I will try to keep this spoiler free.
Donnie Yen returns for Ip Man 3, and despite being produced by the same team, the theme that is explored... is that much deeper.
Ip Man focuses on "Survival", Ip Man 2 focuses on Everyday Life and Making a Living, while Ip Man 3 focuses on "Life" itself.
The audience will need to pay attention to details to enjoy the movie fully, starting from the first scene, and really understand how the first scene relates to the whole story. So... REMEMBER the first scene! (The Butterfly Scene)
There are subtle hints hidden in the move, be it Bruce Lee's quote of "Be Like Water" or "One-Inch Punch" where viewers really need to pay attention to the story and choreography to understand.
Ip Man 1 and 2 focuses on grounded action, and realistic choreography. Ip Man 3 has that, but added another layer of beauty to the movie, thanks to Yuen Woo Ping(Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)'s choreography. The details of every fight scene can be enjoyed and explored.
While many think that Ip Man 3 will be just a martial arts exhibition, but the team managed to bring in a layer of emotion we have not seen in 1 and 2.
Donnie's Ip Man is now a much more grounded, humble and just that neighborhood family guy we all love.
Donnie Yen's performance here is nothing sort of amazing.
Lynn Hung's performance is also outstanding.
All in all, the movie may not please all critics and fans who ONLY loves hard-hitting action, but if you are looking at an Ip Man movie with Great action, great humour and that sense of touch with a love story, then Ip Man 3 is the best in the series.
