The second movie
in this Donnie Yen Ip Man series is just as fun when it comes to the fights but
not as strong when it comes to the story. We get to see Sammo Hung play a
supporting character role in this movie, in addition to his role as the martial
arts choreographer (which he also did in the first movie). This movie has more
of a Rocky-like setup than you would have expected from a martial arts film.
That said, the
fights, stunts, and effects in this film are something you'll enjoy seeing. The
movie makes the best of the fights by distributing them all over the place to
make up for the lack of story.
Unlike the first
film, where you can’t pinpoint just one fight to look forward to, in this
movie, I can boldly say that the fight(s) to watch happen when Ip Man (Donnie
Yen) faces off against different masters. The coolest one is when he goes up
against Hung (Sammo Hung). Their fight was more skillful than the others and
even more impressive than you might have expected, and the special effects
added to the fun.
In this movie, things have moved on from the first film, and Ip Man and his family have settled in Hong Kong. During that time, Hong Kong was under British rule, which didn’t end until 1997. The British officer in charge of policing the area (Wallace) uses the martial arts masters as his enforcers. Just like in the first movie, there’s a lackey who acts as the go-between for Wallace and the martial arts masters.
Ip Man is
financially broke and has set up a martial arts school to raise money to care
for his family. Things aren’t picking up in his school until a man comes to
challenge him. From there, that man becomes a disciple and brings with him
other students. This one man becomes a big pain in the neck throughout the
movie, so watch out for that.
Setting up a
school in the area wasn’t allowed until Ip Man proved himself to be a worthy
master. He took on the challenge, and that’s where we get to understand Hung’s
role in the town. He was the head of things in the area.
After setting up
shop, Ip Man gets dragged into the problem Hung had with Wallace. He and Hung
have their own differences to handle, but those differences have to be
addressed when they realize they can bond over a common enemy.
The movie isn’t
as good as the first Ip Man film in terms of the story, but it’s worth seeing
nonetheless. We also get to see a young Bruce Lee approach the master wanting
to be a disciple. This is further explored in the third film of the series.
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