Master Z: Ip Man Legacy

Let's talk about the action scenes, firstly it is a drastic departure from the Ip Man movies. In Ip Man 2 there was a fair amount of wirework which took away from the grounded, realistic style of the first movie but here there is LOADS of wirework. I didn't hate it in Ip Man 2 but felt like it wasn't as great as the first one but here it is kind of crazy and over the top to the point I found it ridiculously entertaining. A lot of the fight scenes have the actors do a lot of floating and gravity-defying moves with one memorable acrobatic fight scene on neon signs way above ground that was very thrilling to watch. Nearly every fight in this movie is cartooney and unrealistic but it is so entertaining with superb choreography. There are a lot of characters thrown through tables or windows and a lot of slow-mo and close up shots that embody the cliche of the 90s and it goes all the way with it. However, it just works really well and is oddly satisfying. I loved Max Zhang as Cheung in Ip Man 3 and here still delivers a great performance. His character Cheung has a very interesting arc in this movie where he is struggling with his desire to live a simple life while coping with his loss to Ip Man and his reputation as a martial artist. Throughout the movie, he refuses to use Wing Chun and instead uses a more brutal style of fighting which makes the fights grittier and less elegant than the main series. He then gets wrapped up in some mafia staff which causes him to come into meetings with many different characters but the closest being Julia (Liu Yan) and Fu (Xing Yu) who become friends. Cheung is different from Ip Man in that he feels flawed and having room to grow whereas Ip Man feels near perfect and invincible. Cheung takes a fair amount of damage and hits while also making a fair amount of mistakes which makes him a lot more relatable. He does come out by the end of the movie learning valuable lessons with it even amplifying Ip Man's word of wisdom to him in the 3rd movie and of course, ends up using Wing Chun again. Most of the supporting cast do a great job as well. Michelle Yeon as "Tso Ngan Kwan" gives a very convincing performance as the leader of an organised crime gang. Her character is also interesting in that she is menacing against those who oppose her but kind in that she wants to turn the crime gang into a legitimate business. Kevin Cheng as "Tso Sai Kit" gives a great performance in being a completely hateable character who wants to be a drug dealer while usurping his sister Ngan Kwan. Dave Bautista as "Owen Davidson" is great as well in that he gives a lovable and charismatic performance in certain scenes while in others a terrifying, hulking menace. He is way better than Mike Tyson was in Ip Man 3 and feels more like an actual antagonist. Unfortunately, Dave Bautista is very under-utilised with him barely having any dialogue, he isn't the main villain either with Tso Sai Kit being the main villain while Owen Davidson is more of a final boss. Which is a shame as one of my complaints of Frank (Mike Tyson) in Ip Man 3 was that we don't really get any backstory or motive of his character and this is also the case with Owen sadly. Likewise, Tony Jaa of "Ong Bak" fame is in this movie as an assassin with an obsession with black clothing and a top hat. He is a glorified cameo with no dialogue whatsoever and just appears to have a random fight with the main character and then vanishing for most of the movie until the end. It is very jarring as the fight appears out of nowhere and doesn't have any real significance to the story in any way. That is such a downer as Tony Jaa is amazing and they didn't utilise him properly. Additionally, his character just doesn't fit in the Ip Man universe and just feels extremely out of place. The plot is also a complete mess with it attempting to cram in way too many things into the plot. The story tries to be a redemption story for Cheung, a sibling rivalry story between Ngan and Tso, a gang story, a drug addiction story, British colonialism, racism and corruption. It's very convoluted and a fair amount of these stories aren't even good. It also retreads a lot of Ip Man's 2 and 3 stories with the corruption and racism which is just lazy and disappointing. I also have some gripes with the editing and set design in this movie. The movie will transition to the next scene cutting the score abruptly and the set feel way too open which makes it feel empty and lifeless which is probably due to lack of extras. Overall, it is a ludicrous movie but there is a charm in that. Spinoffs are a good way of doing something different while embodying the spirit of the main series and Master Z does kind of do that. The movie was aiming to deliver on epic action set pieces and it does so successfully. They are exciting, electrifying and extremely well-choreographed but just don't expect much from its story.