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Ip Man 2 review

Mon, 03 May 2010 2:11p.m.

Donnie Yen in Ip Man 2

Reviewed by Daniel Rutledge

Ip Man came out in 2008 and absolutely blew me away. It’s up there with my favourite Kung Fu movies Drunken Master, Fist of Legend and Enter the Dragon. Donnie Yen as the Wing Chun master Yip Man was amazing to watch on screen, kicking serious ass with astonishing, brutal moves in a classic kung fu tale of good overcoming dreadful evil.

In the sequel Ip Man 2 we’re once again lucky enough to witness Donnie in the role of Yip Man, Bruce Lee’s teacher. It’s set in 1950 and Yip Man has fled mainland China, setting up a new Wing Chun school in Hong Kong. This doesn’t go down well with Hung Chun Nam (Sammo Hung), master at a rival kung fu school and leader of a league which includes all of Hong Kong’s Kung Fu schools.

It’s not long before a sensational fight erupts at a fish market, forcing Yip Man to battle more than 20 opponents at once. It’s a crazy scene filled with Donnie’s trademark lightning-quick moves, but it also shows off his versatility as he uses wood crates, poles and whatever else is lying about to fend off opponents. It ends with him using duel knives in the classic Wing Chun style.

This fight leads to more friction between Yip Man and Hung Chun Nam, culminating in the film’s centrepiece, a stunning action sequence set in the middle of a restaurant. To be accepted as a Kung Fu teacher in Hong Kong, Yip Man has to defeat all of the existing kung fu teachers, one after the other, all on top of a fairly small round table. This ends with an exhilarating match between Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen’s characters, and it’s a real joy to see two of the genre’s greats go at it.

The final fight is against a surly, cartoonishly ignorant British boxer named Twister. How ridiculous he and the other Westerners are portrayed may annoy some viewers, but long-time fans of Kung Fu movies will be accepting of this familiar over-the-top silliness. Wing Chun versus Western boxing may not sound as cool as Wing Chun versus karate or Hung Ga, but the fight is brutal and thoroughly exciting to watch.

While there is no fight scene quite as ridiculously satisfying as the amazing match in the first film between Yip Man and ten karate black belts, Ip Man 2 is still a very worthy sequel. The martial arts are of the highest calibre, captured brilliantly on film, and the storyline manages to be very engaging while still telling the (mostly) true story of Yip Man.

Highly recommended - four stars.

Ip Man 2
:: Director:Wilson Yip
:: Starring: Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Lynn Hung, Simon Yam, Huang Xiaoming
:: Running Time: 110 mins
:: Rating: R16 - Contains Violence
:: Release Date: April 29, 2010
:: Trailer: View Ip Man 2 Trailer

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14 Dec 2010 10:06a.m.

ip man wrote:

So is the part when Ip man fights the boxer based on true events? PLEASE I AM DESPERATE FOR AN ANSWER

14 Jul 2010 11:31a.m.

Ah Choy Wang wrote:

To Miffed: So you've been living in China for a while and you think you know all about Chinese huh? You called us ignorant then why bother to live among ignorant people unless you're one yourself?

01 Jul 2010 10:58p.m.

Miffed wrote:

Personal neither movie did it for me. They were far from accurate, either in fighting or in history. I live in China, and have for a long time, and I must say, it didn't do it for me. The whole sterotype of one man taking on and beating 10 or more is absurd to the point of impossibility. Firstly, he did not beat 10, he beat 1 man, each attacking him separately. That is not how a gang fights, they charge you all at once. Being someone who specializes in fighting multiple foes the way he did it would not ever work. Once you are surrounded, game over. Yet he beats them anyway, because they attack separately? Uh huh. The second move was even worse, and the whole demonization of foreigners being blown off as typical and something not to fuss about annoys me even more. It is this kind of attitude that fosters the acceptability of hatred for foreigners, and movies like this that create it. We are no demons, devils, or so ignorant as this movie portrays. The truth is in my experience the China are far, far more ignorant today of the rest of the world, imagine how ignorant they were back then? Yet they are portrayed as more wise and worldly? Gimmie a break. In reality Ip man was not nearly this lethal a fighter. Sorry to mess with people legend of this fellow, but being the teacher of Bruce Lee doesn't make you Bruce Lee. Ip man was not all that.

