Ip Man 2 is a 2010 Chinese/Hong Kong biographical martial arts film loosely based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun, and a sequel to the 2008 film Ip Man. This film is directed by Wilson Yip and stars Donnie Yen, who also starred in the first film as well. Continuing after the events of Ip Man, the sequel centers on Ip's movements in Hong Kong, which is under British colonial rule in 1950. With his wife expecting their second child, Ip opens a martial arts school to teach Wing Chun. Things start slowly and even when he has students, Ip doesn't always collect tuition. Ip also runs afoul of the local guild of martial arts masters, who demand that he defeat each of them before they will let his school continue; the elder of the group, Master Hong Zhen Nan, also demands a sizable payment but Ip is defiant and refuses. Things begin to go terribly wrong when the British whose boxing champion, Twister, insults Chinese martial arts at a public demonstration and Master Hong steps forward to defend Chinese honor but is defeated and dies as result of his injuries of the fight. During a press conference where Twister denounces "Chinese boxing" and ridicules Master Hong for being too weak as the cause of his death, Ip Man steps forward to avenge Master Hong's name and the honor of Chinese martial arts with a challenge to a duel. Will he be able to conquer?
Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen do it again with this second masterpiece of work about Ip Man. I was quite honestly dubious of whether it would be able to compete with my first reaction to the first film because sequels seem to be a constant disappointment to me but I was pleasantly surprised. In this film I would even dare say that my reaction was even more intense as it had me crying in the first few minutes of the film as it tried to catch us up with the events between the first film and the second - some of it tragic and some triumphant. Again, I was on the edge of my seat and riveted from the first moment. I was expecting Bruce Lee's character to make an appearance at first but as the story continued on I realized the timeline was all wrong and was mildly disappointed but not enough to stop watching. I think one thing I liked, besides the stunts and action sequences was the consistency between the actors/actresses from the first film in the second. Often times, unfortunately, I see the same characters played by different actors from the first film and it's a constant annoyance and frustration for me. I quite honestly hate that about some movies and it can even be the downfall for some at times.
As I was reading up on Ip Man, it seriously made me want to learn the history of this film and background to it which is something that I have never wanted to do before, I came across this quote:
The filmmakers have expressed that while Ip Man was about survival, Ip Man 2 is about living. The sequel is set in Hong Kong in 1949, when the country was under British colonial rule. Screenwriter Edmond Wong stated that the film also "deals with how Hong Kong people were treated under British colonial rule, and Western attitudes concerning Chinese kung fu."
Thank you for this review of a great film that I already reviewed here. That's not a criticism, on the contrary, I welcome reviews of films I've already written about, to give the blog's regular readers a new perspective. Except in this case our perspectives are the same: the film is fantastic, in my opinion better than the original.
ReplyDeleteI have the impression, but haven't found out if it's true, that historical accuracy was less important in making this film than the first. The first film showed us Ip Man's personal development, whereas this film is all about action. That's probably why I like it more.
Have you seen the prequel to this film? I reviewed it here. A different actor plays Ip Man, Dennis To, but this is necessary because most of the story takes place when Ip Man was aged 13 to 16. It's a film that starts off very slowly, but speeds up towards the end. Just as good as the other Ip Man films, but a different style.