Six (6) months have passed since IP Man (Donnie Yen) and his family escaped from Japanese occupied Foshan in China with the aid of his long time friend Zhou Qing Quan (Simon Yam). Now in Hong Kong, IP Man is looking to begin teaching and expanding the discipline of Wing Chung martial arts. But things aren’t as easy as they seem, Master Hong Zhen (Sammo Hung) demands IP Man to abide by the rules in order to teach Wing Chung in Hong Kong. However, a westerner arrives in Hong Kong and threatens their honor and its time to join together to defend their beliefs.
The sequel to IP Man had me with high hopes. A lot of what I enjoyed in the first film was perfectly implemented into this film. Somehow, the film fell short trying to stay up to part with the first title. Sure it was a direct sequel, but it just didn’t manage to stand out the same way. The story was below my expectations with several scenes just simply resulting as comical, especially when Twister (Darren Shahlavi) was on camera. Shahlavi was simply mediocre with his over pretentious attitude that he was given to act. I know it’s a Hong Kong import, but the way the different cultures are portrayed appear very biased in an attempt to show how the people were treated under the British control. The film concentrates on the disputes of two grand masters and their disciplines. The story does show some signs of depth, but ultimately we see two
The main thing about IP Man is the martial arts and in this section the film does not disappoint. Sammo Hung reprised his role as the film’s martial arts choreographer, who also makes an appearance in the film, and he brings the passion and power to each fighting scene whether Donnie Yen is on screen or not. The fighting sequences are highly stylized and some feature more special effects that I would prefer, but the bottom line is that fighting is great. Huang Xiaoming is worth mentioning as an actor that stood out during fighting sequences. The set design was impressive with the recreation of Hong Kong streets to resemble the late 1940s. Overall, the production values of this film are excellent. If you are Kung Fu fanatic, this should be a no brainer.
IP Man arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.35:1. This time around the film is more appealing than the first. The image is clear and very sharp throughout. The image is more vivid with colors that stand out more often in the image. Skintones are natural and lifelike. Detailing is impressive revealing the intricate textures of the garments, streets, and close up shots. Black levels are well resolved. There are no signs of any pesky issues.This is a very solid Blu-ray release.
IP Man 2 arrives on Blu-ray with three 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks, Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. Personally, I do not enjoy watching dubs of foreign films, I prefer watching it with its original track. For this review, I watched the film using the Cantonese track. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout, although sometimes the track is slightly overwhelmed by the score. It’s evident that in this sequel the track has more activity in the speakers, the surrounds are filled with some atmospheric effects and the soothing score. The LFE only appears to kick in when the action starts to kick in. IP Man 2 sounds good on Blu-ray.
Making of IP Man 2 – A quick view at the making of the movie.
Behind the Sets – Comprised of four small features The Community, Fishmarket, Chinese Restaurant, Big & Small Arena. Each focuses on the sets created for the set used in the film.
Deleted Scenes
Shooting Diary
Interviews – There are a handful of very quick interviews that include speakers like:
Wilson Yip
Donnie Yen
Sammo Hung
Huang Xiao
Kent Cheng
Youe Hong
Ashton Chen
Louis Fan
Pierre Ngo
Darren Shahlavi
IP Man 2 Is visibly a more mainstream film. A film made to appeal a much larger spectrum of viewers. The story focuses on the two grand masters IP and Hong and how their relationship evolves when a common threat arrives in town. Storywise some may find it more appealing, but I feel that it came short of the first. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great all around. as I mentioned before , if you are a Kung Fu fan this should be an easy grab.
