Review #909 - Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster (2010)
THE SCOOP
Director: Wilson Yip
Cast: Donnie Yen, Huang Xiaoming, Sammo Hung Kam-Bo
Plot: Centering on Ip Man's migration to Hong Kong in 1949 as he attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun martial arts.
Genre: Action / Biography
Awards: -
Runtime: 108min
Rating: PG13 for violence.
IN RETROSPECT
“Master,
you really can fight ten men at once.”
The recent spate of 'Ip Man' movies
serves to illuminate one thing - that films can easily propagate and sustain the popularity of something that
was previously unknown. Ask yourself,
how many moviegoers would have heard of
a Wing Chun martial arts exponent named Yip Man ten years ago? Today, that landscape has changed
considerably.
The 'Ip Man' movies reached its
commercial peak with the two Wilson Yip-directed action biographies, considered
by most to be the definitive filmed works about the famed master of screen icon
Bruce Lee. Other filmmakers followed
suit, including Wong Kar Wai, whose The Grandmasters (2013) may have lacked popular appeal, but remains to be an
artistic triumph nonetheless.
Donnie Yen, the energetic and
charismatic action actor, embodies the reverent qualities of Yip Man. Like Jet Li in the late eighties, Yen is a
trained martial artist whose affinity with and execution of action choreography
can be a joy to behold.
In Ip
Man 2, Sammo Hung serves as action director, combining Yen's versatility
and his own experience as a respected Hong Kong martial arts star to deliver
some quite breathtaking fight set-pieces, including friendly duels on an
elevated round table and elaborate scenes at a fish market. However, the film’s
major action set-piece is set in a boxing ring, pitting Yen and a brutish
British boxer named Twister in a showdown between Chinese martial arts and
Western boxing.
Ip
Man 2 is beautifully shot, going for a
polished look, rather than the usual gritty and raw cinematography reserved for
triad pictures. The production design
feels staged though, unlike that of The
Grandmasters, which is an evocation of the past rather than just merely a recreation of it. However, director Yip keeps his
sequel focus on Yip Man as a symbol of unity for Chinese martial arts in the
face of British oppression.
The colonialist angle can be played
too overbearingly with racist overtones that can be uncomfortable viewing. This bogs the film down, resulting in an
experience less enjoyable than it should be.
Still, Yen’s embodiment
of humility, respect and an Orientalist pacifist ideal gives us hope that we
can be better human beings if we want
to.
GRADE: B- (7/10 or 3 stars)
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