Double Doses of Donnie

The Americans have SuperMan

The Japanese have UltraMan
The Chinese have Ip Man

My heart has been filled with heavy anticipation ever since the released of the impressive trailer for the movie, Ip Man. After watching the movie last week, I can safely say that the movie surpassed my every expectations.

It was so good, I watched it TWICE! Yeah, I know I am such a sucker for Donnie.

The movie was set in Foshan (Wong Fei Hung's kampung) during the 1930s. During the time, Foshan was thriving under the economic boom & the affluent residents took up martial arts as a hobby.

The bustling town centre even has its own Martial Arts Street where countless martial arts school are situated in close proximity to one another. Each specialising in a different sect of kung fu.

Little known fact #1 : Ip Man can kill 2 stones with 1 bird

Ip Man (Donnie Yen) though isn't the master of any of them. Rather he is an aristocrat who lives in a Western style bungalow, and did not seem to need to work for a living.

He spends all his time practicing Wing Chun much to the chagrin of his wife.

Little known fact #2 : Ip Man can sneeze with his eyes open
& lick his own elbow

Now, when it comes to acting I didn't expect much from Donnie. But as Ip Man, he is unbelievably restrained & subtle, even funny. This just proves that miracles do happen during the festive season.

In the 1st half of the movie, we saw Ip Man taking on opponents in a mostly friendly manner. Carefully making sure to get his wife's approval through eye contact beforehand.

Then, the Sino-Japanese war broke out. The once bustling city was devastated. Food were scarce under the harsh Japanese rule. The Chinese are fragmented in spirit & martial arts became the unifying force. Sounds familiar huh?

Little known fact #3 :When Ip Man smokes, the cigarette gets cancer

The storyline may be generic but the usually cardboard villains get a more sympathetic treatment here.

The story is quite engaging but we all came to see some serious butt kicking. And it doesn't take long for that to happen on screen.

The fights are the best I have seen for a very long time. Absolutely jaw dropping stuff.

Little known fact #4 :Ip Man is so fast, he can run around the world
& punch himself in the back of the head

The Wing Chun style is authentic, distinctive & a joy to watch on screen. Those machine gun like punches still amazed me even on repeated viewings.

The fights can be brutal & bloody. But the amazing choreography from Sammo Hung makes it all look like poetry in motion. Those evil Japanese deserves them anyway.

Little known fact #5 : During WW2, the leading causes of

death of Japanese are....1. Heart disease, 2. Ip Man, 3.Cancer

Against Ip Man, the Japanese karate exponents doesn't even stand a chance. During 1 particular scene, he took on 10 of them & leave a pile of bodies behind (a nice homage to Bruce Lee's similar scene in Fist of Fury)

Ip Man is like a one man army. How the Chinese lost the war against the Japanese is beyond me.

Donnie faints after hearing that Tony Leung is going to play Ip Man.

Well, this is not the only biopic on the Grandmaster. Wong Kar Wai is said to be making a movie about Ip Man with Tony Leung playing the title character. This must be some kind of joke. C'mon Tony? The last thing I wanted to see is Ip Man butt naked!

Anyway, a sequel this time with Donnie Yen reprising the role is currently in the works as well. I am excited already.

As you have probably noticed, I am struggling to fit in more hyperboles to describe the film. So, if you are just going to watch 2 movies before the year ends, watch Ip Man TWICE!