Ip Man

Donnie Yen: One of the greatest martial arts actors to ever grace the screen. He's had an amazing career spanning over 50 movies including films like Iron Monkey, Once Upon A Time in China 2, Legend of the Wolf, Hero, Seven Swords, Kill Zone-S.P.L., Flash Point, and two movies that he starred in here in America: Highlander: Endgame and Blade II. The first film that most people remember him was in Once Upon A Time in China 2 when he starred opposite Jet Li. He played a villain in one of the most amazing fight scenes ever. An expert in Chinese Wushu, Donnie Yen not only starred in movies, but he also choreographed many of his own movies including Flash Point and Kill Zone, both in which he employs mixed martial arts, like the stuff you see in Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is also the 4th actor to portray the character Chen Zhen, who was originally played by Bruce Lee in Fists of Fury, which was known as the Chinese Connection here in the States. The second was Bruce Lee imitation number 1, Bruce Li in Fists of Fury parts 2 and 3. The third was Jet Li in the renowned Fist of Legend, which was a re-make of Bruce Lee's film. Donnie Yen would portray the character in a Fists of Fury television series in Hong Kong and returned to play the character in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. But perhaps the most compelling character he has played was the real life martial arts master, Ip Man, grandmaster of Wing Chun kung-fu.

The film opens in Fo Shan, China in 1938 on a demonstration of various styles of kung-fu in the streets of Fo Shan. Ip Man lives comfortably with his family in a mansion outside of town when some northerners come to Fo Shan to challenge the various masters of kung fu. Then they challenge Ip Man and are beaten by Ip Man in a very one-sided confrontation. A couple of months later, the Japanese invade China. The general stationed in Fo Shan, is curious about Chinese kung-fu so he stages a tournament in which kung-fu masters fight for a bag of rice. Now, anybody who knows anything about Bruce Lee and the real-life Ip Man, will automatically know the outcome of the film. The film also tends to take liberties with certain aspects of Ip Man's life, mostly to dramatic effect. It's to be expected, although I don't seem to recall in the history of Ip Man, of him actually facing off against a Japanese general.

The acting is fantastic, Donnie Yen shines as Ip Man. He's humble, brings respectability and humility to the character, but is also fantastic in the film's fight scenes which are choreographed by legendary Sammo Hung. Donnie Yen spent nine months straight studying Wing Chun so he could get the moves right. Wing Chun is very different from other styles of kung-fu. It's more direct, and emphasizes speed and economy over strength, and by economy I mean not over-extending the strikes or using your muscles to the point where you're going to be exhausted. Instead, Wing Chun teaches you to use your opponents energy against him, by blocking his attacks and striking at the same time. It's definitely not as fancy as the other forms of kung-fu because it's a very close-range style of combat. It certainly has it's own grace, but it's very direct and very brutal in the hands of a master. The other actors are fantastic as well, particularly Simon Yam, who plays Ip Man's best friend and the guy who plays the Japanese General. The general doesn't strike me as your typical mustache-twirling villain, because he's a soldier and as a result has a particular sense of honor when it comes to fighting. The guy who plays him, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, is fantastic.

Now, as great as this movie is, there are certain issues that I do have with it. First, the use of wires. I can understand using wires in movies like The Matrix as it fits the context. But in a movie where the fighting is supposed to be grounded in reality, the use of wires, and they are obvious, take you of the film. Thankfully, Donnie Yen doesn't really use them because Wing Chun doesn't employ fancy kicks or moves. The second real issue is the complete shift of tone half-way through the movie. The first half is pretty colorful, seems like your typical kung-fu movie, but when the Japanese invade, not only does the story take a darker turn, but visually, all the color becomes subdued. It's very jarring. It's like you're watching two different movies. But those are my main issues. Overall the film is fantastic, with awesome performances and great fight sequences. I definitely appreciate Wing Chun as a style, because I've been actually studying Wing Chun for about a month and a half. There's a lot about it in the movie that would actually make sense in a real fight. Ip Man is a great movie, albeit a little historically inaccurate, but it's definitely one of the better martial arts films of the past decade. If you're a fan of kung-fu movies, it's one worth watching. If you're a Wing Chun practitioner, like me, you can appreciate the film because of it's accurate use of the style, for the most part. Aside from some suspect wire-work and sudden shift in tone, I give a Ip Man a solid 9/10.