higherall7 Donnie Yen comes across as a Chinese version of Shane. Instead of a Western, IP MAN 2 is a true Eastern. Humble and unassuming, it is easy to see how Bruce Lee reached international status after encountering the calm, self-controlled mentorship of such a Master Martial Artist. Donnie Yen's Ip Man is one of the most memorable characters to appear in Cinema in the last 25 years. Only Jet Li's Wong Fei-hung from the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA trilogy rivals this portrayal.Donnie Yen's performance in the original IP MAN had me thinking Oscar; something I don't usually associate with Martial Arts movies. Loved the scene where Ip Man sets up his first Martial Arts school in Hong Kong. Truly enjoyed Donnie Yen as Ip Man demonstrating his level of knowledge to potential new students and gradually building up a body of students. To have individuals come to you to learn what you know must be a very gratifying feeling. This came across very poignantly in the scenes where Ip Man the Martial Arts enthusiast slowly becomes Ip Man the Martial Arts teacher. I loved the scenes where he was in his Dojo going over and correcting techniques with his students. I would have wished there were more scenes of him mentoring Bruce Lee in his school.Enjoyed also Ip Man having to meet with the Martial Arts Masters of his community and having to earn his right to teach and practice in their territory. The scenes of contest between him and them make a memorable and brilliant directorial set piece. These scenes where Ip Man starts his own school and meets with the Masters makes the whole movie to me. Sammo Hung as Master Hung Chun-Nam orchestrates very impressive Martial Arts choreography and presents a true three dimensional character. The climatic fight between Ip Man and Twister is simply a plus. People have likened it to the ROCKY IV movie, but I don't believe this particular action sequence suffers from the comparison. I never got the feeling that Ip Man was fighting for anything more than a restoration of community standards of civility and respect. There was no cocky posturing or desire for self aggrandizement in his body language. He fully came across as a teacher seeking to teach an arrogant Westerner an important lesson in Respect. Darren Shahlevi as Twister plays his role a little broad, but comes across as a worthy villain for Ip Man. The only thing I could have wanted more would have been to have Bruce Lee in the audience rooting him on to win.When Ip Man speaks at the end of the fight you know he is delivering the moral of the story. This is something heroes used to do in my youth. Returned was the idea that right makes might rather than the other way around. Fascinating to observe a man of high moral stature speaking through his most exhaustive effort to restore community order through the practice of his Art.

Maziun I'm not really a fan of martial arts movies , but I liked the first one , so I had to give this one a chance too. The movie is kinda less interesting than first one , because it's not set during the war (which made the first movie so interesting). It feels more like a standard kung fu movie , yet the story has some interesting twists that make it interesting to watch. Since this is the sequel it does follow the familiar path sometimes and obviously isn't that fresh.This movie is based on real story , yet I'm not sure if the portrayal of Brits in this movie is accurate . They are here very one dimensional, arrogant and evil. Simple villains. Just like Ivan Drago in "Rocky 4" . Actually the movie quite easily turns into a cousin of "Rocky 4" near the last 40 minutes. Since I like the Stallone movie I didn't had any problems with that.The fight scenes are just as impressive as in the first one. There is a good portion of drama and some well placed humor moments . The music is still epic and acting is good. The ending is predictable , but cute.I give it 7/10.

dracotestudo To start, the camera and artwork is done beautifully. I felt that every second was thought out carefully. The perspectives of the shots and what was happening fit very well together. Although those with "lazy eyes" may disagree, the subtitles seemingly disappeared within a few minutes. This effect is only achieved (for myself) when all details, large and small, fall nicely into place. In a way, subtitles can enhance a film. Not a word is lost due to volume imbalances. Despite the rough translations in many movies, the spirit still comes through strongly.The action is executed with obvious expertise, ensuing moments of "OUCH!" and "NICE ONE!" Some may feel much suspense, others will find the conflicts somewhat predictable. For this, I will subtract one star. Now, the most important part; the lesson. There are certain lessons that drive any film to success when finished properly. The movies I adore most are the ones in which I learn the most. I'm sure there are other films that teach this lesson just as well, if not better. I must say though, my throat knotted up and I bit my tongue to hold back tears near the end.My sense of this word (the word being the lesson and also spoken) has greatly attuned. What this movie has taught me is permanently etched into my soul. Hint: The practical wisdom is translated in the last eighth ;)

