Very good martial arts movie

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2011)

It's not an epic. So don't expect something like "Hero". It's not a complex tale so don't expect "Curse of the Golden Flower".
What it is is a very good biopic of Ip Man, arguably the best Wing Chun martial artist of his time. He is portrayed by Donnie Yen, a real life martial artist. His background in the sport along with the masterful choreography by Sammo Hung gives the fight scenes a lot of realism and a lot of style. Wires are used but kept to a minimum unlike the "wire-fu" epics that have over-saturated the market.
the contrast between Ip Man's style of Wu Shu and the northerners is subtle but still there. Ip Man's moves are definitely more graceful than the brute force of the northerners. The Japanese viewers may not like the film as it focuses the second half of the film on the atrocities committed by them during World War 2. So obviously, even the soldiers being depicted as "honorable" (such as General Miura) are still capable of despicable acts of violence and cruelty.
Ip Man is a period piece and even the film itself has a dated quality about it. The acting is superb with some exceptions. Simon Yam is almost un-recognizable as the factory owner. He was great. But Donnie Yen's stoic face and lack of range sometimes were weaknesses. the actress playing his wife wasn't given much to work with and hence she doesn't have much to show. Many of the Japanese characters were caricatures.
But overall it's a very entertaining martial arts movie that has some heart, some story and a lot of realistically choreographed fight scenes. Kudos to Sammo Hung for designing those and Donnie Yen for executing so brilliantly.