It’s been a while since I’ve had a good Kung Fu flick grace the front page eh? Especially one made outside of the 70’s-80’s! Today I present Donnie Yen’s latest masterpiece: Ip Man, based on the real life martial artist of legend. Okay, maybe Masterpiece is a bit strong, but it is a great kung fu flick that shows Donnie going once again in drastic directions with his martial arts cinematography. It’s a shame more martial arts filmmakers aren’t taking their cues from this man, because he’s really onto something brilliant if you ask me.

The Review: Ever since bursting onto the main stage with his amazing performance in the second film from the Once Upon A Time In China trilogy (far from his first big role, but definitely the role that caused most Kung Fu fans to take notice), Yen struggled somewhat to find his place within the industry. Although popular and starring in quite a few vehicles that took on a decent amount of success and always remaining a fan favorite it didn’t appear that his star had really grown and started to shine only until just within these past few years. With the SPL/Flash Point series making waves here in the states, his role in Guillermo Del Toro’s take on the Blade franchise and a well received re-release of Iron Monkey into theaters have all helped launch his career as a bonafide A-Lister here in the states with the martial arts community. In much the same vein as Jet Li’s Fearless or several other recent epic martial arts films in the Hong Kong industry, Ip Man is Donnie Yen’s entrance into the big budget retelling of a legend. Ip Man, the man who helped popularize Wing Chun in the early parts of the 20th century is probably best known for his role as Bruce Lee’s first mentor. Something that all but makes him godlike amongst martial arts fans such as myself.

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