Ip Man: la légende est née

"The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" is a film which chronicles Ip Man in his teenage years which focuses much on his learning of Wing Chun. The film is a prequel to the previous two Ip Man films which starred Donnie Yen as the titular character of Ip Man. Now, the star has been changed and the film has gotten a different style.

First, let me tell you about the cast. The cast choosing here in this movie can be called really bizarre. Dennis To who became a temporary minor antagonist on "Ip Man 2" became the teenage titular character in this prequel. That totally got me shocked. It's so rare to see such happening. Then, we have some of the same cast used in the previous Ip Man films on a different role such as Sammo Hung (plays the teacher of the teenage Ip Man) and Louis Fan (plays the brother of Ip Man). That was really confusing. But, something surprised me. A character named Leung Bik was played by the son of Ip Man no other than Ip Chun.

Secondly, there are quite a lot of perspectives. There are around six perspectives here which really got me confused. There's one from Ip Man, then one for his brother, his love, his other jealous love and the enemy. It really got my mind turning around.

Next, the special effects were kind of cheesy. There were two scenes that showed a train leaving somewhere to somewhere. You know that those trains produce smoke. The smoke was pretty fake as it didn't suit the background. It was not good.

The acting of the characters. Not bad. Dennis To on Ip Man was not bad at all. The others were also normal. Just like a normal movie. The emotions were well acted by the actors.

Then we have the action scenes. They were also well directed. But, I still say the previous two films related to Ip Man still had better action scenes than this prequel. The moves were less cooler than the previous two pictures. But, it's not really cheesy. Not a problem.

This movie has a different style. It has a different theme. "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2" had the theme where the people were seeking freedom (although "Ip Man 2" was not totally about seeking freedom). Whereas, this movie has a different theme of love. For me, the freedom theme from the previous two films is only a small percent of the film. The directing and division of the emotional moments are also differently set.

There's also another confusing thing. If you've watched "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2", you might notice that the titular character of Ip Man doesn't know English at all. He didn't even speak any word in English language. But, in this PREQUEL, he is able to speak English quite fluently. He also spoke to an English or American person in this movie. That was strange and that totally made my mind confused too.

Well, the movie provided some sad moments too. But, they were not so sad, they were only like 40% sad moments for me. But, if you're easy to cry, you might want to just provide a piece of tissue in case you have tears flowing down your face.

The movie is different from the previous two Ip Man related films. I say this is worse than the previous ones. I'm not really satisfied with the result of the film. The previous films were much better than this. But, this movie might just entertain you with its action scenes. I half- heartedly recommend you this movie. It's still entertaining to be watched and not really a waste of time. 6 stars for this movie.

I had heard positive things about the Ip Man films and I generally have found Donnie Yen to be an enjoyable and engaging martial arts star so, sight-unseen I decided to check out the sequel when the chance came up on an airplane recently. That it turned out to be a prequel to the original film didn't really bother me, since I didn't really have any expectations on the film in this regard and the lack of Donnie Yen didn't really bother me either (albeit this was because I expected the film to transition to him as the film progressed in time!).

Anyway, the story here sees the rise of Man as he is trained up from a child, adapts his style thanks to input from the brother of his former master before returning to his original school to find shadowy plans from a Japanese influence moving into the area and making deadly political power moves. The plot generally does enough to provide a structure for the action sequences, but there is really nothing more to it than that. It had the potential to build character development and thus character tensions as well as making the most of the local political machinations and deceptions to add to the tension, but it doesn't really do either of these because it doesn't seem interested in making this more than a frame. It is still a semi-decent frame, but it is only a frame.

