The life of martial arts grandmaster Ip Man continues to be blockbuster material in
Ip Man 3, the third entry in a series helmed by Wilson Yip and the sixth film overall. Best known for spreading the wing chun school of martial arts and for taking in a young Bruce Lee as his student in the 1950s, Ip has in recent years had his reputation embellished as a Cantonese folk hero through films loosely based on his story and pumped up with action spectacles.
Wilson Yip’s first two instalments, also starring leading action star Donnie Yen in the title role, spanned Ip’s life in Foshan under Japanese occupation and later, after leaving China in 1949, his early years in Hong Kong setting up a martial arts school. For part three, the story picks up in 1959, with Ip living comfortably with his wife Wing-sing (Lynn Xiong) and younger son Ip Ching (Li Xiaolong) until trouble rises on multiple fronts.
One problem turns up at Ip Ching’s school, which becomes the target of a gang that wants to seize the property. Local tough guy Ma King-san (Patrick Tam) has been given two weeks by his boss Frankie (US boxer Mike Tyson) to take over the school, and when the thugs move in they face resistance from Ip and others. Joining the good cause is persistent cop Sergeant Po (Kent Cheng) as well as rickshaw puller and aspiring martial arts teacher Cheung Tin-chi (Zhang Jin), whose son is also in the school.
Cheung, however, isn’t fully on Ip Man’s side. The younger man is a martial arts fanatic – he calls his son “disciple” and the kid calls him “sifu” (master) in return – and he wants to be famous. Although he joins with Ip early on, he’s also a paid combatant in Ma’s underground fight scene and eventually he requests a challenge against Ip to see who’s best.
As the gang ups the stakes and Cheung turns rougher,
Ip Man 3 delivers action in spades. After early street brawls to protect the school, the plot spins into a string of diverse fight settings, from the ring at Ma’s underground matches through to a large setup at a dockyard, where a grand stage of props and platforms is used as Ip wallops bad guys while protecting his son.
Also impressing is a five-storey fight scene that unfolds after Ip and his wife enter a lift with a fierce Thai fighter, and soon afterwards the prospect of a Mike Tyson-Donnie Yen fight appears when Frankie challenges Ip to a duel. Through it all, the action, this time choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping, plays up contrasts in form, for instance pitting Cheung’s aggressive style against the more reserved, direct and humble approaches that Ip espouses.
As in Ip Man 2, the script succeeds in rounding out Ip’s character. Especially strong is coverage of Ip’s care for Wing-sing and her understanding of his predicaments, and the family angle boosts Ip Man 3’s emotional resonance. Oddly omitted, however, are training sequences at Ip’s school: Ip Man 3 offers snippets of Ip’s thinking, but class scenes could have communicated more on his martial arts principles and teaching.
And what about the Bruce Lee angle? As in earlier films, Ip Man 3 gives a tease on the legendary figure, this time with a character named only as Siu-lung and referencing the young Lee’s noted cha-cha skills and precocious talent for martial arts. (Rights issues can make it difficult for filmmakers to depict Lee.) With Ip Man 3 stopping short of showing Lee training under the famed wing chun master, once again the door is left open for a sequel.