Viewed in
2012
Formats
Netflix streaming
Premise
Donnie Yen stars as in the semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun.
Liked
Writing, characters.
Disliked
Change in tone in the middle of the story.
Thoughts
An interesting martial arts movie with a good story.
I liked how the film makers made writing and characters high priority while still managing to pull off exciting, stylish fight sequences. The first act was unexpectedly quirky and irreverent, peaking with the ridiculous duel between Ip and the Northerner in Ip's living room, where family and business mix with hilarious results. After that, the film turned everything upside-down, becoming a serious drama in context of the Japanese invasion in the 1930's. Not sure how accurate the historic parts were, but the writing created a journey for the main characters that made you care for these characters. It was cool to see how the minor characters (set up in first act) changed as the heavy story unfolded.
In terms of kung fu and acting, the cast was good in both. Donnie Yen was believable as a caring family man with a cool demeanor. For me, the best performance was Lynn Hung as Ip's exasperated wife. Her game acting and some twists in the writing did just enough to make her more than a cliche. Another great moment of character was the Japanese General's right hand man's terrifying entrance into the family's life, a nightmare for any parent.
My biggest beef was, of course, the 180 degree turn in tone in the middle of the story. I understand the contrast of going from an idyllic, light-hearted stable society to a gritty, death-laden chaos, but I still don't like it.
The result of good writing made Ip Man a complete film with heart and brains, instead of just a string of action pieces. It earned the emotional payoff at the end, managing to give the film an epic feel and a worthwhile personal touch simultaneously.
