I like martial arts cinema. It’s been an enormous a part of my beat since I joined the Polygon crew. However that hasn’t at all times been true.
The motion motion pictures I grew up with have been extra of the James Bond selection — numerous spy motion pictures, some superhero fare, with the occasional Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon snuck in. About 10 years in the past, I occurred to come back throughout a flurry of wonderful trendy martial arts motion pictures all in the middle of per week. Undisputed 2: Final Man Standing, Common Soldier: Day of Reckoning, and Blood and Bone opened my eyes to what was doable within the direct-to-video area. Nevertheless it was Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen’s Ip Man collection that cemented my curiosity within the style and pushed me to find extra.
Loosely primarily based on the lifetime of well-known Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, the flicks reunite Yip and Yen after the pair delivered consecutive bangers with SPL and Flash Level. The Ip Man motion pictures mix terrific battle choreography with transferring period-piece storytelling, all revolving across the distinctive abilities of their main man, a film star working on the absolute peak of his powers.
Donnie Yen is among the many most charismatic and gifted film stars working as we speak. Western audiences could also be most acquainted with him from his latest roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and John Wick: Chapter 4, or from Shanghai Knights and Blade II. (He additionally served as Blade II’s motion choreographer). However he has an extended, lengthy historical past of utilizing his star energy to propel wonderful Hong Kong motion motion pictures, and the Ip Man collection is simply one of many newest examples.
Yen’s unimaginable martial arts ability mixed with the collection’ choreography is the showiest a part of the flicks. However what elevates them to genuinely nice filmmaking is the way in which they lean on his deep soulfulness to inform a transferring story. The Ip Man motion pictures cowl tragedies on each the private and nationwide stage, confronting oppression, cruelty, and the numerous methods folks damage one another — not simply by means of bone-crushing blows.
And Yen is as much as the duty, imbuing Ip with a deep melancholy. He begins out as somebody who fights as a result of he desires to, partaking in pleasant competitions with fellow martial arts masters, however he ultimately fights as a result of he has to, defending the folks and values he holds most expensive. The films’ narratives and Yen’s efficiency do a terrific job of constructing out this readability of goal, making it straightforward for audiences to develop into deeply invested in his fights.
There’s loads extra to love concerning the Ip Man motion pictures, however the standout component is the franchise’s wonderful motion, helmed by the 2 most influential and achieved martial arts administrators and choreographers of the trendy period. Ip Man and Ip Man 2 have motion directed by Sammo Hung (finest recognized for his collaborations together with his childhood good friend Jackie Chan), whereas Ip Man 3 and Ip Man 4: The Finale have motion directed by Yuen Woo-ping (who helped launch Chan as a star with Drunken Grasp, and is understood internationally for his work on the Matrix motion pictures; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; and Kill Invoice). Of their arms (and Yen’s), the franchise’s battle scenes sing, matching Ip towards a few of the premier display screen fighters working as we speak, together with Max Zhang, Louis Fan, Scott Adkins, and Hung himself.
The standout battle from Ip Man sees an enraged Ip demanding to battle 10 Japanese troopers (all black belts) after he sees them mistreat a fellow grasp. Till this level, Ip has been comparatively quiet and reserved, hesitant to deploy his prowess towards the Japanese troops occupying his dwelling throughout the Second Sino-Japanese Struggle. However after he witnesses this merciless act towards a good friend and colleague, a change is flipped, and Ip brutally dispatches all 10 fighters in a ruthless show of Yen’s unthinkable pace and martial arts ability.
Not content material to only replay the hits, the later motion pictures add thrilling wrinkles to a few of their greater set-pieces. In Ip Man 2, Yen fights Sammo Held on prime of a barely balanced desk. In Ip Man 3, he fights former Tony Jaa stunt double Simon Kook in a tightly packed elevator whereas taking his spouse dwelling from the hospital.
In every of those battle scenes, the Ip Man motion pictures use spectacular choreography in service of the bigger story and character beats. Sure, they’re spectacular moments of spectacle, however they aren’t simply that. One of the best motion motion pictures use the great thing about our bodies in movement to indicate the methods we will specific anger, regret, pleasure, redemption, and a litany of different feelings not simply by means of phrases or facial expressions. There are few higher automobiles for that than Yen, an unbelievably expert martial artist with the performing chops to match.
Together with Undisputed 2 (accessible for digital rental or buy), Common Soldier: Day of Reckoning (free with adverts on Crackle), and Blood and Bone (free with adverts on Crackle), the Ip Man motion pictures have been welcoming gateways for me into the world of martial arts cinema, and now they are often for you, too. Simply ensure that to catch them earlier than they depart Netflix on July 21.
In the event you’re studying this after the flicks have left the platform, you’ll be able to nonetheless watch the primary three Ip Man motion pictures on Peacock, Hello-Yah!, at no cost with a library card on Hoopla or Kanopy, or at no cost with adverts on Tubi, Crackle, and Pluto TV. You possibly can watch Ip Man 4: The Finale on Hello-Yah! or at no cost with a library card on Hoopla and Kanopy. For extra Ip Man goodness, I extremely suggest additionally trying out Yuen Woo-ping’s Ip Man 3 spinoff Grasp Z: Ip Man Legacy (Peacock, Hello-Yah, at no cost with a library card on Hoopla and Kanopy, or at no cost with adverts on Crackle, Pluto, and Freevee), and Wong Kar-wai’s very totally different tackle the Ip Man story, The Grandmaster (streaming on Prime, or at no cost with adverts on Tubi).
For extra Donnie Yen excellence, take a look at Within the Line of Responsibility 4 (free with adverts on Tubi, Crackle, and Freevee), Wing Chun (accessible for digital rental or buy on Amazon), and his earlier collaborations with Wilson Yip, SPL (free with adverts on Tubi) and Flash Level (streaming on Peacock and Hello-Yah!, at no cost with a library card on Hoopla, or at no cost with adverts on Tubi, Pluto, and Freevee).