Vivekmaru45 Continuing from where the first film ended, Wing Chun master Ip Man and his family move to Hong Kong in the early 1950s after their escape from Foshan. There, Ip desires to open a school to propagate his art, as well as to make his living, but he has difficulty attracting students due to his lack of reputation in the city. One day, a young man named Wong Leung appears and promptly challenges Ip to a fight, but is easily defeated. Wong leaves humiliated, only to return with some friends to gang up on him. Ip beats them as well. Stunned and impressed by his skills, Wong and his friends become Ip's first students, bringing more disciples to help the school thrive.Wong is later caught posting promotional posters for the school by some Hung Gar students. One of them challenges Wong to a fight and loses, but his friends take Wong hostage in revenge and demand a ransom from Ip. Ip goes to the local wet market as directed, but the meeting ends in a confrontation with a growing mob of Hung Ga students. Ip and Wong fight their way outside to meet Jin Shanzhao — the martial artist and former bandit in the first film — who comes to their rescue with his own gang. The students' master, Hung Chun-nam, arrives to break up the fight. Ip introduces himself, and Hung informs him that before setting up a school, he needs to attend a special fighting ceremony to test his skill. Ip, Wong and Jin are subsequently arrested by Officer Fatso for disturbing the peace but are later released on bail. Hung and Fatso are then shown to be acting as reluctant collectors for the martial arts schools (including Hung's) as part of a protection racket headed by Superintendent Wallace, a corrupt officer in the Hong Kong police.Ip attends the ceremony and defeats his first challengers, and then strikes a draw with the last challenger, Hung. Ip is allowed to keep running his school on the condition that he pay the monthly protection fees, but he declines. Hung thus has his students loiter in front of the Wing Chun school and harass anyone interested, causing a street brawl between them and Ip's disciples. Ip is thus forced to close up and move the school nearer to home. Ip soon confronts Hung, who blames him since he wouldn't pay the protection fees, with Ip telling Hung that he chose to work with the Westerners. Hung insists that they finish their fight, but during this last encounter, Ip stops Hung from accidentally kicking his son as he suddenly appears, earning his respect from Hung. Ip leaves, and the next day, Hung invites him to a British boxing match he had helped to set up, quietly coming to terms with him.The boxing competition begins with the various martial arts schools demonstrating their skills. However, the event's star boxer, Taylor "The Twister" Milos, a Chinese-hating sociopath, openly insults and attacks the students, causing chaos as the masters try to restore order. Hung accepts Twister's challenge to a fight so that he can defend his culture.The fights are superb. The boxer won against Master Hong because he was old and taking medication (mostly probably for the heart). Therefore Ip Man begged Master Hong to give up the fight(same as Rocky Balboa did to Apollo Creed in ROCKY IV). The white boxer nicknamed "Twister", has a truly awesome physique and uses sheer muscle-power to beat his opponent.Next we see Ip Man challenging Twister. Now we see the effect of technique against power. Ip Man's Wing Shun provides him a counter-tactic against the strength of his opponent. Ip man is no longer young in this sequel, so he takes a lot more punishment from Twister. Had he been younger than Twister wouldn't even had a chance to touch Ip. However the sheer willpower, courage and perseverance see Ip through as he exposes Twister's weaknesses and wins the match(again I am reminded of Rocky IV match of Balboa Vs Drago).Ip Man's closing statement to the audience is powerful and though-provoking. He says that he didn't accept Twister's challenge to prove which style was better but to prove that one person's integrity or worth is not OVER that of another. He wanted also that the English and Chinese respect each others customs.This then is Ip Man 2 a worthy sequel that stands shoulder to shoulder with the original Ip Man. The ending scene shows a young Bruce Lee at Ip's door. Ip inquires as too why young Bruce wants to study Wing Chun. Bruce calmly replies: to beat up people I don't like.Ip smiles and tells him to see him when he is much older and the rest as we say is history.