The feeling of watching "Ip Man 2" is very much like watching "First Blood 2" and "First Blood 3" after watching "First Blood", which is full of profound reflections on the war. The sequel to Bloodshot. As far as the last film is sharp and restrained, "Ip Man 2" can be said to be a comprehensive upgrade in terms of entertainment, not only adding a lot of jokes, but also more exciting and exciting action scenes.
To give a very simple example, the most grand battle scene in the first part is the dojo, and the great master and apprentice Huang Liang in "Ip Man 2" were directly surrounded by a group of gangsters, which reminded me of "Young and Dangerous Boys". In "The Man in the Jianghu", Brother Hao Nan and others were plotted against that huge drama. Of course, while the overall entertainment is high, it is also destined that the theme of "Ip Man 2" will be weakened. Although the full name of the film is "The Legend of Ip Man 2 Grandmaster", the word "Grandmaster" is not prominent. It's just that Wing Chun, known as "Women's Boxing", is stronger.
The best thing about Ye Wen
's movie "Ip Man" is that he shows the awakening process of Ye Wen's character. Of course, this awakening is not something like a small universe or chakra, but a national blood. At the beginning of the film, it was explained that Ye Wen was a wealthy family with a superior family background. He didn't have to think about his livelihood like other martial artists. He was just a pure martial arts enthusiast. Therefore, he regards fame and fortune very lightly, and he is also low-key in his life, with a sense of leisure and indifference to the world. The subsequent plot forced him into a predicament step by step, and Ye Wen also had a deeper feeling for the cruel reality. Then the death of Wu Chi and Master Liao fully stimulated his national blood, so the audience saw the easy-going and calm. Ye Wen was finally angry, so he burst out with terrifying lethality.
In "Ip Man 2", after adding a lot of entertainment elements, the awakening process is actually repeated. To put it bluntly, all the valuable selling points are enlarged, but the story routine is still similar. The opening of the hall and apprenticeship is not to carry forward Wing Chun and become a master of the generation, but simply to make a living. It was also persecuted step by step in life, and Master Hong's death angered Ye Wen, and the main line was changed from personal livelihood to national dignity, and finally he said an enlightened speech that everyone is equal. But the paradox is that it is not difficult to see from the words that Ye Wen taught his apprentices that this character is actually very sensible and can be called a wise man, but why bother to repeat it.
It has to be said that "Ip Man 2" not only did not make a breakthrough on the basis of the previous work, but also was inferior to the previous work in some aspects. For example, the battle against Japanese karate masters has a deep historical background and clear and smooth clues as a basis, while challenging This episode of the British boxer is a bit abrupt, and the scenes that exaggerate the audience's national sentiments such as "Jingwumen", "Jingwu Hero", "Huo Yuanjia" and other movies have long been told of old age. Subtly entertains the audience, but nothing new. It suddenly occurred to me that the eighth master made Su Can, one of the ten tigers in Guangdong, travel thousands of miles to the northeast to fight foreigners in "Su Qi'er". It was really good intentions.
Although Ye Wen in the movie is just a bookish martial artist, at most he has the potential to be cold and humorous, and does not show any grandmaster demeanor, but it cannot be denied that the name "Ye Wen" has long been associated with Huo Yuanjia, Huo Yuanjia, Chen Zhen and those heroes are equally famous. But the real Ye Wen is not as restrained as in the work, but a bloody man, like Bruce Lee's scene in "Fist of the Warrior", where he kicked and humiliated the Chinese wooden card. Hope to see a repeat of Huo Yuanjia or Chen Zhen, so Ye Wen's elegant robe never took off.
When the movie "Mei Lanfang" was released, someone in the know said that Chen Kaige created Mei Lanfang in the eyes of the Mei family. In fact, the same is true for the "Ip Man" series, and a high-level Ip Man is not only in the eyes of the Ye family. The Ye Wen in the movie is also the audience's ideal Ye Wen. The amazing box office is the best proof.
