Legendary Film about A Martial Arts Legend.

Rating: 10/10 (3 July 2012)

This film deserves a 10/10 rating for it's realistic portrayal of the Japanese occupation of China. The mood and setting is exactly as it was during the 1930's in Foshan. Yip Man is seen in his home with his wife and son when patriarch of the Liu Fist Sect comes to visit him seeking a challenge. He says to Yip man that whatever the outcome of the contest between them, it would be a secret as to who won. Yip Man replies that he was just having lunch and asks his guest if he had dined. His guest replies no and so Yip Man invites him to lunch, after which they begin.
Yip Man takes his opponent apart and exposes his errors in defence. In the end the grateful master acknowledges his defeat to the highly skilled Yip Man. However unknown to them both someone has seen the match and blabs the result to the townsfolk.
Ip's reputation is further enhanced when he defeats an aggressive, rude, highly skilled Northern Chinese martial arts master, Jin Shanzhao, thus upholding the regional pride of fellow Southern stylists and others in Foshan.
The Japanese invasion in 1937 adversely affects the life of everyone in Foshan. Ip's house is claimed by the Japanese and used as their Foshan headquarters. Ip and his family lose their wealth and are forced to move into a decrepit house. Desperate to support his family, Ip accepts work as a coolie at a coal mine.
The Japanese General Miura, who is a Karate master, establishes an arena where Chinese martial artists compete with his military trainees. The Chinese earn a bag of rice for every match they win. Li Zhao, a former police officer and Ip's acquaintance, is now working as a translator for the Japanese and is making the offer to the martial artists working as coolies. Ip at first declines to participate in the matches. However, when his friend Lin goes missing, he agrees to take part in order to investigate. He is enraged when he sees a fellow Foshan master (Master Liu) mercilessly executed for picking up a bag of rice from a prior victory after giving up in a second match against three karatekas. He also comes to understand that Lin was killed in an earlier fight. Barely able to contain his rage, Ip demands a match with ten Karatekas at once. Despite having not practiced Wing Chun since the invasion began (in order to conserve what little food his family had to survive), he proceeds to mercilessly crush each of them with a brutal yet efficient barrage of his martial art mastery, showing barely any of the restraint he exhibited in previous engagements. His skill arouses the interest of Miura, who seeks to learn more about Ip and see him fight again.
Ip visits his friend Chow Ching-chuen, who owns and runs a cotton mill in Foshan. Chow tells Ip that a highway robbery gang led by Jin Shanzhao is harassing his workers and extorting money from them. Ip trains the workers in Wing Chun for self defence. Meanwhile, Miura grows impatient when Ip does not return to the arena and sends men to find Ip. These men harass Ip's family, and Ip incapacitates them. Ip and his family then go into hiding at Li Zhao's house. Meanwhile, the robbers return to the cotton mill to demand money. The workers fight back using the techniques that Ip taught them. Just then, Ip appears and defeats Jin Shanzhao, warning him never to harass the workers again.
The Japanese soldiers eventually find Ip at the cotton mill. Miura tells Ip that his life will be spared if agrees to instruct the Japanese soldiers in martial arts. Ip refuses and challenges Miura to a match, which Miura accepts, both because of his love for martial arts and because refusing the challenge would be a humiliation to the Japanese. The match between Ip and Miura is held in public in Foshan's square. At first, the two fighters seem equally matched, but Miura becomes overwhelmed and is unable to fend off Ip's attacks as he effortlessly uses him as a Wooden Dummy, inflicting a severe beating on him and clearly winning.
As the beaten general lies down after his defeat, Ip looks over to the crowd and hears the Chinese cheering him; within the crowd, he spots his wife and child with Chow. Just then, Miura's deputy Sato shoots Ip. This sparks a scuffle between the Chinese audience and the Japanese soldiers. During the scuffle, Li Zhao kills Sato with Sato's own gun. Ip is taken away amidst the chaos. It is revealed that he survives and escapes to Hong Kong with his family. There, Ip establishes a Wing Chun school, where his students come to include Bruce Lee.
Donnie Yen is superb in his portrayal as Ip Man. The rest of the cast puts in superb performances. Sammo Hung directs the excellent fight choreography. All in all director Wilson Yip does a great job.