Movie Review: Ip Man 2

While it may seem miles away in quality from the first film, Ip Man 2 is still a great movie.  Where it seems to lose its steam is the drawn out feud with the Western Boxer, Twister.  While Yip’s confrontation is not overly done, Twister’s challenge and beating of Master Hueng and bullying of people takes away from what was a great semi-biopic.  I don’t oppose the characters inclusion, I just think he had too much focus in the second half of the film and should have been more abbreviated while still keeping the overall content.

While that may sound like a gripe, it is minor and really does not hurt the overall quality of the film.  In the original film the enemies or antagonists are very under developed letting the film focus and progress on the Ip Family.  While this film gave a significant time to develop a back-story for the foreigners organizing a boxing match in town, yet leaving much of their set up unresolved in the end.

Movie Review: Ip Man

When I think Martial Arts I think Bruce Lee, I think Jet Li, now I even think Tony Ja or Michael Jai White, they are great martial artists who act.  When I think of actors who do martial arts the first name that comes to mind is Donnie Yen.  His skills never seem to impress me the way someone like Ja does in his fight scenes, but he always excels in the acting side of the role he portrays.

Ip Man is the story of the well known master of Wing Chun Gung Fu, Ip Man (aka Yip Man.)  Many know him as Bruce Lee’s formal teacher, but few know his first 50 years before teaching a young Lee.

Yip Man: A Black Belt Magazine History

Many people know Bruce Lee for Jeet Kune Do.  Many people know Bruce Lee studied Wing Chun Kung Fu before giving up fixed styles.  Many do not know that it was Yip Man that trained a young Lee Jun Fan in formal style.

Credit to Black Belt Magazine

www.blackbeltmag.com

Bak mei (white eyebrow) kung fu master Leung Sheung proudly demonstrated another self-defense technique to his class: side kick, grab, punch. Leung executed the movements with as much fluency and precision as would be expected from any 20-year veteran of the fighting arts. The students then imitated the perfection of his form. In the back of the room, the old man quickly turned his head away and bit down on his tongue, swallowing his laughter.

Side kick! Grab! Punch! The old man leaned against the wall for support. Now his body shuddered as he struggled to conceal his amusement. Suddenly his efforts failed, and his silent chuckles grew into loud roars of laughter.

Leung stopped his class, his face red with anger. “Hey, old man!” he snapped. “What are you laughing at?”

“Oh, nothing,” he replied. “Please continue. I’ll try not to disturb you further.”

Leung took a deep breath and paced across the room. He was still furious. “Look, old man, a few months ago we found you living out of garbage cans in Macao,” he said. “We brought you here to the Union Hall. We gave you a place to sleep and food to eat. The least you could do is show a little respect when I’m teaching.”

The old man perked up an ear. Had he heard the man say “respect”?

“Then the least you could do is show a little respect for the art that you teach,” the old man growled back. “All you do is have your students punch air.” He quickly moved through Leung’s technique: side kick, grab, punch. “But the air doesn’t hit back. What happens when you face an enemy who will?”

Movie Review: Ip Man

When I think Martial Arts I think Bruce Lee, I think Jet Li, now I even think Tony Ja or Michael Jai White, they are great martial artists who act.  When I think of actors who do martial arts the first name that comes to mind is Donnie Yen.  His skills never seem to impress me the way someone like Ja does in his fight scenes, but he always excels in the acting side of the role he portrays.

Ip Man is the story of the well known master of Wing Chun Gung Fu, Ip Man (aka Yip Man.)  Many know him as Bruce Lee’s formal teacher, but few know his first 50 years before teaching a young Lee.