After Ip Man protected the dignity of Chinese during the Sino-Japanese war, Ip Man relocates to Hong Kong with his family.
Life is difficult for Ip Man and his family. The chief editor of a newspaper decides to lend Ip Man a place where he can teach Wing Chun and earn a living. However Ip Man could not gather any students as Wing Chun is unheard of in Hong Kong. One day, a young man, Wong Leung (Huang Xiaoming) challenges Ip Man and is defeated easily. Impressed, Wong gathers his friends to learn Wing Chun from Ip Man.
One day, Wong is challenged by a thug, Cheng Wai Kei (To Yue-Hong), the leader of the gang who practices Hung Fist. Defeated by Wong, Cheng plots revenge. Ip Man has to intervene to protect Wong, in the event; he meets Master Hung (Sammo Hung) who accused Ip Man of violating the rules of the Wushu society. In order to teach Wushu in Hong Kong, Ip Man has to accept challenges from masters of different Wushu sect. Ip Man accepts and defeats all masters except Master Hung whose skills are on par with Ip Man. Thus Ip Man gains the respect of Master Hung.
Master Hung gives Ip Man a ticket to watch “King of Boxing Competition” featuring a cold-blooded boxer, Twister who eventually wins the title. Cheng and a few others then perform a Wushu sequence as entertainment. Twister thinks that it is a joke and beats up the performers on stage. This act angers Ip Man the other Wushu masters present, resulting in a fight between Twister and them.Ip Man puts up a good fight, showing his indomitable spirit. The westerners touched by his spirit, start to cheer for Ip Man. At last Ip Man uses Master Hung’s famous move to beat Twister, claiming back the lost dignity for the Chinese.
Wing Chun then becomes more popular in Hong Kong. In 1956, Wong brings a young man to become Ip Man’s student. This student named Bruce Lee later becomes the famous action movie star of his era.
Alright, so the Crew was down again at the cinemas checking out Yen’s new Kung Fu flick Ip Man 2, and to be frank, it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. It stunned and bewildered us altogether with its portrayal of the indomitable Chinese spirit and their will against racism.We can say one thing though, Donnie Yen is amazing and he is to Ip Man what Jet Li is to Wong Fei-Hung, what RDJ is to Iron Man and what Arnie is to the Terminator.
He was calm and composed, firm and fiery, steady and startling all at the same time. The character spends a lot of time trying to mend fences and resolve things diplomatically before resorting to his fists of fury. The film wastes no time in getting to the action and within just a few minutes Yen clashes first with Huang Xiaoming, then rival students and street punks, culminating in a fantastic 20-on-1 melee at an abandoned fish market that brings him face-to-face with Hung. Though we could have wished more for the fight scene to show how incredibly, ridiculously, preposterously amazing Ip’s Wing Chun skills are, it suffice to know Ip could actually take on an army of parang-wielding mad men.
Simon Yam's Quan and Fan Siu Wong's Jin are both completely wasted, given nothing to do and in Fan's case not even the opportunity to fight. We thought they should have added a scene for Fan, to ignite his latent anger against being oppressed or to help Ip, not that the man need much help anyway.
Kudos too to action director Sammo Hung- this sequence would not be as thrilling were it not for the expert choreography and direction of Sammo whose camera direction perfectly mirrors the fluidity of Donnie Yen's action and ensures that the audience is never lost in the thick of the action. It was exhilarating to see how the characters fight out and how Ip walks away unscathed for most of the earlier fisticuffs.
What the Japanese did to Ip in the first film, the British were imitating in this film. Not the best of plot, but one that suited the era and spirit of this martial art flick. Yen was a stoic, composed and incredibly adept Wing Chun Grandmaster that really showed how Wing Chun teaches not only the fists, but the mind and intellect of a human psyche. It teaches values like respect, honour, determination, glory, national pride, love and justice in the flurry of punches and dramatic fight scenes littered throughout the movie.
Thankfully, director Wilson Yip's polished execution and Sammo Hung's outstanding action direction delivers a spectacularly rousing showdown between Ip Man and Twister- in fact more so than the finale between Ip Man and General Miura in the original. Never have the Crew seen one man take so many hits from Ip and still be able to walk, at least till the last bit, where Ip totally destroys the arrogant boxer repeatedly in the noggin’.
Simon Yam's Quan and Fan Siu Wong's Jin are both completely wasted, given nothing to do and in Fan's case not even the opportunity to fight. We thought they should have added a scene for Fan, to ignite his latent anger against being oppressed or to help Ip, not that the man need much help anyway.
Kudos too to action director Sammo Hung- this sequence would not be as thrilling were it not for the expert choreography and direction of Sammo whose camera direction perfectly mirrors the fluidity of Donnie Yen's action and ensures that the audience is never lost in the thick of the action. It was exhilarating to see how the characters fight out and how Ip walks away unscathed for most of the earlier fisticuffs.
What the Japanese did to Ip in the first film, the British were imitating in this film. Not the best of plot, but one that suited the era and spirit of this martial art flick. Yen was a stoic, composed and incredibly adept Wing Chun Grandmaster that really showed how Wing Chun teaches not only the fists, but the mind and intellect of a human psyche. It teaches values like respect, honour, determination, glory, national pride, love and justice in the flurry of punches and dramatic fight scenes littered throughout the movie.
Thankfully, director Wilson Yip's polished execution and Sammo Hung's outstanding action direction delivers a spectacularly rousing showdown between Ip Man and Twister- in fact more so than the finale between Ip Man and General Miura in the original. Never have the Crew seen one man take so many hits from Ip and still be able to walk, at least till the last bit, where Ip totally destroys the arrogant boxer repeatedly in the noggin’.
In the same way, Yen continues to embody the character of Ip Man so thoroughly that it's hard to imagine another actor in the role. Maybe Robert DJ from Iron Man can come close, but with the use of pulse cannons and extra-reinforced armour platings, there will be much more gore than martial art skills involved.
Each fight gains more importance and urgency than the one that came before it, while the choreography and settings match this by becoming more elaborate and imaginative as the grand finale, the ultimate clash between Eastern and Western fighting styles nears.
It was an impressive show of fighting choreography and ultimate acts of pitting skills against brute strength. Ip Man 2 was a stunner and a great film to watch, thrilling the sense, making anyone proud of their own race.
What the Crew saw was not how the Chinese overcame the British unruly aggression, but how a race’s fortitude and determination stands challenged under duress and direct racism. The fighting spirit and national pride for their country’s pride and the honour of every Chinese men was a raw and appealing display in this film.
Peace.
Each fight gains more importance and urgency than the one that came before it, while the choreography and settings match this by becoming more elaborate and imaginative as the grand finale, the ultimate clash between Eastern and Western fighting styles nears.
It was an impressive show of fighting choreography and ultimate acts of pitting skills against brute strength. Ip Man 2 was a stunner and a great film to watch, thrilling the sense, making anyone proud of their own race.
What the Crew saw was not how the Chinese overcame the British unruly aggression, but how a race’s fortitude and determination stands challenged under duress and direct racism. The fighting spirit and national pride for their country’s pride and the honour of every Chinese men was a raw and appealing display in this film.
So take some time and catch this awesome movie. There we said it.
A marvel to watch, a joy to review, and a pleasure to understand. Go ahead and enjoy it!
Peace.
Ratings: 4/5
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