Review of Ip Man (2008) by William M — 11 Oct 2016

Ip Man is a very loose biography of the life of Ip Man (or Yip Man) the Weng Chun Kung Fu master who trained Bruce Lee. The film takes place mostly during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45). This war was already raging when WWII went into full effect in 1939-45. Research the Rape of Nanking to get an idea of how horrific this war was. Back to the movie however.

This is a Chinese film, in Chinese and Japanese. Donâ(TM)t worry it is subtitled and amazingly in proper English. The film tells of Ip Manâ(TM)s life in his 40â(TM)s. Ip Man appears to be an affluent, well to do, martial arts expert. Ip is well respected in the community, Foshan, as a man, and for his unmatched skill in Kung Fu. Despite this he refuses to teach, and does not work. He instead spends all his time training and with his family. When the Japanese invade his home town, Ip Man and his family are forced from their home become destitute. When the Japanese General occupying the town begins offering food to those who can beat his troops in martial arts fighting, Ip Man steps up to the plate. Along the way, he gives the Chinese hope and pride. Now when I said the movie is loosely based on his life I mean it was very loosely based. From what I can tell he was actually a police officer, both before and after the war, and eventually a heroin addict. In fact he apparently wasnâ(TM)t even living in Foshan during the war.

The movie, while not historically accurate, is extremely well done. It was the winner of the Chinese version of the Oscars (Hong Kong Film Awards) for best picture and best action choreography; and was nominated in 9 other categories. For good reason too.

First, the fight choreography is phenomenal. It is fast, fun to watch, and really cool. There are a few cable-assisted moves, but nothing stupid and totally impossible like in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The cinematography is done very well, and even features some high speed video to show some of the impacts of the fighting. This is put to good effect in contrasting the high speed fighting prevalent in much of the movie. The lighting, set design, and locations were all done very well and accurately set the mood of each scene. The acting was adequate to the best of my knowledge. I have no ear for Chinese or Japanese, so my assessment is based upon inflection, tone and body language.

The story is interesting and entertaining. If you are a fan of Kung Fu movies, this one is sure not to disappoint. I give it 8 / 10.