Wing Chun
The most exciting part of the movie "Ip Man 2" is the martial arts design. Wing Chun originated from Yan Yongchun, grew out of Liang Zan, flourished in Ye Wen, and was heard by Bruce Lee. As a representative of the close-fitting bunt in the Southern style, Wing Chun actually entered the screen a long time ago. Guang Hong Jinbao himself participated in the shooting of "Prodigal Boy", "Mr. Zan and Looking for Qian Hua" and other works. And in these classic kung fu movies, the performance of Wing Chun is also different. For example, the two Zhang Che films "Southern Shaolin and Northern Shaolin" and "Hong Quan and Wing Chun" mainly show Wing Chun's famous "inch strength". The martial arts design is very clever. Out of a cocoon", the latter ringing the ancient bell within two inches, all express the characteristics of Wing Chun boxing's explosive strength in a very vivid way. Although Wing Chun is dubbed "women's boxing" by some people, its lethality is not ambiguous. After breaking the opponent's head, Ryazan angrily and continuously attacked his wounds, causing the opponent to suffer irreparable damage. Chen Huashun's master clearly pointed out the concept of "hatred" when he was practicing.
The "Ip Man" series can be said to be the most comprehensive and beautiful display of Wing Chun, and it has a certain breakthrough significance. First of all, he showed the fierceness and speed of Wing Chun's close-fitting bunts very vividly. In "Ip Man 2", Ip Man's rapid and quick punches in the fight with Sammo Hung were dazzling, and when I first met Huang Liang, Ip Man's Wing Chun sticky hand was displayed. Also impressed. When fighting with a British boxer in the ring, taking advantage of the opponent's "potential" decline, constantly attacking the key points, and finally concentrating on hitting the face, defeating the opponent's fierceness in one fell swoop is the best interpretation of the word "hatred".
In fact, I feel that the most exciting fight in "Ip Man 2" is not the final ring battle, but the round table battle. Sammo Hung's design is quite ingenious, allowing Ip Man to stand in a small place like a round table to face his opponent, not only can fully highlight the square inch of Wing Chun, but can be comprehensive and tight, but also increase the visibility of the battle. Of course, the most amazing thing is that Sammo Hung displayed the characteristics of Wing Chun, Monkey Boxing (I don’t know if Chen Guantai practiced the Great Sage Cloak Boxing), Baguazhang and Hongquan very vividly at this round table. Moves and Spiral Force. What aroused the most admiration was Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung's quick punching duel. The upper body fought fiercely, but the feet were not disturbed at all. They also moved rhythmically in a circle step by step to maintain the balance of the round table.
Another commendable place is that Sammo Hung in this film emphasized the concept of "potential" in the battle. This concept is simply the right time and place in the war, but in the competition, it includes strength, psychology, spirit, environment, etc. element. For example, when Sammo Hung and a British boxer fought, they were beaten to death by the opponent because of their lack of strength and weakness. When Ip Man fought with a British boxer, he also took advantage of his weakness to switch to melee attack key points, and beat his opponent with one blow. Shout out to Fat Hong!
The movie "Wing Chun 2" has a certain breakthrough in viewability, adding more entertainment elements, especially the action design is more exciting, clever and intelligent. Although there are some clichés and craftsmanship in literary drama, and it does not really highlight the demeanor of a generation of masters, it has successfully established the image of Ye Wen, a Confucian man who respects his wife, in the audience's mind. After all, in this era, the emphasis is on "going home for dinner", rather than "stop fighting for martial arts" or "chivalrous masters". As long as you look refreshed, who else will really care about it.
PS: I met Luo Mang and Feng Ke'an in "Ip Man 2" and felt very cordial.
PS again: Shi Xiaolong is blessed.
Continue PS: Hong Fatty's figure is not very good, but he still fights so beautifully and vigorously. He lifts weights lightly, praise!
View more about Ip Man 2 reviews
