Ip Man reluctantly begins a series of challenges from rival kung fu schools and is soon drawn into the dark and dangerous world of the Triads and to defend life and honor, he has no choice but to fight.
The action choreography eschews the slow-motion, wire-assisted grace of Yuen Woo Ping's in "The Grandmaster," but does a solid job of crisply and clearly showcasing a few epic brawls.
It's admirable that Ip Man: The Final Fight takes a different approach to the character than the other Ip Man films out there, but it lacks the excitement that made Ip Man and Ip Man 2 so entertaining.
Seriously, if not always elegantly, the film portrays the great Ip Man as someone trying to survive, which is to say just as often a victim as a victor.
Cut off from his home and family in China, martial-arts teacher Ip Man tries to adapt to life in Hong Kong. Intriguing if reverential account of an icon's final years.
Ip Man was a notable martial arts instructor, he was not a saint. Perhaps someday, somebody will make an accurate film about the man. Meanwhile, we have these kung fu pseudo-biopics to entertain us.
The soul of this movie is really in its tireless references to the historical and social conditions of 1950s and 60s Hong Kong, whose street views are recreated in vibrant, saturated colours.
