In 1917, 17-year-old Ip Man (Zhao Wenhao) moved to Hong Kong for his studies. Today, his college is hosting a foreign language competition, and Ip Man, his girlfriend Zhao Yayun (Shao Xia), and the other students head inside to prepare. But the peaceful campus soon comes under attack. Earlier, notorious death row felon Ma Long (Mu Fengbin) had staged a violent prison break with the help of assassins Leng Yu (Yuqing Shi) & Ma Wei (Pantheras Freedman). They have now made their way to the school to kidnap the students and hold them for ransom, planting bombs around the building, and threatening to kill a student every minute if Long’s demands aren’t met. One of the students being held hostage, and seemingly the prime target, is the son of Police Commissioner Stewart (Jonathan Kos-Read). As the parents of the students scramble to collect their gold bars for the ransom, inside young master Ip Man may be the students’ only hope. He will need to put his Wing Chun skills to the good use to stop Ma Long and his army of men. However, as Ip Man takes on this task, he soon discovers that one of Long’s goons is his longtime friend Xuehu, who has let his desire to be rich get him mixed up in the affair. He also learns that Ma Long is his former chess master, who has let his own thirst for vengeance cloud his morals. Will Ip Man be able to take on these assassins, guards and foes on his own to save the students, or can he reason with his old friend and master, helping them find their moral path once again?
The life of Wing Chun master Ip Man has been told so many times in film and TV, but Young Ip Man takes a different approach, exploring the teenage adventures of this legend. Overall I enjoyed this film for what it was, but it has a completely different look and feel from the classic Donnie Yen Ip Man movies. Directed by Li Liming (Ip Man: Kung Fu Master), this latest installment in the Ip Man saga is like a cross between Die Hard and Toy Soldiers, with a wuxia twist. While the film is action-packed, with car chases, gun fights, a prison break, and more, there are only a handful of martial arts fight scenes. Zhao Wenhao does an excellent job of channeling his inner Donnie Yen, displaying a similar prowess in the Wing Chun style. I quite enjoyed the action sequences inside the school, with Ip Man making use of the tight quarters nd his martial arts skills to take down the waves of goons and assassins trying to take him out—especially when he comes up against assassin Leng Yu, who’s wielding a chain whip.
While overall enjoyable as more of a popcorn movie, I wouldn’t say this film is up to par with the classic Donnie Yen Ip Man films. The special effects looked like obvious CGI, particularly every time there were daggers, darts or arrows flying at the viewer, and in a scene where a vehicle is on fire. During several of the action sequences, it also felt like the film had been sped up—I checked my PS3 several times to make sure I hadn’t accidentally kicked it into 1.5x speed mode. There are a lot of twists and turns to the story, but several of them don’t feel earned. Some of the reveals come too quickly and out of nowhere, and some of the writing seemed a bit lazy—such as the Police Commissioner offering to let Ma Long go free without any charges if he returned his son—this was a man who was going to be executed the day before he broke out of prison and had since added kidnapping and murder to his list of crimes. In addition to the main storyline of the kidnapping, there’s also these backstories between Ip Man and Xuehu, and between Ip Man and Ma Long, which are only briefly explored. With a runtime of just 78 minutes, there would have been plenty of time to put in more scenes to flesh out the script, characters, and relationships some more.
While the film has a lot of action and drama, there is also quite a bit of humor, which is usually noted by a more comical score. When we first meet Yayun, we also meet her over-protective father, who’s the leader of an axe gang, but when it comes to his daughter he acts more like a jealous boyfriend, not wanting to share her (or the sandwich he made for her) with Ip Man. There’s also the bumbling and scheming police sergeant Mr Zhau, who adds some comedic moments to the movie.
Well Go’s Blu-ray release looks amazing, with a clean, clear picture throughout that captures all of the fast-paced action in great detail, and with a beautiful color palette. The disc includes both the original Mandarin language track as well as an English Dub. With these foreign releases, I normally go for the English dub track so I can fully enjoy the visuals. The acting in the English track was decent, but a bit over-the-top at times—dialogue that was meant to be more as background seemed to be overly-emphasized in the English track. Also, some of the word choices didn’t make sense—often in the English dialogue the situation would be referred to as a robbery, but in the subtitles it was correctly labeled a kidnapping. And in the English track, the actor playing Ma Long sounded more like Keanu Reeves. So in this case, I think I preferred just sticking with the original language track. However, both dialogue options offer an excellent, fully-immersive soundtrack. Whether it’s the rich, full score, the sounds of bullets flying in every direction, or the thud of Ip Man’s Wing Chun punches, the viewer is put right into the middle of the action.
Well Go’s Blu-ray release is barebones, just including the film’s trailer and some previews for three other Well Go releases as bonus material. The disc comes packed in a locking HD keepcase, and doesn’t include a digital copy. Our review copy included a slipcover.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:18:36)
-
Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: Mandarin DTS-HDMA 5.1, Mandarin Stereo, English DTS-HDMA 5.1, English Stereo
- Subtitles: English
Extras:
- Trailer (1:39)
- Previews
- Code of the Assassins (1:31)
- Fist of the Condor (2:06)
- Legend of Gatotkaca (1:38)
Final Thoughts:
Young Ip Man is an action-packed new adventure that takes the popular saga in a different direction. Fans looking for another Donnie Yen style film may be slightly disappointed, but if they can get past some of the special effects and writing shortcuts, this is still quite an entertaining popcorn flick. I would certainly be interested in seeing more of the Young Ip Man franchise. Well Go’s Blu-ray presentation features excellent picture and sound, but doesn’t include any bonus material. The release comes recommended for fans of the Ip Man saga who are open to seeing a different version of this classic character, or anyone looking for a fun action film with a wuxia twist.
Young Ip Man
75% Off $29.98 $9.99 (as of December 1, 2024 18:15 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Young Ip Man
$13.37 (as of December 1, 2024 18:15 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
