IPMAN2

IP Man 2 (2010)

This is a sequel to the original IP man. Instead of dealing with the Japanese occupiers of China this movie picks up in 1950 as IP has come to Hong Kong with his wife to start a marital arts school. But teaching students Wing Chun (his martial arts style) isn’t going to be easy. The other masters in the city have rules about how new schools can open. So IP has to face the challenges from the other masters before his school can open. This leads to some spectacular fight sequences and afterwards the Wing Chun school is allowed to be open. But just as he is being accepted by the other masters IP gets involved defending Chinese martial arts against the insults of a British champion boxer and the local British authorities.

IP Man 2 has a lot going for it. The story is easy to follow and paced really well. The movie does a great job recapping the events of the 1st movie so that you can watch this one without having seen the original. But fans of the series will be happy to see some of the characters return in this sequel. It isn’t very often that a sequel is able to involve characters from an original without confusing those new to the story. The movie is also paced quickly. Little time is wasted establishing the characters and story before they get back to the stunning fight sequences, which are the strength of IP Man 2.

Though I want to make it clear that the characters aren’t ignored by the story. Far from it, but the movie is able to show us quite a bit about them with little effort. For example the Sammo Hung character, Master Hong Zhen Nan is just starting to fight Master IP. But before it gets really going the fight is interrupted by one of his children. You can see in that very brief moment on screen that something clicks in his head and from that point on he treats Master IP differently. Not only is this a nice bit of writing, but the actors do a wonderful job selling it.

Now I wanted to talk about the fight choreography. This is an incredible movie with some of the best martial arts performances I’ve seen in a long time. The fights are exciting and easy to follow. There aren’t any quick cuts or shaky camera in this movie, mainly because the performers can really do some amazing things. So you don’t’ have to “hide” them from the audience with any tricks. There are a few scenes with some wirework, which looks great, but that I’m not a big fan of. Too gimmicky for my tastes. But there are also a couple of brutal beat downs that remind me of some of the martial arts flicks of the ‘70s. To sum things up I’d say that this movie really delivers the goods.

The Blu-Ray that I watched for this review contains a few special features on a 2nd disc. You have a making of feature, some deleted scenes, a shooting diary, and interviews with the cast. I found them to be worth checking out. But for me they were just the icing on the cake. IP Man 2 is a great movie that is a must watch for fans of martial arts flicks. I can’t recommend it enough.

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer