Ip Man (2008)

The way you discover a new movie can set some expectations about it. If I see a lot of positive scores for a movie I expect that I will also like it, which doesn’t always happen of course. If close friends suggest a movie you assume you will absolutely love it, because they know your tastes (of course it doesn’t always work if your taste in movies is very different). This movie got suggested by me by a friend who does have the same taste in movies, so I was looking forward to it. I quite like martial arts movies, so going into this blindly I didn’t know this movie was semi-biograhical, telling the story about the man who would be Bruce Lee’s teacher. The movie also happens to be in the IMDB top 250, so I was surprised I had not seen it yet (since I’ve worked through most of the list).

The movie is set in the 1930s around the time that the Japanese invaded China. Ip Man was considered the best martial arts teacher in the town of Fo Shan and proves so in various fights before the invasion. Once the Japanese are there it changes his life. He has to move out of his house (together with his wife and son) and has to change his life in order to survive.

Looking at this movie you believe that Ip Man really was undefeatable and although I believe he must have been a great martial artist I did get the feeling that it probably has taken some liberties. If you look past that though the movie has a very interesting story and some awesome fights to keep you entertained. The sets look great and Donnie Yen gives the role heart and believability. He plays a man who sticks to his principles, cares for the people around him and goes to extremes to make sure he can keep living like that, no matter the cost. It’s an inspiring way to live, even if you don’t know how to kick someone in the face.