Another story about poor Ip Man. It is likely that the reality is very different from all those films that celebrate his personal art of kung-fu.
Here we have a production with a lot of means for everything that concerns the technical elements: sets, costumes (we can note a very good work on the costumes), makeup and the whole production values.
The scenario is still the standard pattern with the Japanese villains, with the evil rival school, with the betrayed master, a romantic story thwarted, with the master who is murdered or at least here there is a master who dies alone and then another one who is murdered.
The quality of this kind of film is linked to the fights and the choreography. In this film they come at regular intervals and are rather well executed, the main actor being convincing; the choreographies are well staged with many long shots and very few close-ups. The choreography incorporates a lot of destruction of set pieces, which gives it some punch. The director does not insist on the violence of the fights, but there are some spectacular and really violent in the way they break the furniture, the walls and the surrounding scenery.
In the very typical elements of this kind of production, there is a rough or even rough dramaturgy, as well as elements of philosophy associated with kung fu of course, which without being laughable are sometimes a little heavy (and a little ridiculous).
Otherwise, it is very nice to see Sammo Hung (not for long) and Yuen Biao (throughout the film), old friends of Jackie Chan (when he did the stunts himself).
