Ip Man 4: The Finale
Ip Man 4: The Finale is a 2019 martial arts film directed by Wilson Yip and produced by Raymond Wong. It is the fourth and final film in the "Ip Man" film series, which is loosely based on the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster of the same name, and features Donnie Yen in the title role. A co-production of Hong Kong and China, the film began production in April 2018 and ended in July of the same year. It was released on 20 December 2019. Plot. In 1964, Ip Man is diagnosed with  throat cancer due to his history of chronic smoking. After his rebellious son Ip Ching fights back against a bully and is subsequently expelled from school, Ip Man decides to travel to San Francisco in order to look for study opportunities. After Ching and his father get into a heated argument that ends with the older Ip angrily slapping his son in the face, he decides to entrust Ching to his friend, Fat Bo, and also promises to call every night to check on his son. Ip arrives in San Francisco, where his student Bruce Lee has upset the local  martial arts community by opening a kung fu school, teaching non-Chinese people martial arts, and writing an English-language book on martial arts. He discovers from his reporter friend Liang Gen that, because he is a foreigner, a referral letter from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association is needed to enroll Ching into an American school. Tai Chi master Wan Zhong-hua, the Association's president, refuses to write the letter as Ip is unbothered by Lee's actions, whereas the other grandmasters display open contempt. After a brief confrontation with Wan, resulting in a broken tabletop, Ip leaves. While  leaving the school after a meeting with the principal, Ip sees upon Wan's teenage daughter, Yonah, undergoing a racist attack from a rival cheerleader, Becky, and her male friends. Yonah fights back which results in Becky accidentally cutting herself on a pair of scissors. She is ultimately outnumbered, and Ip steps in to rescue her. He escorts Yonah home, where Wan is upset that she gets into a fight. Ip steps in by telling Wan that Yonah wasn't wrong to defend herself. Wan then explains to Ip that, because he's a foreigner, he doesn't understand that  the whites in his country love harassing Chinese. He isn't opened to the latter's suggestion to speak up for the rights of Chinese Americans who then tells his daughter that she's able to make America a better place for her ethnicity and leaves. Just before Ip does so, Wan blames him for using his daughter merely to get the letter and challenges him to a fight for it. The duel is interrupted by an earthquake, and Wan tells Ip they will finish their brawl at the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival. Ip refuses, explaining that he merely accompanied  Yonah home for her own safety, and leaves. Meanwhile, Becky lies to her parents, claiming that she had been attacked by Yonah. Her father, Andrew Walters, an officer of the INS, is pressured by his wife into holding the Association responsible and deporting all illegal immigrants associated with them. Elsewhere in the city, Hartman Wu, a Staff Sergeant in the United States Marines and student of Lee, attempts to convince Barton Geddes, the Gunnery Sergeant on his base, to incorporate Chinese martial arts into their hand-to-hand combat training especially Wing Chun as it's very useful in close  quarters. Geddes, an openly racist man, seemingly proves the Marines' current karate program superior by having Hartman fight the Marines' karate instructor, Colin Frater with Colin easily beating Hartman. Hartman later manages to convince the unit's commanding officer of kung fu's potential use in the program, and is permitted to film the Mid-Autumn Festival happening at Chinatown for research purposes, infuriating Geddes. Geddes instructs Frater to challenge the grandmasters at the Mid-Autumn Festival. Frater proves his strength by easily defeating 3 of the grandmasters until Ip intervenes and beats him badly, hospitalizing him. Meanwhile, Wan, who  was supposed to be present at the festival, is arrested by the INS. Upon seeing Frater in the hospital, Geddes barges into the CBA to find out where Wan is, and uses his strength and karate prowess to brutally and easily defeat all the grandmasters present. He then threatens Walters into releasing Wan into Marine custody before bringing Wan into the camp to fight him. Due to a tip-off by Billy, a subordinate of Walters and another student of Lee, Ip and Gen help the Association evacuate by the time the INS starts to conduct its raid. Lee provides  refuge for the Association, earning their respect. Wan and Geddes arrive at the camp and fight there. At first, Wan is able to match all of Geddes' blows; but is eventually overwhelmed and seriously injured after one of his legs is badly damaged. Wan is then taken to the hospital and an emotional Ip reveals to Fat Bo that he has cancer. Fat Bo finally snaps and angrily tells Ip's son to talk to his father over the phone, after many previous refusals by the younger Ip. The older Ip admits to his son it was wrong of him  to angrily slap him during their argument. He apologizes to Ching for doing that and promises to teach his son kung fu when he defeats Geddes and returns. Hartman brings Ip to the Marines', and he ultimately defeats the Gunnery Sergeant after a long and savage fight. Wan prepares the referral letter for Ip, but Ip turns it down, having decided against moving to America. Ip returns to Hong Kong and accepts the fact that Ching likes martial arts. A weary but determined Ip instructs his son to film him as he demonstrates Wing Chun on a wooden dummy. An  epilogue shows Lee paying respect to Ip at his funeral. A closing onscreen text states that Ip succumbs to his cancer in 1972 at the age of 79 and more text reveals that the Marines officially incorporated Chinese martial arts into their training by inviting Chinese martial artists to come to the base starting in 2001. Cast. In addition, several actors appear in cameos as characters from the previous films in a flashback sequence via archive footage, including Lynn Hung as Cheung Wing-sing (), Ip Man's deceased wife; Gordon Lam as Li Chiu (), a police officer from Foshan; Huang  Xiaoming as Wong Leung (), Ip Man's first student; Sammo Hung as Hung Chun-nam (), an asthmatic Hung Ga master; Mike Tyson as Frank, an American property developer; Sarut Khanwilai as Suchart, a Thai Boxer; Zhang Jin as Cheung Tin-chi (), a Wing Chun master who was defeated by Ip Man in a duel; Darren Shahlavi as Taylor "The Twister" Miller, an English boxing champion who was defeated by Ip Man; and Simon Yam as Chow Ching-chuen (), Ip Man's old friend. Production. On 30 September 2016, Donnie Yen (who portrayed the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in three  films) announced that he and series director Wilson Yip would return for the fourth film in the series. Writer Edmond Wong also returned. Producer Raymond Wong said he paid Yen "a hefty amount of money" to return for the fourth film. Principal photography began in April 2018, and ended that July. Filming locations included China, Pensby High School, Crosby Beach and Preston, Lancashire. In September 2019, Donnie Yen said "Ip Man 4" would be the last film in the series. Release. "Ip Man 4: The Finale" was released on December 20, 2019. The film had a limited release on December  25, 2019, in the United States distributed by Well Go USA. It was released by CMC Pictures in Australia and New Zealand on 20 December 2019. Reception. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that of critics have given the film a positive review based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads, "Packed with action and featuring some of Donnie Yen's finest fighting, "Ip Man 4: The Finale" serves as a satisfying rebound – and fitting finale – for the franchise." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100 based  on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." According to the Malaysian newspaper "The Star", the movie was the highest grossing Chinese film of all time in the country while according to Shine.cn, the movie was the third highest grossing Chinese film in North America in five years. As of March 2020, the film has grossed over $239 million worldwide, Taiwan box office is NT$185 million (US6.15 million), As of Jan 5, Singapore box office is US$6.74, Malaysia box office over RM 36 million (US8.6 million), making over $197.2 million in Mainland China. Controversy. During the 2019 Hong  Kong protests, protesters urged a boycott of the film, citing the pro-Beijing stances of actors Donnie Yen and Danny Chan and producer Raymond Wong. Protesters actively spoiled the film on social media in both English and Chinese.