Review of Ip Man

OK, I realize I am out on a limb here. But I think I am onto something. First, let me say I have seen 99.9% of all martial arts films released in the west in the last 50 years, including entries from Japan, Thailand and Korea. Also in my youth I used to go into Chinatown in Montreal and watch direct imports from Hong Kong, no subtitles. So, credentials on the table, and already facing many disapproving glances from other martial arts cinephiles, I want to respectfully draw your attention to a scene about 3/4 the way through where the corrupt local officials decide to make their beef with the Ip Man character "personal" and go after his family. Let's pause for second. First this is a biopic and as I have said in my other reviews on IMDb, usually (but not always) for a biopic the rules are a bit different, and the story is a little more constrained. (In fact, for this sequels to this excellent film, they threw the rule book out the window, with attendant consequences, all bad, but I digress, I am not reviewing those films here.) Second, the casting. Some have complained that Donnie is too old for this kind of role but after spending so many years (decades) with Jet and Jackie, I think he is a breath of fresh air and clearly his skills in the Wing Chun style are authentic. Now to the fight scene. It is short, which puts me in double jeopardy because I have not only dared to pick a fight scene I think is a standout, but I have picked a scene which is short. In the scene, the character Ip Man, who TO THIS POINT IN THE FILM has been a model of restraint, reacts with true emotion when his family (his wife) is manhandled. He goes after those doing the attacking and his hands move so fast that for a moment it appears his opponents have been caught in a threshing machine. The reason I dare to compare this to other great scenes (such as for example the marvellous early, sequential, fight scenes in Ong Bak, also candidates for the greatest fight scenes of all time) is the emotional setup. In these kinds of films you rarely see emotion when the Masters fight. Here Donnie allows his character to show passion as he turns the bad guys to hamburger, and for that reason, I think this film, already iconic, should get special mention.