Ip Man - Martial Arts Hero Unites The Chinese

Dec

16

Ip Man - Martial Arts Hero Unites The Chinese

≡ Category: Action, Essential, Hong Kong, Martial Arts, Movie Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Action/ Martial Arts
Director: Wilson Yip
Year: 2008

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE

Ip Man is the rare modern Hong Kong movie that is almost flawless. The script by Edmond Wong and Chan Tai-Li is tight. The physical production is immaculate — no crappy CGI or lousy matte paintings to ruin the illusion. The martial arts, choreographed by legends Sammo Hung and Tony Leung Siu-Hung, is comparable to good movies from the Golden Age of Hong Kong. The acting ranges from very good to excellent. Really, there is very little to criticize.

Ip Man tells the first part of the story of martial art legend Bruce Lee’s sifu or teacher (Ip Man 2 will take up after Ip Man arrived in Hong Kong after fleeing China during World War II).

The town of Foshan is very wealthy, so much so that a large minority of townspeople have the time to take up martial arts as a hobby. This has led to a proliferation of martial arts schools, making Foshan a center for martial arts, and a magnet for outsiders to come prove themselves. The greatest of Foshan’s martial artists is Ip Man (Donnie Yen), who is not only highly skilled, but modest and peaceful to a fault. It’s to Donnie Yen’s great credit as an actor that he’s convincing as the modest Ip Man, considering what an egomaniac he is in real life. In fact, I’d have to say this is by far the best acting I’ve ever seen from Donnie Yen.

Anyway, Ip Man has to deal with martial artists who want to challenge him, and after the Japanese invade China, he has to adjust to poverty, and ultimately stand up to the Japanese for his countrymen. Standing alongside him is his faithful wife, Zhang Yong Cheng (Lynn Hung). I love this actress! Aside from being beautiful, she manages to communicate volumes with tiny shifts of her eyes and mouth. Later, when she thinks that she might never see her beloved Ip Man again, her tears will break your heart if they don’t make you double over with laughter first. You see, this jewel of a woman is having a guilt attack because she didn’t allow Ip Man have his way 100% of the time. (Where I live, I’ve noticed more white men going out with Asian women. If the American male ever figures out how supportive Asian women are in general, white women in America will have to make do with drunks and old men.)

Actually, the acting is splendid throughout. Simon Yam is his usual competent self as a businessman who owns the local cotton factory. Ikeuchi Hiroyuki is a class act as General Miura. Shibuya Tenma is amusingly sadistic as Colonel Sato. Really, there aren’t any performances I would fault, but the biggest surprise is Gordon Lam, as Captain Li Zhao. In the beginning of the film, he’s a comic blowhard. Later, he becomes a collaborator of the Japanese. Usually, Gordon Lam is fairly shallow as an actor, but here he has a lot of depth. Then again, maybe the problem isn’t his acting, maybe he just wasn’t getting good roles. Come to think of it, that might well be the case considering how awful most of the scripts for modern Hong Kong movies are.

And the fighting! Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Shibuya Tenma, Donnie Yen, Fan Siu-Wong, and Xing Yu all kick ass, in large part thanks to inventive and hard-hitting fight choreography from Sammo Hung and Tony Leung Siu-Hung. The wire work accentuates the talent of the martial artists instead of replacing it, which is exactly as it should be. One thing I especially like about the martial arts is how the fighting style of the characters reflected their souls. For example, Ip Man’s fighting style is contemplative and graceful, almost feminine.

Ip Man is hugely satisfying on practically every level: as a period evocation of mid-40s China, as a drama, and as a martial arts epic. Even the comic and romantic elements work! Ip Man is easily one of the best movies to come out of Hong Kong since the Golden Age (1985-1995).