Ip Man 2 (5 Stars)

It's been a few months since I reviewed "Ip Man". I know it's subjective, but I find that this film rises above the first. The plot is thinner than in "Ip Man", but the fighting scenes are more impressive.

The film starts with Ip Man moving to Hong Kong in 1950. The native population is poor and on the verge of starvation. The only ones with money are the corrupt British rulers. We see Ip Man struggling to make a living from teaching Wing Chun at a martial arts school. He soon makes enemies with the masters from the established schools, but eventually they unite against a common enemy: the British!

Whereas the enemy in the first film was the Japanese, the British are portrayed as much crueller in the sequel. In fact, I can't think of any other film that portrays the British so badly. The governor takes bribes from the Chinese police to allow them to work. When a newspaper prints (justified) anti-British articles the British police arrest the editor, and in the police cell they smash his fingers. When the British boxing champion kills a Chinese boxer in the ring he yells at the audience, "This is proof that the Chinese are inferior. Go back to China, Hong Kong is our country now". Wow! You just want to boo and hiss whenever anyone British appears on screen. I wonder though: this is supposed to be a true film; were the British really so bad in Hong Kong?

But the fight scenes make the film. I felt exhilarated when the film was over. A worthy sequel, though totally different in style to the first film.