s disapproval of his fighting.Jin comes to challenge Ip man, and starts breaking things, and this causes Wing Cheng to allow him to fight, and he quickly defeats him. The whole town starts to respect Ip Man, and his Wing Chung.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
The Japanese invade in 1937, and everyone’s lives turn for worse, and Ip Man loses his house and he and his family are forced to move to a decrepit abandoned house.
Ip Man refuses charity from his wealthy friend Zhou Qing Quan (Simon Yam Tat Wah) who he had lent money to start his cotton mill, and instead takes a job as a coolie working at a coal mine where many martial arts masters are working.
Ip Man is reunited with his friend Lin, and he tells him that his brotehr Sha Da Yuan is missing.
The japanese troops of General Miura (Ikeuchi Kiroyuki) arrives to get martial artists to go and fight the Japanese offering rich as a ward. They are lead by Sato (Tenma Shibuya) along with Li Zhao who is now an interpreter for the Japanese. Lin and some of his friends go to take up the challenge.
Miura agrees to fight 3 men at once, and that includes Lin, but Lin will not give up, and is beaten to death.
Ip Man notices his friend is gone, and decides to go fight. He sees Master Miao fight to earn rice, and then is shot by Sato and killed. Ip Man also learns that Lin was killed here, so he demands to fight 10 fighters, and quickly brutally cripples them all, refusing all the rice, except MIao’s bag which was covered in his blood, and Miura wants him back the next day.
Ip Man ends up getting help from Li Zhao who hates the Japanese, and helps to hide his family.
Ip Man goes to hide at the Cotton Mill, where it has recently been attacked by a gang led by Jin Shan Zhao and Jin Shan Zhao is one of them. Ip Man hides there, and then trains the people to fight back, and when Jin Shan Zhao comes back they beat him. And Ip Man gives Jin a metal box he got from his brother, and see it has his old kite in it.
The Japanese look for Ip Man and raid the mill, so Ip Man turns himself in, and getting Zhou to take his family out of Foshan.
General Miura offers to spare Ip Man if he will teach the Japanese Army martial arts, Ip man refuses and challenges Miura to a dual.
Sato says he will kill Ip Man if he wins.
Zhou leaves with Ip man’s faily.
Ip Man manages to beat Miura, but Sato shoots Ip Man in the shoulder, and the crowd goes crazy and attacks the Japanese and Sato is killed.
Ip Man escapes with his wound to go to Hong Kong.
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Quit enjoyable, with great action.
The film just won the best film in Hong Kong, beating out John Woo’s RED CLIFF, which I am really surprised about, because I think both RED CLIFF films blow IP man out of the water. Maybe it split the votes with the 2 parts? I don’t know, but I don’t think Ip Man comes close to RED CLIFF.
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