Ip Man 2 (2011)

Ip Man 2 is a huge step backwards from the original Ip Man. It lacks the compelling drama and the excellent characterizations that made the first film so successful. Instead, the filmmakers decided to focus a little more on the action and it shows as the fight scenes here are a lot more over-the-top and fantastical this time around. But is it a still a good movie? Let's take a look, shall we?First, let's take a look at the story. The story here... just isn't too great. I'm not going to do a plot synopsis since this is IMDb so you can easily find it on this site. Besides, you've probably already seen this film. But the story here is just too far-fetched and exaggerated. Sammo Hung's disciples in this movie feel like comic-book villains because they are so ridiculously violent and meat-headed, it's ridiculous! I know that you need villains in a kung-fu movie but these guys are just ridiculous! But surprisingly, they aren't the most over-the-top thing about this movie. There's an English boxer named Twister in this movie who is our main antagonist and he is so over-the-top, so cartoonish, it's downright racist! This is another one of those martial arts movies where it paints Chinese people as good and English people as scum. It's really sad how this movie goes back to all these kung-fu movie clichés that the first film avoided. There's also a billion sub-plots here that don't have any real purpose. Ip Man's wife is pregnant, Ip Man's business friend got shot in the head so he now has amnesia, Ip Man's teenager friend becomes a hit in writing newspaper, Ip Man's former enemy has now settled down and became a new man etc. These sub-plots are just random and they don't add much to the film so I have no fricking idea why they are even here.There are a few things I like about this story, though. I like how proactive Ip Man is now since he learned his lesson about using his martial arts for good in the first film. I like how Sammo Hung's character isn't one-dimensional. He's a bit of a jerk but we also see him slowly learn to accept Ip Man so there is something that's refreshing about his character. There's also a really cool Bruce Lee cameo at the end of the film.The acting is pretty good here with the exception of Darren Shahlavi as Twister who's just hamming up his performance to absurd degrees. Lastly, the fight choreography is probably the best of all the Ip Man films. Here, Ip Man is in a lot more danger than he was in the first film. He gets attacked by 20 people with knives, he fights Sammo Hung who is probably the most equal of all his opponents, and he fights Twister who is probably his most dangerous foe yet. Yes, even more dangerous than the Japanese general in the first film.Overall, it's not a very good story but it has some good performances, amazing fight choreography, and it's pretty entertaining. It's not a must-watch but if it's on television or Netflix, I'd say check it out. I'm gonna give it a 5/10.

While watching this movie I barely kept myself from calling the paramedics and telling them I need an ambulance NOW - I am in mortal danger of dying from a boredom stroke in the central cortex.Where to begin... The movie looks good as far as camera-work goes, choreography is decent, but so much for the little that is good about this "movie".The current review that is on the film's main page speaks of "a good ol' fashioned moral tale and lots of exceptional fight sequences that will leave you breathless." Let me decrypt this for you: "moral tale" means "stereotypical corrupt western capitalist corrupting poor Chinese" and "people rising up against capitalist injustice" and "underdog kung- fu teacher becoming an everyday hero" and "poor people suffering under this and that". Yes, believe me, all that is contained in this cryptic pair of words. Or - to put it even more clearly - it is a classic genre of commie Chinese propaganda with the usual dash of nationalism. The "exceptional fight sequences" is not cryptic however, it is a lie. This movie is no better or worse than your average kung-fu movie. It is just that - tasteless, standard issue fighting flick that has nothing to show for. Not saying the fighting is bad, but it is just so flat and generic that watching this movie is like drinking tap water - you know it is tasteless, and you should thus not expect anything from it. The plot is also just as predictable - you got your basic underdog hero, the fight start up gradually, taking on bigger and bigger enemies, and eventually climax in the "good vs evil" fight at the end. Add to that the above mentioned "twists" and some usual afternoon soap drama and a bit of tearjerking, and that's it. There's nothing that is really a buzzkill about this movie, but that's only because these is no buzz to be killed. If there's anything that's putting nails in the coffin of Chinese cinematography then it's useless nonsense like this movie. I'd rather watch a perfectly honest North Korean propaganda film praising the Fat Leader instead of watching more of the modern trash that China produces, at least North Korean movies are so bad they are of bottom-of-the-barrel-bad category that they become fun again, like Bad Taste.For real, good old-school kung-fu movies that do not try to shove down your throat the age old Chinese communist propaganda, or that don't bore you to death with completely stupid and stock plot, better watch some of Jackie Chan's work from the early 80's to mid 90's.

Ip Man (Donnie Yen) immigrates to Hong Kong after the Communists take over mainland China. Here he hopes to set up a Wing Chun martial arts school, but soon encounters difficulties with gaining students, with the main obstruction the lack of acceptance by other such institutions led by Master Hong (Sammo Hung Kam-Bo) as well as with the British authority.The first instalment was an overreaching take on the legend of Yip Man, whereas the sequel flings us even further away from recreation of past events and deeper into fictionalised accounts. The story itself is unfeasible and clichéd to an extreme, offering little in emotional reward, but a lot of unflinching kung-fu pummelling, unfortunately extrapolated to almost wushu type flying in the air. Not enough of what happens seems to actually be biographical, more of it can be deemed as mythical glorification, which in the end actually decreases Ip Man's achievements (the necessity to sugar-coat his biography is a double-edged sword). As expected the worst performances in a Hong Kong movie is privy to British nationals, who are adequately cringe-worthy in true local cinematographic tradition.Nonetheless Donnie Yen is pretty endearing in his role and does his best to win the role, despite not being offered much dramatical context. Still a far cry from "Once Upon a Time in China" or the similarly biographical "Fearless" (even has a similar white foe), which managed not only to delivers spectacular fight sequences, but also tell a story deeply laden with Chinese history, the ignominies of foreign occupation and the pains of victory.

I don't think I have seen the film that this is a sequel to, so early on I was a little lost with the flashback montage in the credit sequence and I felt a little unsure of some of the characters. Within about 5 or 10 minutes though this really doesn't matter because mostly the film is happy with very basic motivations and plotting, in favour of frequent fight sequences. The overall plot sees Ip Man coming to Hong Kong to continue the spread of his teaching but coming up against resistance from other schools in the area and the interference of a corrupt British chief. Although we also have money problems, a pregnant wife and relationships from the first film, that is pretty much all you need to know.This is undeniably a disappointment – not so much because I wanted lots of dialogue and character development, but more because the moments of the film where we do have them tend not to work particularly well because they are just lip-service and not done well. How much of a problem this is though is minimised by just how much action there is and also how good it is. Whether it is an intense fight in a fish market against a gang of others, or the one-on-one boxing match of the finale, all of the fight sequences are exciting and very well choreographed. Although it has pace, the editing is not so frantic and rapid that it masks the action and it is impressive to see all the moves and skills of the performers. Donnie Yen is impressive in all of them.Where Yen is less effective is in the acting side; the film doesn't give him much to work with and he also plays it very quiet and still, respectful perhaps but he is a lot less of a presence when he is not fighting. Fortunately others are more lively in terms of performances and the film benefits from plenty of nice characters and light comedy from the other masters and the students. Sammo is solid in all regards and he gets some good action too.Yip Man 2 may carry characters and story from the first film, but very quickly it gets down to the action and pretty much delivers action sequence after action sequence, all of them engaging and intense. The lack of character and development is a weakness, but the strengths do more than carry it through this.