For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - Ip Man 2
The Impression:
I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the original Ip-Man
yet, but any film that features Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung
fighting on a spinning table has my vote.
The Reality:
Ip-Man 2 follows the legendary Ip Man as he tries to
settle himself and his kung-fu discipline in the mean
martial art streets of 1949 Hong Kong. I spent much of high
school life attempting to seek out films that starred the
original Dragons Forever crew (Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and
Biao Yuen) and to see a film on the big screen that is not
only choreographed by Hung but also features his fighting is
a little bit of a childhood fantasy realized. It feels like
so much of what makes a kung-fu film resonate is the talent
gathered. Plot and acting and cinematography (to a degree)
can be shelved as long as the martial artists at hand can
trade blows with the best. Ip-Man 2 has Donnie Yen
and, again, Sammo Hung, and the combination is pretty
magical at times.
The story of Ip Man and his battles against both the Chinese
kung-fu elite and the English colonials who spit on the
image of China isn’t particularly well written or well
acted, but it features Donnie Yen going ten rounds with an
English boxer named The Twister (Darren Shahlavi). It
features a two-on-two-hundred battle in a fish market. It
has enough kung-fu packed in to it wash away the silly
frivolities of plot and character.
Do you like kung-fu, well filmed and well fought? Then go
see this movie.
The Lesson:
I like kung-fu movies. They make me smile.
- Noah Sanders
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