I like martial arts cinema. It’s been a giant a part of my beat since I joined the Polygon group. However that hasn’t all the time been true.
The motion films I grew up with have been extra of the James Bond selection — plenty of spy films, some superhero fare, with the occasional Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon snuck in. About 10 years in the past, I occurred to return throughout a flurry of fantastic fashionable martial arts films all in the midst of every week. Undisputed 2: Final Man Standing, Common Soldier: Day of Reckoning, and Blood and Bone opened my eyes to what was potential within the direct-to-video area. However it was Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen’s Ip Man sequence that cemented my curiosity within the style and pushed me to find extra.
Loosely primarily based on the lifetime of well-known Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, the films reunite Yip and Yen after the pair delivered consecutive bangers with SPL and Flash Level. The Ip Man films mix terrific combat choreography with transferring period-piece storytelling, all revolving across the distinctive skills of their main man, a film star working on the absolute peak of his powers.
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Donnie Yen is among the many most charismatic and proficient film stars working immediately. Western audiences could also be most acquainted with him from his latest roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and John Wick: Chapter 4, or from Shanghai Knights and Blade II. (He additionally served as Blade II’s motion choreographer). However he has an extended, lengthy historical past of utilizing his star energy to propel glorious Hong Kong motion films, and the Ip Man sequence is simply one of many newest examples.
Yen’s unbelievable martial arts ability mixed with the sequence’ choreography is the showiest a part of the films. However what elevates them to genuinely nice filmmaking is the best way they lean on his deep soulfulness to inform a transferring story. The Ip Man films cowl tragedies on each the non-public and nationwide stage, confronting oppression, cruelty, and the various methods folks harm one another — not simply via bone-crushing blows.
And Yen is as much as the duty, imbuing Ip with a deep melancholy. He begins out as somebody who fights as a result of he desires to, participating in pleasant competitions with fellow martial arts masters, however he finally fights as a result of he has to, defending the folks and values he holds most expensive. The flicks’ narratives and Yen’s efficiency do a terrific job of constructing out this readability of goal, making it straightforward for audiences to grow to be deeply invested in his fights.
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There’s lots extra to love in regards to the Ip Man films, however the standout component is the franchise’s glorious motion, helmed by the 2 most influential and completed martial arts administrators and choreographers of the trendy period. Ip Man and Ip Man 2 have motion directed by Sammo Hung (greatest recognized for his collaborations together with his childhood buddy Jackie Chan), whereas Ip Man 3 and Ip Man 4: The Finale have motion directed by Yuen Woo-ping (who helped launch Chan as a star with Drunken Grasp, and is understood internationally for his work on the Matrix films; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; and Kill Invoice). Of their arms (and Yen’s), the franchise’s combat scenes sing, matching Ip in opposition to a few of the premier display screen fighters working immediately, together with Max Zhang, Louis Fan, Scott Adkins, and Hung himself.
The standout combat from Ip Man sees an enraged Ip demanding to combat 10 Japanese troopers (all black belts) after he sees them mistreat a fellow grasp. Till this level, Ip has been comparatively quiet and reserved, hesitant to deploy his prowess in opposition to the Japanese troops occupying his residence through the Second Sino-Japanese Warfare. However after he witnesses this merciless act in opposition to a buddy and colleague, a swap is flipped, and Ip brutally dispatches all 10 fighters in a ruthless show of Yen’s unthinkable pace and martial arts ability.
Not content material to simply replay the hits, the later films add thrilling wrinkles to a few of their larger set-pieces. In Ip Man 2, Yen fights Sammo Held on prime of a barely balanced desk. In Ip Man 3, he fights former Tony Jaa stunt double Simon Kook in a tightly packed elevator whereas taking his spouse residence from the hospital.
In every of those combat scenes, the Ip Man films use spectacular choreography in service of the bigger story and character beats. Sure, they’re spectacular moments of spectacle, however they aren’t simply that. The most effective motion films use the great thing about our bodies in movement to point out the methods we are able to specific anger, regret, pleasure, redemption, and a litany of different feelings not simply via phrases or facial expressions. There are few higher automobiles for that than Yen, an unbelievably expert martial artist with the performing chops to match.
Together with Undisputed 2 (out there for digital rental or buy), Common Soldier: Day of Reckoning (free with adverts on Crackle), and Blood and Bone (free with adverts on Crackle), the Ip Man films have been welcoming gateways for me into the world of martial arts cinema, and now they are often for you, too. Simply ensure that to catch them earlier than they depart Netflix on July 21.
When you’re studying this after the films have left the platform, you’ll be able to nonetheless watch the primary three Ip Man films on Peacock, Hello-Yah!, without cost with a library card on Hoopla or Kanopy, or without cost with adverts on Tubi, Crackle, and Pluto TV. You possibly can watch Ip Man 4: The Finale on Hello-Yah! or without cost with a library card on Hoopla and Kanopy. For extra Ip Man goodness, I extremely advocate additionally trying out Yuen Woo-ping’s Ip Man 3 spinoff Grasp Z: Ip Man Legacy (Peacock, Hello-Yah, without cost with a library card on Hoopla and Kanopy, or without cost with adverts on Crackle, Pluto, and Freevee), and Wong Kar-wai’s very totally different tackle the Ip Man story, The Grandmaster (streaming on Prime, or without cost with adverts on Tubi).
For extra Donnie Yen excellence, take a look at Within the Line of Responsibility 4 (free with adverts on Tubi, Crackle, and Freevee), Wing Chun (out there for digital rental or buy on Amazon), and his earlier collaborations with Wilson Yip, SPL (free with adverts on Tubi) and Flash Level (streaming on Peacock and Hello-Yah!, without cost with a library card on Hoopla, or without cost with adverts on Tubi, Pluto, and Freevee).
