Ip Man/叶问 / 葉問 (2008) - Excellent Yen in nationalistic Hong Kong/Chinese actioner

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Star Donnie Yen stands tall and carries a huge stick in the midst of devastation on this grim poster for Wilson Yip's Ip Man

Ip Man is a grandmaster of the Wing Chun style of martial arts in Foshan, China in the end of the 1930s, as the Japanese occupy the country. Man and his family lose their wealth, and he is forced into a battle with the Japanese.

Ip Man is written by Tai-Lee Chan (Mak dau sin sang (2004)) and Edmond Wong (Bounty Hunters/Shang jin lie ren (2016)) and directed by Wilson Yip (Yeh boon 1 dim chung (1995)). It is based loosely on the life of the actual Ip Man (1873-1972).

Historically this is full of falsities, but as a (Chinese) nationalistic action-drama Ip Man is highly effective, nearly registering as propaganda.

Donnie Yen (John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)) is excellent with an internal force and calm about him in the title lead, and the fight scenes are phenomenal, (Sammo Hung (Firestorm/Fung bou (2013)) was among the film's fight coordinators). The dialog is at times trite, and the plot is simplistic, but the film is otherwise well-made, and the story is highly compelling.

 

Related posts:

Wilson Yip: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Dragon Tiger Gate/Lóng Hǔ Mén/龍虎門/龙虎门/Lung4 Fu2 Mun4 (2006) or, The Fighting Hairdos! 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 11.7 mil. $

Box office: 22.1 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.88 times its cost)

[Ip Man was released 12 December (China) and runs 108 minutes. Shooting took place from March - August 2008 in China, including in Shanghai. The title was changed to Ip Man prior to release, deleting 'the great master' from the title due to a dispute with Wong Kar-Wai, who was preparing his own Ip Man movie at the time, eventually released as The Grandmaster (2013). The film spent 4 weeks at #2 in China, where it grossed 13.7 mil. $ (62 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Hong Kong with 3.3 mil. $ (14.9 %) and Singapore with 2 mil. $ (9 %). It was not released in North America and most European markets. The film spun a franchise with 3 sequels, all by Yip and starring Yen, the first being Ip Man 2 (2010). Yip returned with Ip Man 2. Yen first returned in a cameo in Ga yau hei si 2009 (2009) and in a real part in The Founding of a Republic/Jian guo da ye (2009). Ip Man is fresh at 86 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ip Man?

San De huo shang yu Chong Mi Liu/ 三德和尚与舂米六/The Iron-Fisted Monk (1977) - Hung's muscular kung fu debut

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Macho fun and violence is promised on this cool poster for Sammo Hung's The Iron-Fisted Monk

A younger student in a Shaolin temple, who receives training from a similarly aged monk, is introduced to the fight against the evil Manchu rulers.

 

The Iron-Fisted Monk is written by Pro Hung Ching, Feng Huang (Xue fu men (1971))  and Yu Ting (Project A 2/'A' gai wak 2 (1987)) and directed and starring debuting Sammo Hung (The Victim/Shen bu you ji (1980)). The original Chinese title translates to, 'the three virtuous monks and the broken rice'.

Hung's debut is not his best film but still quite good. A grim rape scene is included in the film. The story is classical and forgettable, but the fight scenes are good.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: Unknown 

Box office: 2.28 mil. HK$, approximately 0.5 mil. $

= Uncertain

[The Iron-Fisted Monk  was released 25 August (Hong Kong) and runs 93 minutes. The film grossed around 500k $ in Hong Kong, its only registered market at IMDb. Hung returned with Enter the Fat Dragon/Fei Lung gwoh gong (1978). As an actor he returned first in Po jie (1977); Sing Chen (Ninja Terminator (1986)) in The Amsterdam Kill (1977). 1,1k IMDb users have given The Iron-Fisted Monk a 6.6/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Iron-Fisted Monk?