Great action, simple story

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2012)

I'd heard a lot about Ip Man before finally watching it, and I think I was a bit biased by expectations though I tried to watch it objectively.
I can understand why the movie was as popular as it was. It's a tale of a real-life hero and features incredible martial arts choreography. Wing Chun, a seemingly defense-oriented style of kungfu, is amazing to behold, and surprisingly, I don't recall ever seeing it on screen before this movie. The movie's two action choreographers - one of whom is Sammo Hung - took home the awards in that category in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The story, unfortunately, I found a bit too simple and bordering on hokey. Ip Man kicks butt, rallies the Chinese people, the end. I would've like to see some kind of background on him. He just simply exists and is a rich kungfu master with a wife and kid, or rather with a family that can be used against him to force him to fight. There's really not much else to his family. Or to him, for that matter.
Donnie Yen seems perfect for the role. He looks like a perfectly charming, non-threatening fellow, until you get him to fight and then you're on the floor with your nose bleeding the next second. He's also capable of looking as though in profound thought, even when there's nothing much to think about.
Watching brilliant kungfu thrills me as much as the next guy but I'd prefer to watch it either in an all-out action movie with a throwaway plot or as a masterpiece of direction with an engaging story to boot. Ip Man is the latter with a story that doesn't work for me, sadly. As such, I'm not too enthused about catching its sequel or unofficial prequel.