The fight scenes are good, but would be a lot better if we cared more for the characters. In previous installments of all of the other Ip Man movies and spin offs, they always build characters based on Chinese virtues. This is usually contrasted with western virtues. I believe the producers of "Ip Man Universe" if you will, do this because of the contrast between traditional Chinese ways during Ip Man's life in Hong Kong vs the changes that took place after the revolution by the Maoists and the British rule in Hong Kong. However, America was never an enemy of the Chinese residing in Hong Kong at this time. The thing I love about the Ip Man Universe is how they emphasize the virtues of Chinese culture.
The bias here in this film diminishes the quality of the story. When I say bias, I mean the blatant catering to modern days "post-Obama" global politics. Every white person is apparently racist in San Francisco 1970s according to this movie. Immigration officers apparently have unlimited power of arrest and detention and the Marines are more concerned with beating up Chinese than they are about training recruits. Utter nonsense! The final battle in the movie based on American white people as the ultimate bad guys is preposterous. The globalist message of this movie should be an embarrassment to the film makers. Look at Hong Kong today! The people are being slaughtered because of the Chi-Coms as they hold up signs inspired by western democracy.
On the plus side, Donnie Yen is a master of portraying Ip Man as a kind-hearted virtuous hero. I believe Donnie Yen exemplifies this character better than any other actor. I would have liked to see a lot more character development regarding his son Ip Chun who is portrayed as a bitter young man who eventually realizes his father is dying and he seeks to bond with him. It is a good set up to Ip Man The Final Fight starring Anthony Wong. The minor involvement of the Bruce Lee character in the film is also not very well developed. The actor who played him was a decent look-a-like but there was hardly any involvement of the character in the climax scenes so it comes across as being a sort of "shiny object" that will attract viewers to the film. At this point in the Ip Man Universe there is no need to lure people into a theater to watch the film, Ip Man stands on his own. I think the biggest flaws in this iteration of the series is that it doesn't develop any supporting characters that we can care about. The closest they come to creating a character the audience can care about is the Chinese daughter of the CBA chairman. The actress did a very good job here of endearing us to her character as she bonds with Ip Man.
My final conclusion is that you should see the film but definitely watch other films in the Ip Man Universe as well, especially I recommend Ip Man: The Legend is Born. Which includes the real Ip Chun in a supporting role. But this is still a good martial arts movie for the fight choreography, but again they could have improved this by bringing back Sammo Hung as the choreographer, sadly this film doesn't measure up to the films that involved Sammo which were Ip Man 1 & 2 based on his earlier movies "The Prodigal Son" and "Warriors Two." Anyway, I sound really critical here but it is still a good movie please go see it because it is a very good Hong Kong style kung fu movie.
A fitting conclusion to Donnie Yen's 11 year run as "the guy who taught Bruce Lee (Wing Chun Gung Fu)". Ip Man, a prolific cigarette smoker, discovers he has head and neck cancer, and decides he must make plans for his rebellious teenage sons future, possibly by sending him to America for schooling and hopefully to keep him out of trouble.
However, this is 1960's America, and, there are still plenty of "you ain't from around here, are ya boy?" folks taking up usable air and living space. Thus, to be "approved" for inclusion to all the "good schools" one has to kiss the ring of the local Chinese Benevolent Association, who will then write a letter vouching that you aren't a thug or reprobate. Problem is, an upstart teacher named Bruce Lee has been teaching non-Chinese students his version of Wing Chun, (later becoming Jeet Kune Do)and even daring to write pamphlets in English, teaching foreigners it's secrets. So Ip Man will only get his recommendation letter if he helps them put the kibosh on his former students teaching endeavors. Man refuses, and tests of martial arts prowess ensue.
Bruce has also been entering the local Martial arts tournaments, which at the time were dominated by Japanese Karate style arts, and, as he has been showing the superiority of Chinese Kung Fu styles, all the Chuck Norris wannabe's are convinced it is a set up all and fake. Yes, there was a bit of showmanship and hype involved, but for those who think Bruce's fights were straight out of a cartoon or video game, I suggest you do your homework before commenting on what you know little about.
