Story-wise this is a rather weak installment to close the Ip Man saga. The plot moves in a rather awkward direction, with fights happening in almost a cartoony/video games fashion where opponents come and go because the plot makes them have to (the alley fight with Bruce Lee and karate guy is almost straight out of video games). Performance-wise, the American actors are quite unconvincing, almost distracting. Even Scott Adkins. The performance is not bad but it's almost comically evil that it's too easy to dislike the character - not because he seems like a "bad guy", but because he attempts hard to look bad.
The theme itself tacks on contemporary issues such as racial discrimination and immigration. It plays out Ip Man's recurring theme of us vs them, what makes this attempt more interesting is the touch of parenthood given to the story, as Ip Man struggles to raise his son. There are a point or two that can be made about living as an immigrant family in the United States on this theme, but you know that a kung-fu film has jumped the shark when they have to move the setting to the distant West. Especially considering Ip Man 3 has given an emotional closing that seems to properly close the saga. That being said, the ending of Ip Man 4 is still touching with a throwback to Ip Man 3's ending (the wife listening to Ip Man's training) and Ip Man 1's last fight (a blow to the neck).
In the end though, we watch kung-fu movies not for the story, but the fights. The fights are not completely focused on Donnie Yen's performance as Ip Man; here they finally are able to give the long-awaited chance to Bruce Lee's fights (performed by Danny Chan). The choreographic is a bit more stylistic and dramatic compared to the first two Ip Man's movies, it is less tense but still satisfying to watch. Then again, considering the strong hit the first two films in both story and action-wise, I consider Ip Man 4 a touching but kinda unnecessary ending to the saga.
Review by Pradipa PRBlockedParent2020-01-04T16:35:23Z
Story-wise this is a rather weak installment to close the Ip Man saga. The plot moves in a rather awkward direction, with fights happening in almost a cartoony/video games fashion where opponents come and go because the plot makes them have to (the alley fight with Bruce Lee and karate guy is almost straight out of video games). Performance-wise, the American actors are quite unconvincing, almost distracting. Even Scott Adkins. The performance is not bad but it's almost comically evil that it's too easy to dislike the character - not because he seems like a "bad guy", but because he attempts hard to look bad.
The theme itself tacks on contemporary issues such as racial discrimination and immigration. It plays out Ip Man's recurring theme of us vs them, what makes this attempt more interesting is the touch of parenthood given to the story, as Ip Man struggles to raise his son. There are a point or two that can be made about living as an immigrant family in the United States on this theme, but you know that a kung-fu film has jumped the shark when they have to move the setting to the distant West. Especially considering Ip Man 3 has given an emotional closing that seems to properly close the saga. That being said, the ending of Ip Man 4 is still touching with a throwback to Ip Man 3's ending (the wife listening to Ip Man's training) and Ip Man 1's last fight (a blow to the neck).
In the end though, we watch kung-fu movies not for the story, but the fights. The fights are not completely focused on Donnie Yen's performance as Ip Man; here they finally are able to give the long-awaited chance to Bruce Lee's fights (performed by Danny Chan). The choreographic is a bit more stylistic and dramatic compared to the first two Ip Man's movies, it is less tense but still satisfying to watch. Then again, considering the strong hit the first two films in both story and action-wise, I consider Ip Man 4 a touching but kinda unnecessary ending to the saga.