Ip Man (Yip Man)

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Ip Man (Yip Man)

91% Liked It
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Ip Man (Yip Man)

Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan, Ka Tung Lam, Yu Xing

A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun.

Id: 10990052

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Ip Man (Yip Man) Recent Reviews
  • mrpopcorn
    May 20, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "The celebrated Kung Fu master of Bruce Lee."

    A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun.

    REVIEW

    Excellent directio...( read more)n, photography and set design enliven this account of Wing Chun instructor Yip Man's life before he moved to Hong Kong. Every Wing Chun instructor today tries to make a lineage connection to Yip Man to legitimize their teaching so he is a very important figure in Kung Fu. Donnie Yen portrays the master with intense reserve and is possibly the best acting in his career. It surprised me for sure.

    The story line of this film is invented as historical accounts show Yip Man to have been a police officer in the time frame this film covers, not staying at home and only practicing kung fu as depicted here. Also the film claims that he refused to teach anybody but that is also not true. He left for Hong Kong a few years after WW2 not in the middle of it as this film presents. The plot with the Japanese army seems invented although they did ask him to teach the troops which he refused.

    However the film muddies up the historical record, that is not to say it isn't a great film. Sammo Hung's choreography is exceptional and a throwback to his great kung fu films of the early 1980's. The martial arts are done with great respect to traditional styles although some wire work is used to assist the actors with the difficult acrobatic moves. No flying across the room in this film.

    Although the ending is a little abrupt, this is one kung fu film that can be recommended to people who don't like these films. Highly recommended.
  • KhrisP
    May 13, 2009
    KhrisP
    Another martial arts epic for the ages, though this time Donnie Yen takes the lead, and deservingly so. Ip Man is a great movie, though not 100% accurate, but enjoyable and heartfelt as it tells the story of one of China's most revered Masters who later creates one of the world's...( read more) largest legacy of martial arts, which is Wing Chun.

    In the tradition of the Jet Li epics such as Once Upon a Tiime in China and Fearless, I guess this stands out more because of Donnie Yen's performance, which he took literally to heart and soul, as if he embodied the spirit of the man himself. With veteran Simon Yam and Sammo Hung as Action choreographer, how can this not be a great kung fu movie??

    Anyways, in 1937-1945, China was invaded by Japan. Ip Man and his world was thrown into chaos, though he tried to make the best of it, he realised that his peaceful life and the solidarity that he hoped for himself and his family is impossible, and thus uses his unique skills to fight back oppression and give hope to his people. In the end, in order to survive, he will eventually leave China for Hong Kong, and I guess the next movie will tell that story.


    Anyways, great cast and acting, this is a serious film though it has its moments. The music was undoubtledy a throwback to the traditional chinese kung fu music, but it blended well... the setting and cinematography was right, though it surely was no Hero or House of Flying Daggers, but then again, this is based on a true story. XD


    Anyways, this a really great film on many levels on my opinion, not just the action. Probably because they had Ip Man's descendants help work on creating that authentic feel to the movie.

    Two thumbs up.
  • kiriyamakazou
    February 11, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    A fantastic martial arts film that puts it's genre ahead of the historical facts. This isn't a bad thing, as it produces one of the best Kung Fu films of recent memory. The first half is an introduction to Ip Man. It's fairly lighthearted and has some great lines. The son on his ...( read more)tricycle riding round the house is a particularly funny moment. There are some great fights which are a lot of fun to watch. The choreography is fluent and not so unrealistic. The second half throws Ip Man into more serious territory as he and his family lose their home and must ration their food. It becomes more of a "hurrah" for China film but tells it through one man. Again some epic fights that, unlike the first half, carry emotional weight. It's a solid piece of film making and fun Kung Fu story telling.
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    January 12, 2009
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Donnie Yen beating the crap out of a bunch of people, that's all you need to know. Pedestrian but workable story, good suporting cast. Great coreographies by Sammo. Nice to see Siu-Wong Fan working in something these days.
  • habitualdamnation
    December 21, 2008
    habitualdamnation
    Beatin ppl to a pulp - Donnie Yen's forte. All credit for keepin his shirt on this time! Simple story. The Lynn Hung girl was wasted, though.
  • azzurray17
    December 25, 2009
    azzurray17
    another martial arts from China. I think Wing Chun has a similar technique like Jujutsu that I learned
  • rahirimarsh1
    December 24, 2009
    rahirimarsh1
    Ip Man (Yip Man) A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun. Ip Man is a chinese martial art master who teaches the art of Wing Chun in the 40s, he was Rich and Wealthy. As the war broke out in Europe in 193...( read more)9 slowly but surely the war will reach the Eastern side. Finally the Second Sino-Japanese War on July 7, 1937 broke out and Eastern China by 1941 was under the Japanese Empire. Ip Man now struggling to feed his family and living in poor conditions still remained positive. As he found his friends entering a fighting tournament to win rice he decides to enter, as he watched his friend shot dead in front of him, he entered the arena, furious as he was, he challenged 10 Japanese fighters and also challenges the General.
    Must see 5.0 Stars
  • SpunkyJamez
    December 20, 2009
    SpunkyJamez
    Wilson Yip's previous films have all been pretty average. I can say that this film is beyond average and it is definitely his greatest movie. Yip has really good material to work with, and he's still got Donnie Yen to be the lead actor. However, instead of Donnie choreographing t...( read more)he martial arts sequences, it's Sammo Hung who will be choreographing these fights.

