I must admit that I am a novice when it comes to Martial Arts films. Basically I watched a couple of Bruce Lee films when I was a child and thought they were cool. I have seen some Jet Li and Jackie Chan films, even Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but that is about it when it comes to my experience with this genre. This is a genre I really have to explore more because since I was a child I have liked Martial Arts. It Started extremely early on in my life with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My initial reaction to this film is that I loved it. I liked the acting, especially by Donnie Yen. I loved the martial arts action scenes, even though they were sometimes too brief.
This film essentially has two phases or parts, before Japanese occupation and then during Japanese occupation. The first part takes place in 1936 in Foshan, China. The place is known for its Martial Arts Masters and people travel their to learn from them. Ip Man , who is a Wing Chun Master, is regarded as the best. Here he lives a comfortable wealthy life with his wife and young son. The second part is a complete contrast of that. He has been kicked out of his home and essentially lives an impoverished life with his wife and son.
The plot although not that deep is deep enough to not make this some mindless martial arts film. This mostly has to do with a really strong performance from Donnie Yen. Directly from the start I believed that he was Ip Man. The rest of cast although I do not know them by name did well in their roles, but Yen is very much the star. The film is somewhat a biopic so the entire plot mostly revolves around him.
As I was saying the plot is deep enough to satisfy me personally. One example is the final fight. The climactic fight in the film is between Ip man and a Japanese General. What one can figure out easily enough is that it is more like China vs. Japan than simply two men fighting each other. I like the plot for its simplicity. You do not need to rack your brain in figuring out deeper meanings, the depth is there, readily available to diagnose.
What I hink sticks with most people who watch this film is how badass Ip man is in it. His level of badass is off the charts. I loved the martial art action sequences in this film. There was one part in particular that left me speechless, all I will say is that Ip man takes on ten Japanese martial artists. The one negative thing I will say is that the fight scenes were somewhat brief because Ip Man is so good that no one even comes close to his level of talent.
Despite my high praise for the film there are some negative aspects. The final battle, while awesome in my eyes, really is totally one sided and yet again over with quickly so some may view it as anticlimactic. Also the set design is somewhat lackluster. While it still looks like a 1930s China, the budget limitations show through in the set design. There really is not much character development. From the beginning Ip man feels like an already developed character, granted he does have some flaws. Also the other characters other than Ip Man really do not do much, like I said earlier the film concentrates solely on Ip Man. There is also some cliche throughout the film. Specifically when Ip Man teaches factory workers Wing Chun in order to defend themselves against robbers. It plays on that whole weaker people band together to fight agains a more powerful enemy. This next thing may be a little nitpicking but the film is not quite historically accurate or probably even accurate when it comes toe the real Ip Man life. With film based on true events or a biopic, inaccuracies and changes are expected.
Do I recommend this film? Yes. Strong acting by the lead, Donnie Yen, a plot that was easy to follow but not the point of stupidly easy. The Martial Arts action sequences were awesome despite briefness. I enjoyed this film beginning to end. The one thing I must warn about, you will need to read subtitles. There may be an English Dub version out there but I would highly suggest watching films in their original language with subtitles. My rating for this film is going to be a 4.15/5 Stars. Also if you enjoyed this film there is a sequel titled Ip Man 2.
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