Ip man review
Ip Man, Bruce Lee's famous teacher stars in his very own movie
The story of Ip Man (2008) is loosely based on the actual events of Ip Man's life leading up to where he moves to Hong Kong and teaches young Jun Fan (Bruce Lee - though you don't see this begin). This takes place during the Japanese invasion of Foshan, a place filled with Kung Fu as a prominent part of life for many citizens. Given the circumstances, Foshan is a pretty dire place to live at the time. Ip Man (2008) takes you through when Ip Man is the top Grandmaster of martial arts in Foshan and is challenged by other Grandmasters from around Foshan, as well as Grandmasters from out of town and also by the Japanese soldiers.
In the midst of the invasion, many Foshan people are left to perform hard labour such as coal mining in order to survive. When the Japanese soldiers force Foshan martial artists to fight their soldiers for extra rice - Ip man, unwillingly, but for the sake of his family shows the Japanese soldiers how to fight, gaining the attention of a very strong Karate master, General Miura who himself challenges Ip man one on one. Later in the piece Ip man is also teaching many citizens Wing Chun in order to defend themselves from the ruthless soldiers. The movie illustrates really well the atmosphere and the struggle Ip man and the people of Foshan went through.
Getting to the important stuff - the fight scenes in Ip Man are fantastic; if you're a true fan of Wing Chun or you study it, you'll appreciate just how many of the moves are directly from Wing Chun. Sure - there are a few 'on wires' moves that make it just a little bit unbelievable but the majority of the moves are true Wing Chun Kung Fu. The realness of the combat techniques and true portrayal of the style, including the blood and grit of a good fight scene is something that seems to lack in a lot of contemporary martial arts movies, which this movie definitely has in abundance.
You'll also note the traditional 1 man against 10 - epic fight scene in this movie (1 at a time please...okay number 4, then 5 but only with nunchucks... Why can't they just attack at the same time again? sigh...) which is usually badly done and so unrealistic. However, with Sammo Hung directing the action and true Wing Chun being the focus of the moves, this is actually a really great scene and handled exceptionally. The acting is surprisingly good throughout the film, especially by Donnie Yen who plays Ip Man.
To summise our review of Ip Man (2008), the story - albeit a true story that could be easy to mess up, is portrayed better than expected. The action/fight scenes are definitely up to scratch. The acting, effects and cinematography are all great so i rate this movie an 8.5 /10. A must see for Wing Chun fans and practioners alike - or anyone that just enjoys a great martial arts flick.
