IP MAN - The Movie Review

My first movie review. Go easy on me.

My ex-art director, when we were brainstorming for ideas, always raved about Donnie Yen. To further prove that Donnie Yen is the best in Martial Arts movies, he lent me SPL. In SPL, opposite the legendary Sammo Hung, and the Wushu champion Wu Jing, Donnie Yen was simply breathtaking. Then in Flash Point, Donnie Yen once again mesmerized me with his dazzling display of gung-fu opposite Colin Chou, aka Seraph from the Matrix. Finally in Dragon Tiger Gate, Yen captured my attention with his prowess in gung-fu opposite young actor, Nick Chen. But there’s a connection within these three movies. All of them were directed by Wilson Yip.

So, it is to no surprise that Donnie and Wilson's collaboration are able to whip up an ultimate gung-fu movie experience. But how do they fare in their latest collaboration? - Ip Man: The Movie

To me, the best movie collaborators of all time are from Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and last but not least, Asia’s very own Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip. The movie is an absolute masterpiece and I honestly can prove that statement, after watching it twice. There have been some nice biopics about Chinese martial arts folk heroes such as Wong Fei Hung, Fong Sai Yuk and Huo Yuan Jia and all of them were played by the great Jet Li. Even though Li has hung up his martial arts roles because he believed he has delivered and communicated all that he wanted about martial arts through these films, I think the opposite of that. After the void left by Li in Fearless, Donnie Yen took the genre and created a storm once again with Ip Man. Yet he still managed to maintain a memorable role and captured the essence of Ip Man, which is the first cinematic rendition of the Wing Chun Grandmaster.

In this epic movie, Ip Man, one of the earliest Wing Chun martial arts advocator that propagated its popularity, is portrayed as the best among the rest in the 1930s, Fo Shan, China - a bustling city that has its own Martial Arts Street and where countless of martial arts schools have set up their shop to fuel the craze of gung-fu training. Usually when a new school is formed, the master will pay their respects to Ip Man and challenge him to a duel. Ip Man, an aristocrat who spends most of his quality time developing and perfecting his brand of martial arts, will take them on behind closed doors. This is done because he does not want to damage his opponents’ reputation nor embarrass them in public. His humility is his virtue and his fighting style is never violent or aggressive, which is often assumed and mistaken for being effeminate. Then again, Wing Chun was founded by a woman.

Yet the movie is not all about fighting. There is balance in terms of the story and action which makes it even more enjoyable to watch. The bulk of the story begins in the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war and there’s an insightful dose of how the malevolent Imperial Army made life miserable for the Chinese, and how martial arts became the inspiration in unifying the spirit of the Chinese.

So what’s the verdict on the action? Two Words: Freakishly Good.

I’m no Wing Chun practitioner, but Donnie Yen has this marvellous calm and zen like approach with his Ip Man character. He takes out his opponents quite effectively with the minimal of moves. And unlike the usual martial arts stance of crouching low, here we see him standing tall and striking with such precision and efficiency, it’s like poetry in motion with some astounding closed quarter combat utilizing plenty of upper limb strength.

With Wong Kar-wai at one point also declaring interest in making a Ip Man movie, I thought that this effort will be hard to beat. And in all the movies I’ve seen Donnie Yen has been in, Ip Man cements Yen’s reputation as a martial arts leading man, which I guess the cinematic world these days severely lacks. So, get your heiny in TGV or GSC and satiate your inner gung-fu.