Reviewed By:
James D.
I want to put the Ip Man right there with found footage
films as a genre that should have stopped or died many years ago. I just feel
from the first film, this was going to be a hard franchise. The second one
proved my point, but thank god for the third one really living up to the hope
that I had when I got into this trilogy. When anything gains any kind of fame,
or a few pennies people want to keep on and on. As long as people keep buying
into it, studios keep on blindly putting out more and more to meet the demand.
I mean ideas like a Paranormal Activity and Ip man are so thin, that they do
not have legs to continue to go on and on, but people keep on creating more and
more sub stories off the original. The plot to this one is basically stale as
he arrives to mainland China to try and re-establish himself after losing
wealth to China being at war with Japan. Along the way in this boring story he
is adopted by a group of students, they help him learn and he helps them deal
with life and all that. The fights in this film are just the same old stuff you
seen time and time again, they fight at times in this kinetic speed that feels
like they are trying to speed them up to the point when you do not see half of
what is going on. The acting in this film was fine, though at times it does go
a bit cheesy dramatic that makes this film seem almost like it tried to be too
deep, but have the shallowest of deliveries.
The music in this film hurt the
film the most, keep in mind I was watching this on blu ray with the surround
sound on low, and it was still too loud, which hurts the dialogue at times
also. This film I hope is the end of this franchise or film series however you
look at it. I was a fan of a few of the films, but that was long ago, and
today’s Ip man films feel more desperate than entertaining. This film is
basically setting martial arts films back 80 years and unless you have to see
it because you have watched all the others, I would say skip it.
Ip Man 3 starts off in the year of 1959. We learn early on
that his oldest son has returned to Foshan for education. The film basically
resides around Ip Man his wife and youngest son who still reside in Hong Kong.
In 1959, it seems that the school Ip Man’s son goes to is wanted for the land
by the bad guys. The Police are not able to keep up with all the crime going
down so it is up to Ip Man to stop this tycoon named Frank (played by Mike
Tyson) and the local crime boss.
Wing Chun is also still strong in the film as
Ip Man still teaches it, and uses it. Ip Man has a theme of how precious life
is. This time around it is Ip Man’s wife deteriorating health that is the
central enemy of this film. The fight scenes in the film are just breathtaking
and phenomenal. There is so much adrenaline that is thrown into this machine,
that you want to take a bath after watching this extreme workout of sorts.
You would think for a film this quick paced and fight full
that the acting and script would be lacking, but if you are familiar with the
Ip Man franchise, you know these films really have a balance that lends itself
to some heartfelt moments. This film really has such an emotional tug to it, it
is almost like a goodbye song from an old friend. Mike Tyson is probably in 15
minutes or so of the film, but fear not, him and Ip Man have an awesome fight
that is mind blowing what they achieved. If there was a negative to this film,
I feel the villain presence should have been stronger and more effective. This
film just needed an extra note or two from an evil force that it sorely lacked.
The last 20 minutes of this film are touching and very emotional, congrats on
achieving that. I did not think it would have an ending like that, but this
film really needed something to take the place of one enemy. To call this film
an epic piece is an understatement, the fight sequences, the acting and most of
all the powerful ending, this film really set the bar high if they choose to go
back for a 4th film. Tyson, I wish there was more and that fight scene they
have, I wish there was so much more.
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