I’d probably consider seeing the first Ip Man movie in a packed, positively buzzing theatre back in 2008 one of the most memorable movie-going experiences of my adult life so far. For martial arts fans, Wilson Yip’s film, a historical biopic about the Wing Chun pioneer of the title – Bruce Lee’s mentor – was a slam-dunk, showcasing Donnie Yen’s bone-crunching talents at their peak, and Sammo Hung’s choreography at its most breathtaking.
A flurry of Ip Man-related projects followed, but none matched the rousing heights of the original. Bringing Yen back for a third time was all but a given, and though it’s as imperfect as the others, Ip Man 3 contains enough flashes of gracefully brutal, crisply-lensed action to make it an enjoyable, suitably reflective closure to the franchise.
This chapter, set in the late ‘50s, finds the Grandmaster in pensive mood, grappling with smaller, more personal stakes: his son’s school being targeted by local hoodlums, his wife’s battle with cancer, his reputation as the chief practitioner of Wing Chun. Edmond Wong’s script falters in its attempts to cohesively thread these together, but ultimately boils down to setting the stage for Yen to go face-to-face with two new formidable opponents: Mike Tyson, whose stunt casting as a property developer (!) is hilarious, and Jin Zhang, impressively fierce as a rickshaw puller who makes a stab at Ip Man’s title.
If you can get around the saggy spots, the fights – choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping this time around – should keep anyone looking for more of series’ signature rapid-fire, limp-snapping kung fu glued to the screen.
‘Ip Man 3’ Movie Times | 3D Movie Times
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