20 May 2010 03:52a.m.

Sylvester Goh wrote:

And talking about a "Classic fight", well, I still prefer the fighting scene between Donnie Yen and Wu Jing in SPL. No CGI computer graphics were used at all!

20 May 2010 03:48a.m.

Sylvester Goh wrote:

It's an old fashioned Chinese kungfu story line, Chinese got bullied by foreigners and eventually Chinese Martial Arts was used to defeat the bullies to restore the Chinese pride.

I am an ardent fan of Donnie Yen and I watched this film simply because of him. I did not like the storylines of both films but in Ip Man 2, I give credit to Samo Hung whose expressively fiery eyes, portraying as a stubborn old man who was eventually killed in a brutal manner during the match, well it was a touching scene that made up for the lousy storyline.

Part of the reason why this kungfu movie is selling well is because eversince the mid 90's, HK kungfu movies were junks, with unrealistic use of CGI and wires and actors with no martial arts background trying clownishly to act cool!

Ip Man films saw the real stuff in Donnie and Samo and many others like Fan Shao Huang and Huang Xiao Ming.

12 May 2010 02:24p.m.

Daniel Rutledge wrote:

Hi James Kelleher,

Thanks for your comments. You are completely wrong, however.

I am fairly well educated on Japanese actions in China during World War II. I've read Iris Chang's book 'The Rape of Nanking', watched a great documentary called 'Nanking' and watched the Chinese dramatical film 'City of Life and Death' among other studies. I'm yet to travel to Nanking personally but I will do, and I have been to Hiroshima and learnt a lot about the atrocity which was carried out on the Japanese also.

The first Ip Man film had Japanese soldiers as bad guys, based very, very loosely on the truth, something much more like the Nazis in Inglourious Basterds or Where Eagles Dare, rather than Schindler's List.

Ip Man 1 a classic kung style tale of good overcoming evil, using Japanese soldiers as bad guys, much like Fist of Legend or The Chinese Connection (both classic kung fu films - watch if you haven't already, they're great!). While part of the story of Yip Man's life is true, a lot of it is fiction, to make the movie more enjoyable.

I strongly recommend anyone who wants to seriously learn about Japanese World War II activities in China to not watch kung fu films to do so, just as someone wanting to learn about the holocaust should not watch Inglourious Basterds.

I apologise if my comments seemed insensitive, believe me I have a good knowledge how serious a matter Japanese atrocities in World War II are. But I refuse to accept that a largely fictional kung fu film that happens to have Japanese soldier characters in it should be treated differently to other action films with similar goals.

I hope you enjoyed the sequel anyway, which has Yip Man facing off against British occupiers rather than Japanese invaders.

Regards,
Daniel Rutledge

04 May 2010 11:42p.m.

mongo jerry wrote:

i wouldnt doubt ya jacksie boy leave um have it there lad throw on 3 pints their jacksie like a good lad

04 May 2010 04:36p.m.

Astevez wrote:

The first movie was the best martial arts movie ever for me, cant wait to see the 2nd one.

Last time I saw Yen was on, Shaolin Nights, or Shaolin Noon, he was a typical bad guy boss who everyone knew he'd lose, lol if he was Ip Man, Jackie Chan wouldnt have had a chance :)

04 May 2010 02:32p.m.

Steve wrote:

WelL... All I can say as a practitioner of wing chun I am extremely eager to see the follow up to what is to be considered the best kung fu film ever to depict this amazing art. Where or how did you get so lucky???/ what about us???? we are the ones who will be the most entertained or disappointed.

04 May 2010 01:33a.m.

James Kelleher wrote:

Hi Daniel,

Further to your comments on Ip Man while you were reviewing the sequel, One could hardly call it a "Classic kung fu tale of good overcoming dreadful evil" It seems to me you are missing the seriousness of the movie. Yes the movie is based on parts of the life of IP man and the movie scenes and choreography are great, but the director is also education us ignorant westerners about the evil of Imperialism. Approximately 300,000 Chinese people perished in Nanjing alone at the hands of the Japanese and almost as many in Fo Shan where IP was living.
I believe the movie deserves more serious and sensitive comments to allow for what happened under Japanese occupation. It's hardly a Jackie Chan tale of woe and adventure.
Was Schindlers List a classic tale also? My point is that this movie is a little more than just is a good kung fu movie. It deserves a little less of a juvenile remarks.

Many thanks,

James Kelleher