Ip Man 2 Review
Information
This review will not contain any spoilers.
Where to Watch: The film is available on Netflix (US).
Runtime: 1hour 48 minutes
Language: Mandarin, or dubbed in English or “European Spanish” (subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese or Simplified Chinese.)
Starring: Donnie Yen, Xiaoming Huang, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
Director: Wilson Yip
Writer: Tai-lee Chan, Hiu-Yan Choi, Edmond Wong(screenplay)
Rating: R
Release date: 04/29/2010
Style: Action, Hong Kong Action, Foreign Films, Martial Arts.
For more information about filming and/or credits, please visit the movie’s IMDB page.
Ip Man Strikes Again! (Literally)
Ip Man 2 was the highly anticipated follow up to Donnie Yen’s Ip Man(you can check out the review for Ip Man here) following our hero from his time in China to his new life as a martial arts instructor in British Hong Kong. Just as a note, I am not reviewing this film as any kind of historical documentary. I don’t know very much about Ip Man (or Yip Man) as a historical figure, but I’m pretty confident this film was not meant to be historically accurate. I am reviewing it solely as a martial arts film, and not as a proper representation of its title character. That being said, this is a fantastic film, and watching it is certainly worth your time.
If you would like a historically oriented account of Ip Man, you should check out Jaredd Wilson’s episode on Ip Man on his Martial Thoughts podcast.
A Muti-Faced Enemy
This review will not give away any spoilers. That being said, the general plot flow of this film follows two main directions. The first portion focuses on Ip Man opening a new Wing Chun school in Hong Kong. His first challenge is to attract new students to his art. Once he overcomes that obstacle (not without some strife), he now has to deal with the cabal of other local martial arts schools and their “rules.” This leads to the second arc of drama. Once that challenge is met, the viewer is introduced to the wider strife between the Chinese citizens and their (at times) corrupt British overlords. This culminates in challenges between the British champion “Twister” (who of course is a racist antagonist) and a number of Chinese “boxing” masters, culminating with Ip Man.
Story Review 8.6/10
As a general rule of thumb, everyone knows that the original is better than the sequel. Honestly the first time I saw this film that was my thought too, and I dismissed it as a poor carbon copy of the original without the same level of tension between Empire and subject.
That being said upon my re-watching of the film, I really appreciated the different layers of the film between (initially) Ip man and the other local masters, and, eventually, the Chinese versus the corrupt British officer as personified by Twister, the racist British boxing champ. At the end of the day, while I see this film as similar to the original (in a lesser way), upon reflection, I see it as an independent film in its own right, telling its own story. When I view it this way, I actually appreciate it more, and was able to recognize its many layers, so would encourage anyone to watch it as a separate film from Ip Man that just happens to have some characters that we already know and love (and are happy to see again!)
Martial Arts Review 9.4/10
As an initial disclaimer, I am not a Wing Chung or even a Kung Fu practitioner and know very little about the style. So I apologize if I misstate something. Please feel free to let me know what I screwed up in the comments! OK, that aside, I love the fight scenes in Ip Man 2. Sammo Hung not only had a starring role in this film but also choreographed the martial arts sequences. And it shows! The fight scene between him and Donnie Yen on the table to determine if Ip Man is allowed to teach martial arts in Hong Kong is still one of my all-time favorites. While some of the fight scenes with Twister seem a bit awkward because of the boxing elements, I think they work well in the overall story of the film.
Conclusion 9/10
At the end of the day, Ip Man2 is a great film. The fight scenes are incredible, and Sammo Hung’s influence is clear and present. Donnie Yen, of course, turns in another incredible performance. While it may not have the fresh new ideas of the original, I think as a film in its own right it brings a lot to the table. The fights scenes are fantastic, and the story itself is engaging; it is interesting beyond filling a little bit of time between fight scenes! The character development is also worth a mention, especially for an action film.
What did you think? Did you like Ip Man 2? Hate it? Do you train in Kung Fu and have any thoughts that I might have missed? Let me know in the comments!
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Unfortunately, Darren Shahlavi, Twister, died in 2015. He had not been a main character is many things but he has a very exciting list of fights with other major names.