This week wasn’t huge, but still some good info out there. Congrats to Tony on the birth of his daughter!
Gordon Liu on the Road to Recovery
40th Anniversary of Enter the Dragon out Next Year
New Posters for Man with the Iron Fists
Ip Man: The Final Battle Wraps Up
Congrats to Tony Jaa on the Birth of His Child!
It appears as though the Herman Yau directed Ip Man film starring Anthony Wong has come to a close. The crew filmed their last scene in Foshan recently, and they all celebrated with a banquet.
It appears as though things have gone smoothly, though I’m not 100% sure how good the film will be. I’m hoping that it is more drama-based than action, and that Wong will bring something new to Ip’s character. Given the fact that filming has wrapped, I’d say it won’t be long before we see a trailer, though I don’t know when the release is quite yet.
Source: HKTopTen
It’s been a few weeks since anything new has come up about the Ip Man movies that are in the works, but we finally have a promotional poster for Anthony Wong’s Ip Man: The Final Battle. Check it out here!
For those that may have missed the initial article, Anthony Wong will be playing Ip Man after he is in his 40 until the passing of his life. The film will be directed by Herman Yau, who directed the Legend is Born: Ip Man. The poster also shows Eric Tsang, Jordan Chan, and Anita Yuen Wing Yi on the cast.
I’m still on the fence about this, but Anthony Wong studied Wing Chun for a whole year before they started filming, so I am interested in seeing what Wong can bring to Ip’s story.
Playing Ip Man seems to be the “in” thing to do, and there will be one more person playing the iconic role. Anthony Wong recently began training in order properly portray the master in Ip Man–Final Battle. Wong will play an older Ip, showing a different side that what has typically been shown of the person while Herman Yau directs. Yes, the director for the Legend is Born is directing this film as well.
Wong began his training almost half a year ago, and filming will begin shortly. I’ll be the first to say I’m not that hyped for another Ip Man film, but maybe Anthony Wong will be able to deliver a character that nobody else will. He is a talented actor and he may find something to make is version of Ip stand out.
Background Info
The Legend is Born: Ip Man is a prequel that helps explain the earlier years in Ip’s life. Director Herman Yau cast To Yu-Hang as young Ip while inserting some of the other cast members from the other 2 Ip Man films as well. Lastly, Ip Chun, Ip’s actual son was also given a cameo role in the film. Would the cast be strong enough to overcome all the criticism of releasing another Ip movie so soon?
Legend is Born: Ip Man US Trailer
Story/Characters
The story of Ip Man is fairly basic. While some aspects are based in reality, others seem to be exaggerated quite a bit. This makes it hard to know what really happened and what is purely fiction. At the same time, foreign occupation shows up once more (and I get that historically this happened. It’s just getting overused.) The plot does have some nice twists, but it just isn’t original enough to surprise anyone. Course, I don’t know how original a biographical film can be, but they should have at least created more interesting plots if they were altering it anyways.
Yup, white people are still jerks
The characters are pretty bland as well. While I didn’t like Ip Tin-Chi’s character, my main gripe is with Ip Man himself. Now, I’m not criticizing To Yu-Huang at all, I’m talking about what they did with Ip Man as a person. Ip is almost too perfect; he never loses his temper and is always in the right. He even has 2 women fighting over his affection over the course of the film. Even Donnie’s version lost his temper a few times in the films, and I would have expected a younger version to be more brash, not more tranquil.
Action/Choreography
Now, the story doesn’t mean too much if there is good action to back it up. However, I feel like Ip Man stumbles once more. I remember reading somewhere that there would be several fights that had dozens of movements in them without any cuts, but I didn’t see them anywhere. Some wirework is evident, which isn’t that big of a deal, but it does make some movements feel fake for an otherwise grounded fight sequence. I just wish the fights were more memorable since the story took a back seat and was elaborated on so much. I was really disappointed with the final fight as well, it might as well have been skipped. Sadly, you’ll forget the fights just as quickly.
Own it, Watch it, or Skip it?
The Legend is Born: Ip Man is a very mixed bag. It tries to be biographical, yet alters the story so much it’s hardly believable. It puts actors from the first 2 films in it as different characters, which can confuse some since those faces are already associated with different names. The action is tolerable, but not nearly as memorable as the previous films. It might not be fair to compare this movie with Wilson Yip’s version, but many have called this Ip Man 3 (though wrong) and that is what people will associate it with. While not a bad movie, it’s a very big step back from what Donnie Yen has done.
Watch it
The Legend Is Born: Ip Man (Blu-ray/DVD Combo) US Version
The Legend Is Born: Ip Man DVD (US Version)