In terms of fight sequences the film is also decent enough without being thrilling. The individual fights are well choreographed and are filmed without the frantic editing that western films often use to cover up that the cast are only able to do one move at a time – here the performers are the ones with the skill, not just the editors. This isn't to say that they are thrilling though, but at least they are impressive in terms of technical skill. It isn't till the final fight where a bit of passion and danger gets into the film, prior to this it is noticeably lacking and it did mean I was "watching" the action rather than getting into it. Although a lot of this feeling is from the film as a whole, a good chunk of it has to rest with Yu-Hang because he is frankly dull. In the same way Seagal tends to have the same expression in all manner of scenes, so Yu-Hang tends to have a slightly simple bland expression whether he is fighting off sideshow bullies or talking with a girl he likes. I imagine if I'd seen Yen in the first film, this comparison would be unbearable because, even on its own merits he is a remarkably bland presence in the lead. Sammo shows up so briefly you wonder why he bothered apart from being a known name to help sell the film. The rest of the younger cast are pretty average as well – skilled for sure, but mostly bland or limited; the only performance that really stuck in my mind was the girl who played the Japanese general's daughter) as she showed some colour and heart in the (albeit one-note) character she had.

Overall Ip Man Legend is a solid martial arts film which delivers solid fight sequences in a so-so plot populated by mostly bland or limited performances. It carries itself with a rather worthy air that doesn't help escape the feeling of being a bit of a trudge, but it is still an "OK" film although nothing more than that.

With cult Hong Kong director Herman Yau at the helm, The Legend is Born predates the Ip Man films we've seen thus far, seizing the window of opportunity in exploring Ip Man's life as a teenager before he became the master we're all familiar with Donnie Yen's portrayal. While it's less flashy than the two earlier films, Yau will pique your curiosity with the shrewd casting of veterans such as Sammo Hung in a different role this time as Ip Man's master Chan Wah- shun, Yuen Biao as the next generation leader Chung Sok, and even getting Fan Siu Wong back as Ip Man's foster brother Ip Tin-chi, making him the only actor to feature in all three Ip Man films thus far. Credibility for the film is even enhanced with the presence of Ip Man's real son Ip Chun as the elderly but sprightly Leung Bik who teaches Ip Man (played by Dennis To) a thing or two about his brand of Wing Chun.

That scene alone opposite To is one of the action highlights of the film. And action is something this film has no lack of, ranging from friendly and playful exchanges, to fending off petty street thugs and the Japanese – yes, again, but I suppose it's set in the era before the Sino-Japanese war that this in the narrative is somehow unavoidable. While the earlier film versions had tried to stay rooted in reality with the fight scenes, for this version there's the inevitable and obvious wirework being used from time to time, which takes you into the realm of fantasy unfortunately.

But almost everyone here has a fight crafted for them, and some of the better ones include the mouth-watering duel between Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao executing Wing Chun moves while blindfolded, imparting a key philosophy about pre-emption, Fan Siu Wong's battle against Japanese exponents in the Jing Wu premises, Dennis To against Yuen Biao when the former returned from Hong Kong, and of course the brawl involving Dennis To against many ninjas, which we now associate Ip Man with (fighting against impossible odds in headcount). Various martial arts like Judo and Karate also get thrown in even if they're used fleetingly, and there's also glimpses of the variation of Wing Chun involving weapons like the 6 inch pole (well, we know the damage what Ip Man can do with a humongous one from the first film), and the staples like the wooden dummy practices and the rapid fire punches. If there's any fight scene which is a let down, it'll be the final one which was short, and the opponent never really threatening our hero at all.

Dennis To, the current Hong Kong martial arts champion, probably has his close physical features resemble Donnie Yen to thank for in winning the title role of Ip Man, since audiences all over are currently associating the Master with Donnie's portrayal. Incidentally To had a role in Ip Man 2 as Sammo Hung's disciple, so how's that for having everyone associated with the earlier films, to chip in for this one? The pressure is on for To, but granted he cannot hold a candle to Donnie Yen's charisma yet, and because Ip Man the character here is in his early days, he gets whupped a bit more here as expected since he's nowhere near the grandmaster status. Credit to To for trying, though his acting is a lot more wooden, and his fighting moves executed for the film also having a raw feel than the fluidity we've come to know the Ip Man for.