The tournament footage was pretty much a shot for shot match for archival film that still exists. and Bruce OFTEN had to deal with challengers and hired guns who would show up on the street or, like the scene in the movie, while he was dining out, and, he never backed down from a fight, until he finally realized he was fighting his own ego, and, like Ip Man, had nothing to prove unless you forced the issue. He was THAT fast and THAT skilled. (Camera operators would later complain that they had to have Bruce SLOW DOWN his movements, because the camera couldn't capture them) Yes, the fights in this movie are stylized and choreographed, as they are in ALL martial arts movies, especially in Chinese cinema. But the essence and tactics are accurately portrayed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWENCH6xskc&feature=emb_logo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG-E7SuNT1o&feature=emb_rel_pause
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1krf-JEm4Q
Anyway, I digress.....
The head of the benevolent association's daughter attends the local "good school" but is bullied and harassed by a young Karen in training, aptly named Becky, and after the daughter upstages her in a cheerleading tryout, gets her churlish boyfriend and several of his friends to attack her, beat her and, then humiliate her by cutting off her hair while the boys hold her against a fence. (I thought it was going to get MUCH darker, but, thankfully it didn't) Ip Man shows up and gives the miscreants the spankings they deserve, and in the fray, Becky cuts herself in the face with her own scissors. He escorts the daughter home, and is promptly accused of using her rescue to get his recommendation letter. Another prowess battle ensues, interrupted by an earthquake. Meanwhile Becky tearfully lies to her Mom, telling that she was attacked by the daughter, who cut her face.
One of Bruce's students is a Staff Sgt in the Marine Corps, who feels Kung Fu would be a useful skill for his troops to have. However the Base Gunny (menacingly played by Scott Adkins), is a racist who oddly has embraced Karate, yet ridicules and harasses his Asian, Black, and Chinese troops. He forces the student to fight him and being larger and better trained, he easily defeats him. He then sends his henchman, er, instructor to teach the Chinese that their stupid art has no place in his Marine Corps, so, they go to disrupt the local festival and challenge any weak azz kung fu masters to fight him. The Masters make a valiant effort, but they are pretty much out of their league until, you guessed it, Ip Ip Hooray, IP Man delivers a well deserved azz whoopin.
However, storm clouds are still brewing as the Marine Instructor is being patched up, and the Drill instructor takes umbrage at his attack dog being monkey stomped by "inferior" Chinese Kung Fu, and, Beckys father, the local INS honcho, rushes home at his wife's urging, and is told to get rid of the "savage Chinese" who hurt their (bitch) baby.
D.I. Geddes romps into the Benevolent association and opens a can o whoop azz on ALL the Masters, while Becky's Dad arrests her father, and plans to deport all the Chinese association members.
Can Ip Man save the day one last time????
Guess you'll have to rent the movie to find out. (Spoilers Sweetie!!!....Best River Song voice)
Uhhhhhhhhhhh it hurts me to say this as I love the Ip Man series and I love Donnie Yen so much, but I was so disappointed by this movie and the reason it gets a 7/10 is that all of the Asian cast members were still amazing in this film and every fight sequence is still masterfully handled.
But this movie suffers from being Americanised and trying to go for the American market, which I understand in the story it is trying to handle the case of racism against immigrants in America and around the world, but the acting and dialogue for all of the English speaking actors (I'm convinced they are for the most part not American) is just so awful and almost laughable at some points with the school students being the worst as it was almost like watching a porn parody of Grease.
Now would I say skip it, hell no because the story of Master Ip (Donnie Yen) is still great as it is understandable why this master came to America and a few additions to the cast were perfect, though I know Danny Chan Kwok-Kwan (Bruce Lee) was in Ip Man 3 he has a bigger role in this film and he is really good in this film. Also, Wu Yue (Wan Zong Hua) is really great in this film as well, but the one American actor who I have to say gives their all is Scott Adkins (Barton Geddes) as he is the cheesy villain in this film but he plays it pretty well in my opinion and the fight sequences with him are really great.
I say give it a watch but be ready to cringe at the English speaking actors and some of the English dialogue. Donnie Yen is still perfect and though I am sure the movies are not super accurate to the true story of Master Ip, I know that he would be proud of how he is portrayed by Donnie Yen who has nothing but respect for Master Ip.
Just remember if you do plan to watch this, SUBS OVER DUBS!!!!!!!
Side note: Please watch Master Z as it is the film between Ip Man 3 & 4 and it is criminally underrated.
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 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.