review by Adam Cook Patron
Ip Man 2010
Reviewed Apr 22, 2012
Adam Cook’s review:
I'm a great admirer of Donnie Yen, less as an actor but more as a choreographer and his immense ability as a martial artist, so I was looking forward to seeing this. Unfortunately I was left disappointed because so many elements were poorly handled. The acting ranges from passable to downright awful, the pacing is off, direction flat and I'm not convinced it ever struck the right tone. What inevitably saves it, as it so often does with these types of films, is the fight set pieces which are nicely shot and have a satisfying crunch to the blows. Whether these sequences save the film is debatable seeing as they are not all that frequent and when they do occur they feel shoe-horned in rather than integral to the story. I am still curious to see Ip Man 2 though as I think his time in Hong Kong could make for a more interesting and less uneven film.
There are certainly more fights in the sequel, at least. Personally I think the first movie better, but I also like it more than you did, so your mileage may vary.
The reason I posted this review was because I was about to watch the sequel. To be honest I rate them both equally and I really fail to see why they are considered so highly when there are so many better martial arts films out there.
I can only speak for myself, but I go to these movies not expecting much in the dramatic department beyond a serviceable, melodramatic framework, hopefully sprinkled with efficiently likeable/evil characters and excellent action choreography. Ip Man hits all of these bullet points for me, especially the last one, with its fun, rapid fire wing chun choreography.
It's perhaps not up there with the greatest of Hong Kong action cinema's output, but compared to the overly artificial, cgi-laden wirework-fests that poured out of Hong Kong for over a decade in the wake of Storm Riders, Ip Man certainly took the genre several steps back in the right direction. I'd rate it about on the same level as Fearless – another agreeable attempt at bringing the kung fu movie back to earth (sort of).
That's my justification for liking the movie, at least. :-)
I agree with a lot of what you say (I also think it is probably on a par with Fearless) and I may well have enjoyed it more with lower expectations because whilst it may be better than the majority of the recent crop of martial arts films it doesn't fare so well against the genuine classics.