Ip Man (2008)

Directed by Wilson Yip. Starring Donnie Yen, Gordon Lam, Fan Siu-wong, Xing Yu, Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Wong You-nam, Chen Zhihui, Tenma Shibuya, Calvin Cheng. [R]

Story of the real-life Ip Man, a kung fu grandmaster living in South China, is more of a martial arts comic book come to life than a biographical character study. Most of the action takes place amid Japanese occupation during the second World War, climaxing with a showdown between Ip (Yen) and a Japanese general (Ikeuchi) who has mastered karate. Yen has appreciable screen presence and the fight scenes are well-done, but it’s all very predictable and, to those without ingrained reverence to the man and the legend surrounding him, sometimes oversentimental; plus, dramatic interest is reduced by the realization that the hero is too skilled to ever be pushed even close to the brink of defeat in combat. Some may also find the relentless anti-Japanese sentiment hard to take. Fight choreography by Sammo Hung. Ip Man’s adventures continue across three sequels.

64/100