    The film is set in the 1930s in Foshan. Foshan is famous for it's kung fu and has recently opened three dojos. Wing Chun master Ip Man (Donnie Yen) is the most skilled fighter in Foshan, but he keeps a low profile. His friend Qing Quan (Simon Yam) is Ip Man's best friend and plans to open a cotton business. Ip Man loans him some money and tells him to take his time to pay him back. One day, a martial artist from the North called Jin Shanzhao (Fan Siu Wong) arrives in Foshan and challenges all three of the dojo masters to a fight. He defeats them all and claims himself as the best. But when he finds out that Ip Man is the best in Foshan, he fights with him. Ip Man easily defeats him, and the whole town thinks of him as a hero. However, in 1937, the Japanese invaded China. Everyone in Foshan is affected and Ip Man's house is taken away from him by the Japanese, and they use it as their Foshan headquarters. He loses his wealth and his forced to live in a shabby little house. He gets a job as a coolie at a coal mine. The Japanese go over to the coal mine one day with an offer. The Japanese general Miura (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi) will give a bag of rice to a Chinese martial artist to defeats one of his Japanese trainees in a fight. Ip Man refuses, but he accepts the second time they come back. He witnesses the killing of one of the Chinese, and then is chooses to fight ten Japanese. He defeats them, which grabs the attention of Miura. Wilson Yip doesn't usually get good plots to use. The scripts he wrote himself aren't that good. I liked this script though. I don't even know if this is what happened to the real Ip Man back then in the 30s, but it's still a really well written script. The characters are what makes it special. There's no way you can not like Ip Man because he is such a likeable character. He is so kind and he respects people so much. Other characters including Miura were very interesing. The dialogue was pretty epic, some of the lines were really epic.

    Donnie Yen is such a good actor, and he throws himself into the role of Ip Man with gusto. Hiroyuki Ikeuchi was badass as Miura. Simon Yam was also good. Lynn Hung was a bit over the top as Ip Man's wife Wing Cheng.

    The film has some wonderful visuals. The cinematography works really well in this because they use different lighting and colours to reflect on the mood of the film. They used a lot of dark and pale colours when the Japanese were killing Chinese, and a lot of bright lighting during a happy moment. The music was used well. i loved some of the songs in this, so EPIC.

    We can't forget the martial arts in this. Sammo Hung may not work as an actor for me, but I love his choreography. He's choreographed these fight scenes fantastically, and they are filmed very well by Wilson Yip. Not only that, they've got great martial artists to work with. Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi and Fan Siu Wong were all great fighters in this. The epic finale at the end is one of the best fight scenes I've ever seen.

    Wilson Yip's best! It's about Bruce Lee's master, and it's great to see what he was like in this film. I think it's been really nicely done. I look forward to the sequel. Hope it's as good as this one. Highly Recommended.
  • eryri
    December 20, 2009
    eryri
    What a fantastic movie this was with Donnie Yen on top form as the martial arts master of Wing Chun - Yip Man. This is the guy that eventually trained Bruce Lee. The incredible fight choreography is a joy to watch and is absolutely breathtaking. Has to be one of the best martial ...( read more)arts movies I've had the pleasure to see.
  • monkeyspoon2
    December 12, 2009
    monkeyspoon2
    Not entirely accurate but a great film and the essence of wing chun can be seen amongst all the (necessary) film-friendly choreography. I hear there'll be sequels and I'm interesting in seeing the Hong Kong Ip Man.
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