The third installment in the Ip Man franchise brings back Donnie Yen as the eponymous master of Wing Chun. This time he has to deal with an unscrupulous property developer and, as an almost completely separate story element, a threat against his legitimacy as a practitioner of Wing Chun style of kung fu. Oh, and Bruce Lee also makes an appearance. Because why not.
Taken separately, each of these story elements seem fine. It's a bit odd to see Mike Tyson of all people face off against Donnie Yen, but I'm down with it. A rival Wing Chun practitioner would also be something interesting to focus on. As would Ip Man's relationship with his most well-known and arguably greatest student.
Instead we get all three and it feels disjointed. None of these elements are given enough room to shine and some of them are dropped towards the end so that the movie can focus on the other. Which makes the viewer think: "Wait? That's it? That's the resolution to that conflict?"
It's not a bad film. The fight scenes are still superb and Donnie Yen shines in the lead role. I also like that the film explores his relationship with his wife a bit more. That storyline evoked the most feelings in me out of all four or more of them.
If you've liked the previous two, you'll probably like this one just fine, but it's easily my least favourite of the three.
Taken separately, each of these story elements seem fine. It's a bit odd to see Mike Tyson of all people face off against Donnie Yen, but I'm down with it. A rival Wing Chun practitioner would also be something interesting to focus on. As would Ip Man's relationship with his most well-known and arguably greatest student.
Instead we get all three and it feels disjointed. None of these elements are given enough room to shine and some of them are dropped towards the end so that the movie can focus on the other. Which makes the viewer think: "Wait? That's it? That's the resolution to that conflict?"
It's not a bad film. The fight scenes are still superb and Donnie Yen shines in the lead role. I also like that the film explores his relationship with his wife a bit more. That storyline evoked the most feelings in me out of all four or more of them.
If you've liked the previous two, you'll probably like this one just fine, but it's easily my least favourite of the three.