The 2026 film Ip Man: Kung Fu Legend picks up after the events of Ip Man: Kung Fu Master. It’s the 1950s, and Ip Man (Dennis To) has left his career as a police captain in Foshan behind, and has made his way to Hong Kong with his wife (Zhou Xiaofei, The Grandmaster, Ip Man 4: The Finale, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragan: Sword of Destiny) and son, where he plans to open a Wing Chun martial arts school. Master Hong is in charge of the MAA (Martial Arts Association), which approves any new schools. So Ip Man must successfully complete three trials before he will be allowed to open his Wing Chun school. However the trials are interrupted when British foreigner Pike (Steven Dasz, Pegasus 3) arrives. He informs Hong that the MAA is heavily in debt and that if Hong doesn’t sign over the deed to the MAA’s land is the docks, he will take over Zhonghua Hall and turn it into a Western boxing gym. But Hong refuses to sign, due to a promise he made to Director Xu’s father years ago during a time of famine. The docks house the factory that provides grain for the MMA, and he promised that the ancestral property would stay part of the MAA forever so that no one would go hungry again.

However, Pike does not give up easily, and lures disgruntled MAA member Lei Yihu (Zhao Jingshuyu) to his side and become a traitor, offering him promises of money to help his sick mother, and a promotion when he takes over and establishes a new MAA. But Lei Yihu is also not able to convince Master Hong or Director Xu to sign things over either, even by force or with threats. So he escalates things further with violence, and even frames Ip Man for murder. China’s first female police officer Mei (Zhang Tingfei) is in charge of that investigation, and even though she personally believes that Ip has been set up, her hands are tied as all of the evidence points to him.

Now Ip Man must find a way to clear his name and stop the land from being transferred before it’s too late, and Pike eliminates the MAA traditions that have been a part of the area for generations. To further ensure that Ip Man is no longer a threat to his plan, Pike has his son kidnapped to use as leverage, and even hires prisoner Golden Leopard and his triad gang to to take out Ip Man. If anyone can stop these ruthless Westerners from taking over, it’s Ip Man and his well-honed Wing Chun skills.

Ip Man: Kung Fu Master is the fourth installment of the Dennis To franchise of Ip Man films (following Ip Man: The Legend Is Born (2010), Kung Fu League (2018) and Ip Man: Kung Fu Master (2019).) I was a huge fan of the Donnie Yen Ip Man franchise, but have not been as satisfied with the Dennis To line of films. There is just something missing in these movies. To certainly has the fighting skills when he’s given the opportunity to show them off, but Yen’s portrayal of the character also had this deeper emotion to it that feells absent here. The pacing of this movie also feels quite slow at times, even though the film is only 97 minutes. While the story itself has potential, there is not enough action in this movie, with really long dialogue-filled periods in-between the film’s five primary action sequences. Instead of Ip Man out there actively trying to stop the bad guys, he’s more of a passive character waiting for things to come to him.

I had really enjoyed director Li Liming’s Young Ip Man, but was less impressed by this installment. I would have rather have seen a sequel set in the Young Ip Man world.

Well Go has released Ip Man Kung Fu Legend on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital (coming August 11). We were sent the 4K release for review, which looks and sounds great. The picture looks nearly flawless, with an excellent level of detail, even in the film’s darker sequences. The disc offers both the original Mandarin audio in a Dolby Atmos track as well as an English dub option DTS-HDMA track. Both tracks provide a nicely-immersive experience, which is evident right from the start as drum beats fill the room, or later when dogs can be heard barking in the distant background. There was definite care taken in crafting the soundscape. I usually prefer to go with the English dub, but the Atmos track sounds slightly fuller, and the hits during fight sequences were noticeably emphasized with a more forceful and reverberating boom. The English dub performance is OK and certainly a valid choice, but some of the characters sound more like they are just reading instead of acting, and Pike and Lei Yihu sometimes come off more like cartoon villains, with over-the-top maniacal laughter. Either way, the English subtitles are well written and provide solid dialogue that sometimes differs from what is actually said in the dub.

The 4K release includes just a single barebones 4K disc, which does not contain any bonus material. The disc is packed in a standard 4K keepcase along with a carboard slipcover, but no digital copy code is included.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:37:35)

4K UHD:
• 2160p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Dolby Vision / HDR10
• Audio: Mandarin Dolby Atmos in Dolby TrueHD, Mandarin DTS-HDMA 5.1, English DTS-HDMA 5.1
• Subtitles: Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, English, French

Extras:

There is no bonus material included.

Final Thoughts:

Ip Man: Kung Fu Legend has some decent action sequences and fight scenes, but the narrative slows things down at times. Dennis To is great at the action side of Ip Man, but there is just something missing when comparing him to Donnie Yen’s portrayal of the character. Well Go’s 4K release looks and sounds excellent, and for the first time, I would actually suggest the original Mandarin Dolby Atmos track over the English dub for a more satisfying and fuller experience. This film doesn’t rank among my top Ip Man films, but it’s worth a look for fans of the character/actor. The technical presentation is strong, though the barebones disc includes no bonus material (not even the usual trailers). Note: the Digital release has been pushed out until August 11)