Ip Man 3 (2015)

Ip Man 3 (2015)

6/10

Starring

Donnie Yen

Zhang Jin

Lynn Hung

Patrick Tam

Directed by Wilson Yip

The Ip Man films have like a working formula that they stick to. They have two concurrent stories running together and Ip Man has to find a way to manage things so that his own life does not get messed up in all that is happening.

I may prefer this movie to the second, but it is worth noting that Mike Tyson is not meant to be an actor. Other than Tyson’s bad acting, the movie had the same soulful action and fun martial art choreography that made the first and second film masterful.

The other supporting actors lived up to their pay, it was just Tyson that disappointmented. The only fun thing I enjoyed from him is when he had to go up with Ip Man for a three minute fight. Tyson is known for finishing opponents in the ring in the first round.

The movie has amazing fight scenes and the story is not as tightly wound as you would expect it, but it does enough to guide the viewer to the fights and the internal battles that Ip Man was facing, do note these movies are not in any way trying to replicate the life of Ip Man, so the story in the movies are fiction.

Ip Man in this film has become a success in Hong Kong. He is popular and filling the place of Hung (who died in the second film). We get to see a new man come into play Tin-Chi, a fighter who is also very good in Wing Chin Kung Fu.

The first story has Ip Man having to face the greedy mob boss Frank (Mike Tyson). Frank wanted the land on which the local school is located, he has the police in his pocket so he could do anything he wanted. He sent his men to get the principal/owner of the school to sell the property to him.

It was here that Ip Man got involved and this became a distraction to his life. His priorities were now divided between his family, his students and his role as a leader in the community.

Frank was not playing around either, he wanted the school and was ready to do anything to get it, it was those actions that crossed Ip Man the wrong way and he had to face him.

On the other end of the stick is Tin-Chi. He wanted to be rich and popular like Ip Man and so he had a task to get Ip Man to face him so he can show everyone that he is better than him. That was an up hill task for Tin-Chi because as we know from the films, Ip Man is not one who thinks fighting is the best way to sort out issues.

The success of this movie led to the production of what is seen as the final movie in the Ip Man series starring Donnie Yen.