I agree with some other commenters that, as a story, this is pretty washed-out and washed-up. It's a decent enough movie, but the story is kind of tired after 3 earlier installments of "Poor Chinese people get beat down and harrassed by every other race, but Ip Man comes to the rescue..." Don't get me wrong: Donnie Yen has to be one of the best martial arts actors out there - and I took a personal delight in seeing that Hollywood prima donna Scott Adkins get his self-aggrandizing butt handed to him on a platter - and I love seeing Yen's fight scenes. It just seemed to be a repeat of the first three movies, set on a different stage. Although I've watched the original Ip Man movie multiple times (and will continue to), I don't know that I would sit through the entire franchise again simply because it becomes tiresome. As a standalone movie, this one was probably the weakest because of the aforementioned lack of originality; additionally, the "fight scene" between "Bruce Lee" and the thugs...what was that all about, apart from trying to inject yet another wanna-be into an Asian film and hopefully cash in on the greatest name to ever grace the martial arts screen. The almost-laughable fight scene in the alley looked like it was cloned almost straight out of Bruce Lee's Return of the Dragon (including the fight taking place right outside a restaurant) and it added absolutely NOTHING to the main story. While Ip Man 4: The Finale offered a tiny bit of a backstory - struggling single dad trying to raise a rebellious son who only wants to learn martial arts - it was so lightly brushed over that it almost didn't exist. And there were other loose ends that never got tied off, as well: Someone seriously needed to have a wall-to-wall conversation with that whining little brat who got her feelings hurt, and that spineless INS husband should have knocked that screeching shrew through the kitchen wall for demanding that he "do something". Instead, we're left feeling like they won some sort of tiny victory by harrassing the Chinese because nobody ever tells us any different. Let me direct it, and Scott Adkins, INS cop, whiny kid, and shrew mom all get throat-punched and their larynxes crushed: The End. Hooray For All. What a Fabulous Ending! Yay for Ip Man! As it is, we got stuck with a kind of sad ending (but at least we know they won't keep trying to butcher this one), and the feeling that, even though Ip Man won the fight, the racist Americans won the battle. I gave it an 8 because of the fight scenes, but nothing more.... and the fight scenes were nowhere nearly as good as those in the first two movies. You have been warned.
Review by ShubesBlockedParent2022-06-28T01:25:30Z
I agree with some other commenters that, as a story, this is pretty washed-out and washed-up. It's a decent enough movie, but the story is kind of tired after 3 earlier installments of "Poor Chinese people get beat down and harrassed by every other race, but Ip Man comes to the rescue..." Don't get me wrong: Donnie Yen has to be one of the best martial arts actors out there - and I took a personal delight in seeing that Hollywood prima donna Scott Adkins get his self-aggrandizing butt handed to him on a platter - and I love seeing Yen's fight scenes. It just seemed to be a repeat of the first three movies, set on a different stage. Although I've watched the original Ip Man movie multiple times (and will continue to), I don't know that I would sit through the entire franchise again simply because it becomes tiresome. As a standalone movie, this one was probably the weakest because of the aforementioned lack of originality; additionally, the "fight scene" between "Bruce Lee" and the thugs...what was that all about, apart from trying to inject yet another wanna-be into an Asian film and hopefully cash in on the greatest name to ever grace the martial arts screen. The almost-laughable fight scene in the alley looked like it was cloned almost straight out of Bruce Lee's Return of the Dragon (including the fight taking place right outside a restaurant) and it added absolutely NOTHING to the main story. While Ip Man 4: The Finale offered a tiny bit of a backstory - struggling single dad trying to raise a rebellious son who only wants to learn martial arts - it was so lightly brushed over that it almost didn't exist. And there were other loose ends that never got tied off, as well: Someone seriously needed to have a wall-to-wall conversation with that whining little brat who got her feelings hurt, and that spineless INS husband should have knocked that screeching shrew through the kitchen wall for demanding that he "do something". Instead, we're left feeling like they won some sort of tiny victory by harrassing the Chinese because nobody ever tells us any different. Let me direct it, and Scott Adkins, INS cop, whiny kid, and shrew mom all get throat-punched and their larynxes crushed: The End. Hooray For All. What a Fabulous Ending! Yay for Ip Man! As it is, we got stuck with a kind of sad ending (but at least we know they won't keep trying to butcher this one), and the feeling that, even though Ip Man won the fight, the racist Americans won the battle. I gave it an 8 because of the fight scenes, but nothing more.... and the fight scenes were nowhere nearly as good as those in the first two movies. You have been warned.