Ip Man 3, 2015.
Directed by Wilson Yip.
Starring Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Jin Zhang, Mike Tyson, Patrick Tam and Karena Ng.
SYNOPSIS:
Master Ip takes on a group of gangsters led by an unscrupulous property developer and hell bent on taking over the city.
Director Wilson Yip’s Ip Man series finally draws to a close with this third film covering the life of Yip Man, Grandmaster of the Wing Chun style of kung fu and all-round bad-ass – this is, after all, the man who taught Bruce Lee a thing or two about martial arts. However, for this closing instalment the national pride themes that were carried throughout the previous two films have been replaced by a more intimate setting and storylines of a more personal nature, and with fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping (Iron Monkey) on board the fights themselves are also slightly different, being noticeably more graceful and almost poetic to watch.
But whereas the first film called upon Master Ip (Donnie Yen) to fight against the invading Japanese army during the invasion of 1937 and the second film focused on defending Chinese honour against the west and their arrogant boxing champion, Ip Man 3 brings it all down to a more individual level, with Master Ip helping to defend the local school against a gang of thugs led by brutal property developer Frank (former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson in a painful piece of stunt casting). While this is going on Cheung Tin-chi (Jin Zhang), another Wing Chun master, is hoping to open a martial arts school in the town and wants to challenge Master Ip for the title of Grandmaster, but Ip is otherwise distracted by his wife’s battle with cancer. Along the way there are also fights with the local criminal gangs, the kidnapping of the local children in a proposed child slavery plot and corrupt officials all trying to muscle in on the action.
And the action is plentiful, as you would expect, but with Yuen Woo-Ping conducting the fight scenes there is an elegance that flows throughout the film, softening the edges that the previous two films relished but making it no less satisfying to watch. The casting of Mike Tyson is something of a double-edged sword for the film, as his three-minute fight with Donnie Yen is pretty damn exciting and full of the savage kinetic energy that ‘Iron’ Mike displayed in his heyday but unfortunately somebody wrote him some lines to say and, ironically, this is where the subtitles came in most handy as it really is hard to make out what he is saying, his English being even less decipherable than his Cantonese. The few minutes that he is on the screen he makes a considerably intimidating impression with his tattooed face and impressive hand speed, but he really is only there to set up a centrepiece fight for the film and once that particular battle is over he serves no more purpose and the film shifts onto another of the many plot threads at play.
The final act of Ip Man 3 is where it really changes gear from everything we’ve seen in the series so far. The previous two films hinted at Master Ip not spending enough time with his family as he’s too busy teaching and helping everybody else out with their problems and here we really get to see that come to fruition with his wife Cheung Wing-sing’s cancer diagnosis, giving the couple a chance to spend some quality time together as Master Tin goes about proving he is the superior fighter. It’s a little jarring at first as the whole pace of the film, and by extension the series, slows down for Ip Man to quietly come to terms with his situation but on reflection it is quite a brave move for Wilson Yip to end his trilogy like this when he could have gone for the Rocky IV-style bravado that Ip Man 2 was aiming for (and near enough hit) and finished with a fist-in-the-air montage of Donnie Yen’s best bits. As it is, when put into context, the introspective ending hits home that Master Ip was a real person and, above all, a family man.
Overall, Ip Man 3 is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy but anyone expecting the gripping narrative of the first film or the brutal and straightforward action of the second may find the various meandering plot threads and curious casting choices a little bit distracting. It is a very good film and Donnie Yen is as engaging and thrilling to watch as he was before and manages to tap into the human element of the character in a much more detailed way but the real downfall of this film is the fact that it follows two brilliantly entertaining movies and really sits in their shadow in terms of consistency. Nevertheless, if you’ve followed the series so far then you owe it to yourself to watch this film and enjoy it as part of one of the most accomplished martial arts series of recent years.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
Originally published April 25, 2016. Updated October 28, 2022.
