Peace & Blessings! It's been a hot minute since I have done a blog entry, so I want to take the time to thank anyone who has visited the site thus far and to also welcome any new readers. Hopefully everyone is having a great holiday season. I have some well deserved time off from work and my area got hit hard with over two feet of snow; so now is the perfect time to watch some movies and hit you with some reviews. Props to my wife and step daughter for blessing me with some new DVDs for the holiday!
My wife, probably from having cabin fever, decided to watch this week's movie with me. For that fact alone I had to pick a movie I saw before and one that I knew she could appreciate. I decided to go with one of the best movies to come out in this decade, Ip Man (pronounced Yip Man), starring Donnie Yen.
Ip Man is part one in a three movie series that is loosely based on the life of Bruce Lee's teacher.
The movie takes place in the 1930's in Foshan, a southern part of China that was known for it's martial art's schools. While many sifus opened up schools and competed for students, it was known in Foshan that Master Ip Man was the best martial artist in that area. Ip Man is a low key dude who is independently wealthy, so he spends his days training on his own or spending time with friends and family. Many sifus come to his house and ask to spar with him, and he would accept their request only in a closed door session, as not to bring embarrassment to their school.
Ip Man gets even more props in Foshan after he takes down a country bumpkin with crazy skills who comes popping shit from the North (played incredibly well by Fan Siu-Wong). Peep the scene here:
Master Ip truly opens up a calm, cool but calculated can of whoop ass!
After this scene, the movie takes a different turn when Japan invades China in 1937 (the start of the second Sino-Japanse War). Life is changed for everyone in Foshan, even Master Ip and his family. The Japanese military take over his house as headquarters for their men, and he is forced to relocate to a very modest accomodations. Master Ip takes a job working at a coal mine just to support his family.
The Japanese leader in Foshan, General Miura (played by Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), is a skilled karate master who sets up an arena where Chinese martial artists can test their skills against his military trainees. The Chinese get a small bag of rice for each Japanese opponent they defeat. When one of his good friends goes missing after accepting an invite to the arena, Master Ip goes there to investigate. He is enraged when he sees a Japanese solider shoot and kill a fellow Foshan master after he wins a bout against three Japanese.
Ip Man demands a match against 10 men, which makes for one of the best scenes of the whole film. Peep it:
Master Ip's abilities spark the interest of General Miura, who wants to learn more about his skill and to see him fight again.
General Miura eventually finds Master Ip and says he will spare his life if he teaches Chinese martial arts to the Japanese soldiers. Master Ip refuses, and instead challenges the general to a fight. The general accepts the challenge, and the fight is held in public in Foshan's Square.
As the crowd cheers the defeat of the Japanese general, Master Ip is comforted by the sight of his wife and son in the crowd. While the crowd continues to celebrate the Japanese deputy decides to take matters into his own hands and shoots Master Ip. All hell breaks loose in the crowd, and Master Ip and his family are rescued amidst the chaotic aftermath. He survives the gun shot wound and is relocated to Hong Kong with his family. There he will soon open up a Wing Chun school (the focus of the sequel), and his long list of students will include Bruce Lee.
I give Ip Man the classic rating of 5 Fists. Even though it was semi-biographical, it was still great to do the knowledge about the man that taught Bruce Lee. The story line was tight, the fight scenese were top notch (choreographed by the legendary Sammo Hung), even the score was dope! And Donnie Yen has the midas touch, because any movie he touches turns to cinematic gold!
I also conside this a classic because my wife is not a fan of the martial arts genre at all (more of a rom-com type of woman). She usually does not have the patience to watch a movie in Chinese with English subtitles. She was able to successfully watch, follow and thoroughly enjoy Ip Man. As a show of thanks I am making a promise to watch the Sandra Bullock movie of her choice.
Peace & Blessing for now,
The Sage
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