Nationalistic Propaganda Flick

Rating: 6/10 (15 January 2016)

Interesting to see this to be the highest rated martial arts movie on IMDb, which I assume is on the strength of Donnie Yen's performance and the film's overall high production values. Sadly both are wasted on a simplistic good-vs-evil script, which has more in common with Rocky IV than my mental image of Yip Man's life.
The film strikes a similar sour note with me as did Zhang Yimou's Hero, instrumentalizing great film making to rouse nationalistic emotions. If this were a B movie i'd thoroughly enjoy it, but as a high budget blockbuster I'll hold it to higher standards. Ultimately this is a disservice to Yip Man's legacy as well.
Watch this for the martial arts, which are great, but for a more subtle depiction of Japan's occupation of China, look elsewhere.