Review: Young Ip Man

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Young Ip Man (aka Young Ip Man: Crisis Time; 少年叶问之危机时刻; Shàonián yè wèn zhī wéijī)
Directed by Liming Li
iQIYI; Flying Youth Pictures; Lajin; Hi-YAH!; Well Go USA Entertainment
79 minutes, 2020 / 2023
https://wellgousa.com/films/young-ip-man
www.hiyahtv.com
#youngipman @WellGoUSA

While I could be wrong about this, it seems as much like the last 50 or so Amityville and [fill-in-the-blank]nado films do not really have anything to do with the original productions other than name usage, I wonder if that is true with the term “Ip Man.” Paraphrasing from Wikipedia, “Ip Man, born as (Y)Ip Kai-man (1893-1972) was a Hong Kong-based Cantonese martial artist and a grandmaster of the martial art of Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martial arts masters in their own right, the most famous among them being Bruce Lee.”

“Ip Man” started as a series of films starring martial art legend Donnie Yen that was rightfully quite successful. Yen became iconic in the role. For this Chinese release in Mandarin (with English subtitles), Zhao Wenhao picks up the titular position as Ip Man.

Zhao Wenhao

The film opens with a bang, detailing the escape of villain Ma Long, who was set for execution for previous but not described felonies. One scene is reminiscent of Enter the Dragon (1973). Lots of shooting, stabbing, explosions, car chases, and so on. Nice way to begin, before we are even introduced to Ip Man, who is studying martial arts in said Hong Kong. We also meet his friend, Xuehu, who is wanting to impress his girlfriend, Xiaofeng.

Ip Man is also studying in a college. As this is set in 1917 in Hong Kong, which was under British rule, the school is hosting the First Xinsi Cup English Speech Contest. It is here we meet Yayun, a cute, yet spoiled rich girl who has a thing for our titular hero.

Before the contest can begin, all the students are kidnapped within the enormous building (shades of 1988’s Die Hard) by Ma Long and his gang, which includes assassin Ma Wei (Pantheras Freedman), and Xuehu, who is in need of money to buy a present for his sweetie. The purpose of the action by our villains is to hold the son of the British Police Commissioner for ransom, and possibly other nefarious reasons.

As you may have guessed, there is a socio-political component to this film, with high reliance on a dislike of the British rule in Hong Kong (much as the UK was the enemy in films about the American Revolutionary War). I have seen a number of Chinese martial arts releases which took place in the 1930s where Japan was the enemy after their invasion, but it is interesting to see it pointed at British colonialism.

Another interesting aspect is that in many of these films, the henchmen are anonymous and throw-away “machines” in the cog of the event (1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery had fun of this with Will Farrell’s character), and while most here fit that ilk, having Ip Man’s masked buddy Xuehu one of the crew makes it a bit more human.

Something I do not understand, and again, this is common for many films, is that doors are locked, but nobody thinks about breaking a window to escape. I was wondering if this was a cultural thing about destroying the property of the authorities, but they seem to have no qualms about wrecking furniture, and, in fact, break windows during fights.

Despite the drastic situation (which in the States, attacks on schools seems commonplace lately), and some decent martial arts fighting), the film actually starts a bit on the light side, often using humor, or being careful not to be too Die Hard deadly. For example, machine guns open fire on a crowd, and an explosive goes off, and yet, no one is killed. This could have been a fine John Wick intense moment, but that is not the direction of the film, which is action-based, rather than slaughter. The viewer sees lots of fights, but few killings onscreen, making those that are there more compelling. I say this not as neither a positive nor negative thing, but as an observation.

There is also a bit borrowed in theme from Kill Bill; Vol. 1 (2003), especially the House of Blue Leaves sequence, including Leng Yu, a female assassin using a chain with a deadly point, a la Gogo Yubari.

This is the director’s third feature film, and second “Ip Man” release (the first being 2019’s Ip Man: Kung Fu Master). One of the things that made Donnie Yen so iconic as Ip Man, other than his long black jacket, was his stoicism. That is one thing that is lost here, but perhaps it is because he is so young yet and has to learn the hard lessons that would bring him to that point.

There are quite a few fights, increasing in number as the film progresses, with some wire work, but not over the top (e.g., no one jumps from one storey to another). It is nice to see where Ip Man first developed his “trope” of numerous punches within seconds to the chest. I also like that sometimes things happen for reasons that are not expected, such as previous relationships.

Overall, as martial arts films go, the storyline is a bit thin and mostly follows a formula. Yet, this was a fun watch throughout; tropes are there because they are popular, after all.

As a note, as stated on IMDB: “This is supposed to take place in 1917, but the cars, clothes and many items are from at least two decades later.”

IMDB listing HERE