A Bona Fide Martial Arts Classic

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 2012)

Ip Man is a Hong Kong semi-biographical martial arts film very loosely based on the life of Yip Man, a grand master of the martial art Wing Chun and master of Bruce Lee. It focuses on events in Ip's life that supposedly took place in the city of Foshan during the Sino-Japanese War. It stars Donnie Yen in the title role together with Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Lam Ka-tung, Xing Yu and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi to play key supporting roles.was directed by Wilson Yip.
Behind every great man there lies a teacher, and this was certainly true of Bruce Lee, who claimed as his mentor a martial arts expert named Ip Man. A genius of Wushu, Ip Man grew up in a China nearly ripped to pieces by racial hatred, nationalistic strife, and warfare. He rose like a phoenix above these ashes, however, courtesy of his participation in matches against various Wushu masters and kung fu warriors and ultimately training martial arts icons such as Lee.
Wilson Yip has crafted a gripping, rousing, beautifully structured yarn, built around a calm but charismatic star performance by Donnie Yen and magnificent action sequences choreographed by the legendary Sammo Hung.At once beholden to the established conventions of the genre and delightfully subversive of them, it is one of the most exciting and refreshingly character-driven martial arts films in years.It is not only is it one of the most entertaining and exciting movies out of Hong Kong for many years but it is a bona fide martial arts classic.