When a band of brutal gangsters (led by a crooked property developer played by Mike Tyson) attempt to strong-arm a children's' school into selling its property, Master Ip is forced to take a stand. The bad guy who gobbles up real estate angle has been done quite a bit in the past, but this film is deceptively dramatic because it also focuses a lot on Master Ip's relationship with his wife. And I'm happy to say that it is very successful at adding dramatic weight that you wouldn't necessarily expect going into it. "Ip Man 2" had a weaker script than the first film in this particular trilogy, but it more than compensated with its action. "Ip Man 3" balances the action and drama much better, which is more of a throwback to the first film – and "Ip Man 3" might actually be the best overall film in this franchise.
The acting in this film is good. Trust me, I love watching Donnie Yen even when he over-acts, but he's so perfectly cast for this role that his performances are legitimately impressive. However, one thing I noticed about this movie is that many of the supporting actors were not recognizable to me. The "Ip Man" film from 2008 had Simon Yam, Siu-wong Fan (who previously played the legendary Riki-oh for goodness sakes), and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (who has shown up in various Japanese films such as Charisma and Space Travelers). "Ip Man 2" from 2010 added Sammo Hung into the mix. We don't get those kinds of recognizable faces in "Ip Man 3" . . . but it doesn't matter because Jin Zhang is awesome in this. If you've seen the Tony Jaa, Wu Jing movie "SPL 2: A Time for Consequences" then you will notice that Jin Zhang also played the final villain in that one. This guy has got the chops – both in terms of martial arts ability and screen presence – to headline action movies in the future. He gets a lot of screen time and I'm glad he did. His character is also the grayest of the bunch in terms of morals, which makes him interesting. And of course, we have Mike Tyson who shows up in four (or so) scenes. I was impressed by some of the phrases that Tyson uses; you'll know it when it happens. He's not a good actor, but he's definitely entertaining in this.
So what about the fighting? We get a lot of it, and it has a great variety, but it is somewhat backloaded towards the latter half of the film. But there are many smaller, shorter fights are peppered in. From what I remember, the first two big fights are "one vs many" extravaganzas. So you'll have one or a few characters fighting against a lot of bad guys. After that, we get three one-on-one matches, one of which is in a very enclosed space. All five of these big fights are really good, and on par with the previous films of this franchise. Two of the one-on-one fights are between characters with very different fighting styles, which makes them interesting to watch – even for hardcore fans of martial arts. Even the Mike Tyson fight is surprisingly good. And you exit this movie with greater respect for Mike Tyson. This good stuff.
I highly recommend this. And if you haven't the seen first two "Ip Man" movies with Donnie Yen, you can still watch "Ip Man 3" and not get lost at all. But, you should definitely watch Ip Man 1 and 2 as well, because they are highly entertaining films. There's also a few more recent Ip Man films without Donnie Yen, the best of which being "The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" from 2010 which is sweet. Make sure you watch that one too. Just have an Ip Man marathon.
The acting in this film is good. Trust me, I love watching Donnie Yen even when he over-acts, but he's so perfectly cast for this role that his performances are legitimately impressive. However, one thing I noticed about this movie is that many of the supporting actors were not recognizable to me. The "Ip Man" film from 2008 had Simon Yam, Siu-wong Fan (who previously played the legendary Riki-oh for goodness sakes), and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (who has shown up in various Japanese films such as Charisma and Space Travelers). "Ip Man 2" from 2010 added Sammo Hung into the mix. We don't get those kinds of recognizable faces in "Ip Man 3" . . . but it doesn't matter because Jin Zhang is awesome in this. If you've seen the Tony Jaa, Wu Jing movie "SPL 2: A Time for Consequences" then you will notice that Jin Zhang also played the final villain in that one. This guy has got the chops – both in terms of martial arts ability and screen presence – to headline action movies in the future. He gets a lot of screen time and I'm glad he did. His character is also the grayest of the bunch in terms of morals, which makes him interesting. And of course, we have Mike Tyson who shows up in four (or so) scenes. I was impressed by some of the phrases that Tyson uses; you'll know it when it happens. He's not a good actor, but he's definitely entertaining in this.
So what about the fighting? We get a lot of it, and it has a great variety, but it is somewhat backloaded towards the latter half of the film. But there are many smaller, shorter fights are peppered in. From what I remember, the first two big fights are "one vs many" extravaganzas. So you'll have one or a few characters fighting against a lot of bad guys. After that, we get three one-on-one matches, one of which is in a very enclosed space. All five of these big fights are really good, and on par with the previous films of this franchise. Two of the one-on-one fights are between characters with very different fighting styles, which makes them interesting to watch – even for hardcore fans of martial arts. Even the Mike Tyson fight is surprisingly good. And you exit this movie with greater respect for Mike Tyson. This good stuff.
I highly recommend this. And if you haven't the seen first two "Ip Man" movies with Donnie Yen, you can still watch "Ip Man 3" and not get lost at all. But, you should definitely watch Ip Man 1 and 2 as well, because they are highly entertaining films. There's also a few more recent Ip Man films without Donnie Yen, the best of which being "The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" from 2010 which is sweet. Make sure you watch that one too. Just have an Ip Man marathon.