On the other hand, I thought this was more of a Fan Siu Wong breakthrough role, where he'd make you sit up and take notice of his gentlemanly portrayal of Ip Tin-chi. In Ip Man 1 he's the ruffian from the North, and shows that he's quite the chameleon in changing his outwardly appearance for a different character here. His character also seemed to be more fleshed out (for a reason of course), and action-wise given the opportunity to shine a lot more with the various styles utilized, as well as those which Ip Man had picked up from Leung Bik, putting them two on almost equal terms.

Erica Lee's screenplay transports us back to the life and times of a young Ip Man and his life in the Wing Chun martial arts school, as well as his education in Hong Kong. Unfortunately it also meant having to put in a clunky romantic web weaved between the characters, though it didn't go beyond the surface and had plenty of "jealous fits" coming from Rose Chan's fellow martial arts student with whom Ip Tin-chi is interested in, but for her to prefer Ip Man, who in turn is in love with Huang Yi's rich girl character to probably align this to the Ip Man films.

The story also contain shades from the earlier ones, such as those involving corrupted officials, arrogant foreigners who have to be put in their place, a jail term (this makes it 3 in a row that Ip Man gets thrown into one), and having enough twists in the story to include a short murder mystery, espionage, and a turn that will make Infernal Affairs proud as well.

It's a prequel done by another production team, so don't expect the narrative to gel so nicely into Mandarin Films' Ip Man universe since there are elements here that obviously clashes with what we treat as canon. But what you can expect, as a martial arts action film, is plenty of rapid fire, hard hitting action, and of course more of Ip Man's character being portrayed on the big screen. You'd still feel compelled to applaud when Ip Man comes to the rescue, but soon realize that it doesn't exude the same emotional intensity, but makes up for it in its variety of fights showcasing the lesser seen Wing Chun moves.

There has been a heap of movies about legendary Kung Fu master Ip Man in recent years, and each does portray a slightly different character.

With that said, then this 2010 version portrays the early years of Ip Man. And while being a newcomer to a lead role, then Yu-Huang To did manage to put on a persuasive and good performance of a young Ip Man. And his performance was good in martial arts and acting alike.

The story was good and captivating, and it does offer a good variety of drama, action, intrigue and romance, all mixed together in a manner that worked out quite well.

Being a martial arts movie, then the martial arts is crucial, and it needs to be impressive, well-choreographed and most importantly well-executed. The martial arts in this movie was good and varied; from street fights, playful sparring and deadly brawls. It was well-performed and looked impressive. And the movie was relatively free of 'Wire Fu'. There were some disappointing transitions into 'Wire Fu' though, which was a shame.

"The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" (aka "Yip Man chin chyun") has some good names on the cast list, including Yu-Huang To, Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen, to name but a few. Most impressive, though, is the fact that they got Ip Chun to be in the movie.

If you like Hong Kong martial arts movies, then "The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" is definitely well-worth watching.

Like some critics are saying I have to agree this isn't as entertaining as the previous Ip Man movies that feature Donnie Yen so far. But this isn't a bad movie, in fact it turned out to be much better than I expected. Maybe it's because I had such low expectations after finding out the person that will be playing Ip Man won't be Donnie Yen. This movie isn't really a prequel to the previous Ip Man movie although it shows the beginning of Ip Man's legend. But a alternative telling of the Ip Man story or a origin story. What I also found funny is how some of the cast from the previous Ip Man movies is in this but are entirely different characters. The plot isn't entirely believable but the fight sequences are at least compared to the previous two Ip Man movies. The story for a origin movie isn't all that interesting and not that entertaining and a bit slow paced for this style and type of movie. But the twist near the end makes it slightly bit better than it would have been. Not that the twist is all that great but it's still not that predictable and makes sense although a bit far-fetched. It's a worthy installment in the Ip Man franchise but it's not better than the previous two that has Donnie Yen. Although Dennis To does a great job playing Ip Man as Donnie Yen, in fact I find them both to be almost equals.

6.1