Ip Man (2008)

[lester1/2jr]

Wolverines!!!  IP man trashing occupier donkeys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g6jc_9OzhI                




This is the latest big hit  must see Kung Fu movie. It's all about Ip Man, sometimes known as Yip man and most famous for being the Wing Chun instructor of Mr. Bruce Lee. Lee himself eventually dismissed many aspects of Wing Chun in favor of a more western style, but still credited Ip man with providing his philosophical structure and basic sort of framework.

Ip man himself had an amazing story before all that and that was his beating up of many Japanese people who stupidly challenged him to fights during Japan's brutal occupation of China pre ww2. The story starts with Ip Man, the generally undisputed king of the local kung fu scene, having a good time modestly accepting various challenges, dealing with other teachers egos in a mayoral sort of way, and dealing with his annoying wifes curious lack of enthusiasm for his awesome kung fu. When the Japanese come the s**t hits the fan and it's rough waters ahead for Fo Shan.


You can tell they really took their time and got everythign right here. There's alot of fighting, but not so much that the story loses precedence. Nothing feels phoned in. Like the Shaolin Temple movies, it's not just about martial arts but national pride and whatnot. If you don't know much about all this stuff you will probably be like "what's the big deal" and it certainly isn't a "Iron Monkey" or "Crouching Tiger" type experience but maybe that's the point. There are not really any wire work scenes.  WIng chun is very compact and theres mainly alot of very close up shots of the intricate blocks and so forth. Not as epic as some of the more fantastical martial arts films and not alot in the way of cinematography but compelling all the same. The dubbing is pretty decent that's how I watched it.



4.25/5 required viewing for hardcore kung fu fans.

[Jim H]

Well, I should add Ip Man actually came out in 2008 - you're probably thinking of its sequel Ip Man 2, which came out this year.  Or maybe the unofficial prequel, The Legend is Born: IP Man also in 2010.

And I agree.  Excellent film.  Probably the best kung fu film of the past decade in fact.  My only complaint is I felt the ending was a little weak, just felt rushed and not as strong as the rest of the film.  The sequel is worth a watch, but not as good as the original (in any way, dramatically or fight sequence wise).  It's a 9/10 from me.

[lester1/2jr]

I knew it came out earlier but the wait for it at netflix was so long for some reason I forgot.

[3mnkids]

I tried watching this the other night on netflix but it was dubbed so I turned it off. I hate dubbed movies (unless they're bad movies like the machine girl then its funny)   

[Trevor]

Ip man himself had an amazing story before all that and that was his beating up of many Japanese people who stupidly challenged him to fights during Japan's brutal occupation of China pre ww2.

[lester1/2jr]

3mnkids- I normally do to but I thought they did a good job, plus it's a kung fu movie. If I didn't watch dubbed kung fu I never would have seen a single one.