Review of Ip Man 3 (2015) by Henry A — 25 Jan 2016
The last of the trilogy. Starring Donnie Yen as Ip Man (again) and Mike Tyson as his debut on action film. The film was full of action sequences - many of them were showing of the power of Kung Fu. But more than that, it was just a crappy film.
The films lacked the narrative side. After I saw this film, I thought I was watching two movies - the first half and the other half of the film. I can't decide which theme the filmmakers were trying to tell us. The movie started with the struggle of fighting gangsters, but ended with the theme of love. I really don't get it. The 2 big themes didn't match each other - or you can say the filmmakers didn't mix it right.
Mike Tyson finally showed his punches in movies. When I first saw his punches (in the movie), I was amazed. He was so strong, and the exposition was right for him. But, the filmmakers didn't use his characters with such passion, which made Tyson's character just forgotten for the last half of the movie. Such a waste of good opportunity.
The film also featured Bruce Lee. When I first watch this trailer, I thought this film would be showing us the relationship between Ip Man and Bruce Lee, but it was just for the gigs - no such thing happened (alright maybe 3-5 minutes of it, but that's just that). It would be great if the filmmakers explored this relationship. We would watch it with a better theme and many inspirational moments. I mean look at Rocky - from zero to hero!
I think this is a good Chinese-Martial-Art movie. Look at their history of tradition in the world of cinema. China/Hong Kong have a good reputation on martial art films. Even Hollywood, sometimes, tries to copy the sense of thrill on martial art films - I'm looking at you The Matrix Trilogy!
The verdict:
You better watch this movie for the action and not for the story!
This review of Ip Man 3 (2015) was written by Henry A on 25 Jan 2016.
Ip Man 3 has generally received positive reviews.
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