NYAFF 09 Review: IP MAN

[Our thanks to Renzo Adler for the following review.]

Kung Fu films are a staple that may waver in and out of popularity at times, but never truly vanishes. From the grindhouse theaters, to the video stores, to the mainstream, kung fu films have certainly changed a good deal over time. 2000’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon pigeonholed kung-fu movies as grand sweeping romantic epics for years to come, with many forgetting that the old movies were just about having some punchy fun. Wilson Yip’s Ip Man definitely shows a step back toward the more simplified kung-fu films, and away from the more flowery entries like Hero or House of Flying Daggers. Loosely based on the life of real kung fu practitioner and mentor of Bruce Lee, Ip Man keeps things pretty simple: the protagonist by the same name is a kung fu master everyone loves.

When the Japanese invade China, Ip Man becomes heroic figure of inspiration. Okay, that might be simplifying it too much, but if you go into kung-fu movies for complex plots and character development, you may want to rethink your choice of genre. While Ip Man doesn’t bring a whole lot that is necessarily new, it is still an enjoyable kung-fu flick. Some people may interpret the film as having an overtly nationalistic tone to it (at one point Ip Man says that Chinese martial arts are based upon compassion while the Japanese only want to use martial arts for destruction). However, the film makes an interesting transition. The first third feels like your average kung-fu movie set in a village that, to most people, would just seem like the old timey sets from any kung-fu movie. Yet when the Japanese come knocking, the film practically becomes Schindler’s List with fight scenes. It’s almost as if Yip wanted Ip Man to distance itself from other kung-fu flicks by actually making a political statement—ham-fisted and slightly sententious though it is. While this is hardly the first kung-fu movie with a political or anti-Japanese statement, those are not exactly the deciding elements in making a good kung-fu movie. Are the fights good? Yes. I applaud the film for keeping the wire-fu aspects to a bare minimum and thus making the fights slightly more realistic. And while some people may find the propagandist bent unappealing or the story slightly generic, Ip Man at least manages to bring kung-fu films back to their glorious basics.

Review by Renzo Adler.