Ip Man 3: The Legend is Born

I may have to change the name to this blog. Three blogs and not one of them was posted on Saturday Morning. At least I am writing 2 reviews in 2 weeks, so I have to give myself some credit!

For this week's review, I had the pleasure of watching Ip Man 3. You may be asking, "Sage, why not review Ip Man 1 & 2 first?" I thought about it, but I just copped part 3 yesterday and was excited to see it. Plus it is really a prequel to the other two films so I think it's a great way to introduce it to all of you.

The Ip Man (pronounced Yip Man) films tell us the story of Bruce Lee's legendary martial arts teacher, a grandmaster at Wing Chun and the first person to teach the art openly. Ip Man 3: The Legend is Born, focuses on his early life and how he became skilled in Wing Chun.

The film begins with Ip Man (played mostly by Dennis To, who was a perfect pick; he has the look and swagger of a young Donnie Yen, who plays Ip Man in the other two films) and his step brother, Tin Chi, joining a Wing Chun school lead by master Chah Wah-Sun (played by the legendary Sammo Hung). At the school they befriend Lee Mei-Wai, a female student who takes an instant liking to the two brothers.


After Chah Wah-Sun dies from illness, Ip continues to learn Wing Chun from his senior Chung So until he goes to college in Hong Kong. While there, Ip gets into a fight with a Westerner and becomes very popular for his martial arts skills. Soon Ip meets master Leung Bik, who is the son of Leung Jan, Chah Wah-Sun's master. Leung Bik is played by Ip Chun, the real life son of Ip Man. As you can clearly see here, Ip soon realizes that Leung Bik can teach him a thing or two about Wing Chun.



Ip Man soon returns to Foshan and reunites with Tin Chi, Lee Mei-Wai and the rest of his peers at the Wing Chun school. Most are impressed by the new style of Wing Chun that he has learned, but his senior Chung So is not happy with his new style, saying that the wild high kicks and low elbows go against the orthodox teachings of Chan Wah-Sun.

A group of Japanese thugs, lead by Chairman Kitano (typical looking Japanese gangster) and his daughter, soon come to the Wing Chun school. After challenging them to a fight, Tin Chi makes short work of them.





Ip Man soon falls in love with Cheung Wing-Shing (played by the beautiful Huang Yi), which upsets his childhood friend Lee, who has had feelings for him all along. Lee soon accepts Tin Chi's marriage proposal. After the wedding, Lee's God Father is murdered shortly after Ip Man is seen escorting him home, making Ip the prime suspect in the murder. Ip Man is soon arrested as the prime suspect. Cheung Wing-Shin lies to the police, saying that Ip Man was with her the night of the murder and he is released from jail.

While looking at their wedding gifts, Lee Mei-Wai learns that it was indeed Tin Chi that was paid by the Japanese to murder her God Father. As Lee attempts to hang herself, Tin Chi stops her and they both try to leave Foshan in shame of Tin Chi's actions. Their escape is thwarted by
Kitano and the Japanese, who kidnap Lee and force Tin Chi to try and kill Chung So (who now has the letter and knows of the Japanese intentions).

Tin Chi and the Japanese show up to the school in full ninja gear, and are about to kill Chung So when Ip Man arrives with staff in hand. This makes for one of the best fight scenes of the film.



After Ip disposes of the Japanese and makes light work of Tin Chi, his step brother reveals that he is actually Japanese and was sent to China as a child as an undercover agent. After revealing all he did wrong and the whereabouts of Lee, Tin Chi commits Seppuku (think Harikiri but in reverse) to end his life.

Ip Man goes to the pier where Lee is being held captive, rescues her and defeats Chairman Kitano. As they leave the pier they notice that the Kitano had been smuggling in children through boxes, possibly to be undercover agents like Tin Chi was.

The movie ends with Chung So telling a new crop of young students how Ip Man saved his life, one of those students being Ip's son, Ip Chun.

I give Ip Man 3 4 Fists. Like the previous installments, this movie has an top notch story with great fight scenes. My only beef with the film is that Sammo Hung and the actor that played Tin Chi (Fan Siu-Wong) were in the other movies as different characters. Fan played Jin Shanzao, bandit turned martial arts master and Hung played Hung Chun-nam, a master that Ip meets in Hong Kong in the 1950s. That's really just a small flaw in my opinion, because this movie is damn near a classic. I think that newcomer Dennis To has a bright future in martial arts cinema.

Peace & Blessings for now.....until next week (hopefully Saturday Morning).....The Sage.......