叶问4 (Ip Man 4)-- Opened today

[abcdefg]

What was billed as the last in this series of Kung Fu classics opened today. Donnie Yen 甄子丹 stars again. The biographical sketch said he is now 55, but he is still convincing when it comes to defeating the bad guys. 

 

In this film, viewers get the bonus of Ip Man's trip to San Francisco where he meets up with his ex-pupil Bruce Lee, played by 陈国坤 (Chen Guo Kun.) The two of them are having a snack one night in a diner when local challengers arrive. He casually tells Ip Man, "Be back in a minute, this happens all the time" as he excuses himself and exits into a nearby alley where we get treated to a vicious fight in which he takes down a scary kick-boxer at least twice his size. The big guy is desperate, on the edge of defeat, and whips out a set of red and gleaming chrome nunchuks which he thinks will turn the tide. Bruce Lee makes him eat them, figuratively speaking. 

 

The usual subplots play out in which Ip Man defeats various corrupt and racist western villains. The fight scenes, of which there are many, are well choreographed and well filmed. 

 

If you are a fan of this genre, don't miss it. Ip Man 4 -- 叶问4 is a winner. Here's a link to a trailer.

 

 

[道艺]

I think I may be one of the few who enjoyed the prequel... not sure if it's cannon. I also love #1, so I'm definitely gonna drag the ladyfriend to see it! 

[abcdefg]

13 hours ago, 道艺黄帝 said:

...so I'm definitely gonna drag the ladyfriend to see it! 

 

I hope she enjoys it too!

 

One of the sub-plots involves coming-of-age problems that affect Ip Man's relationship with his rebellious teen-age son and the equally rebellious teen-age daughter of one of San Francisco's leading Chinese martial artists. Daddy wants the girl to study Tai Chi and she wants to put all her energy into excelling as an All-American high school cheerleader 啦啦舞 (new vocabulary word for me.) 

 

It felt like these "family" themes were inserted as an afterthought to make the movie less "hard-core martial" and attract a wider audience. It's far from being a "chick flick" but it does have broader appeal than some of the old-time, late-night Kung Fu pictures. 

[Jan Finster]

Watched it last night in Kaohsiung. Somehow I thought it would be in Chinese with Mandarin subtitles only. I figured I would be able to follow the plot anyway and did not want to miss it. Well, it turned out to be a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese (if I am not mistaken) with English subtitles.

 

I was very satisfied! Maybe not as good as Ip Man 1 or 2, but still definitely very cool fight scenes 

 

[道艺]

Thanks for the tip - got her to begrudgingly agree to see it an am on my way now to pick her up hahaha. Will report in later on

[道艺]

Well, she left the theatre satisfied and liking it, I left with my hood on feeling embarrassed to be the only 老外 in the theatre and thinking it was a pretty below average flick at best

[abcdefg]

12 hours ago, 道艺黄帝 said:

I left with my hood on feeling embarrassed to be the only 老外 in the theatre and thinking it was a pretty below average flick at best

 

The director really does do an extremely heavy-handed job of painting the evil, bigoted, racist westerners who are trying to humiliate and oppress the peace-loving, honest, kind, hard-working Chinese. Like you, I also leave the theater feeling embarrassed after watching one of these flicks.   

 

If I remember right, the first Ip Man/叶问 movie featured a showdown with a cruel Japanese military officer who was a karate expert. But most of the other villains have been from the West. I recall the bare-knuckle boxer named "Twister" in one of the others, backed up by a corrupt Hong Kong police official who was probably British. 

 

When these films take on an "East triumphs over West" tone, I start to resent them. Can't help it even when I try to remain open minded. Would prefer it if the directors kept the fights on a more "personal" level. 

[Jan Finster]

27 minutes ago, abcdefg said:

When these films take on an "East triumphs over West" tone, I start to resent them. Can't help it even when I try to remain open minded. Would prefer it if the directors kept the fights on a more "personal" level. 

 

I was also the only white guy in the audience. I felt OK (Taiwanese people are super friendly anyway). I would have felt worse if I had been the only German in a movie theater watching Inglorious Basterds ? 

 

I wonder how much racism against Asians there was in the USA at that time (?) As I understand it (and I may be wrong) Chinatown in itself was established because in the early days of the USA Chinese were not allowed to own land (or live (?)) elsewhere. I am not sure how Chinese were treated in the 70s, but judging by the level of racism against blacks at that time, there may have been a fair bit of racism.

I agree, however, Scott Atkin's character was a bit too black&white racist. I admire him as a martial artist, but even he has played more nuanced characters before. However, one of the things that do not make any sense to me was their admiration for Japanese karate. Somehow they were open-minded towards Japanese and judgmental towards Chinese. How does that make sense?

 

 

 

 

[道艺]

there were a lot of decisions made that just were awkward or didn't make sense... will repost when I sit down