Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

A movie based on the life of Master Ip Man, who's most well-known as the popularizer of Wing Chun style of kung fu and as the teacher of Bruce Lee. The movie follows his life in the years leading up to World War Two and his exploits during that conflict. The movie is notably anti-factual, but in an honest way. Director Wilson Yip has outright stated that he put the needs of a good story before historical accuracy. When it's done this blatantly, I cannot find any fault in it.The movie mixes martial arts with historical drama, and I do have to admit that the former of these two aspects works much better than the latter. As a period piece the film works okay. The costumes and locations are interesting, the cinematography is at times beautiful and although the script is clearly from the point of view of the Chinese, the Japanese are not depicted as outright monsters, like they sometimes are.But if we're all being honest here, it's martial arts side of things, which really elevates this movie above its peers. Donnie Yen has a deserved reputation as one of the best in the business, and this right here is one of his finest films. Add in the fact that the film had a lot of great background help, including Ip Man's own son, Ip Chun, working as a consultant, and you have one fine martial arts fest in your hands. The fight scenes in this film are gorgeous. Highly choreographed, beautifully shot, just all around beautiful to witness. And they're all so different from one another. You never feel like you're watching the same match twice.Ip Man is a great watch for all fans of the martial arts genre. Donnie Yen gives one of his finest efforts, both as a martial artist and as an actor. Sit back and enjoy a world where everyone is kung fu fighting.

I've never been a "Kung Fu movie fan". I can appreciate and respect martial artists, especially of the various Kung Fu schools, but as far as their on-screen portrayal... not so much.It wasn't until I started to develop an interest in Wing Chun, that all references pointed me to this film. Other than Ip Man, the real "character" in this movie is his fighting style, which is what the movie is all about.To digress briefly: Wing Chun is an extreme close-range Kung Fu style that is used as a defensive means to counter an opponent's attack. It was developed by a female Shaolin Monk, as a more streamlined version of their traditional Kung Fu. It's a style intended to give the advantage to a smaller, weaker opponent in a fight, by being as efficient and direct as possible and as it's history shows, works exceedingly well. It's also a more meditative fighting form that takes pride in its spiritual roots and relies on senses, and tactics, over strength and height. People often liken it to playing a game of Chess, first, and fighting secondary.I bring this all up because, Donnie Yen captures the essence of this style to near-perfection! Like the fighting style, Ip Man, the first open teacher of it, was the living embodiment. You can see in Yen's acting, the calm, peaceful, mindfulness that separates this fighting style from others. This also makes the scenes where he unleashes hell on his opponents, even more brutal and visceral than most other action movies are when they try to portray the same types of combat.The other bonus that I'm a sucker for, is the genre. I would reluctantly call this a "Kung Fu" movie, since I feel it is more of a period drama, than an action movie. The scenery, the story, the history and the drama are all things that get layered into this movie better than any others I've seen in this same genre, and even better than many mainstream, Hollywood movies.Watching this movie, I felt the same kind of underlying, tension and anxiety building that I saw while sitting through more well known movies like "Unforgiven", "The Patriot", "The Professional" and even to some degree "Master and Commander"; any movie where you follow a hero you know can beat the snot out of someone and are just waiting for them to open up a can of whoop-ass at the right moment after they get pushed to their limit.This is far from the traditional (cheesy), over-the-top, Kung Fu action flicks from the 70's and 80's. This one actually has charisma for the characters (especially the lead role by Yen) and a strong underlying story. It's production value is also top-notch and you'd be hard-pressed to find any more flaws in it than you would with a Hollywood release.And no... the subtitles do not detract from the movie in the least!

The action is jaw dropping. The film is beautiful. The protagonist is compelling. But this movie kinda reminded me of Rocky IV...except this time the Russians were the Japanese. So it was really exceptional Chinese propaganda, but it was still kinda Chinese propaganda. That said, if someone told me they were interested in a martial arts film, I would not hesitate to recommend.

This martial arts film is famous for its well-choreographed fight sequences. In a fight with ten Japanese samurai, the martial artist Donnie Yen displays his truly brilliant fighting ability. In particular, he punches the same person many times very fast in a extremely short period of time. It is called "chain punches", which is invented by Donnie Yen.