The Legend is Born – Ip Man (2010)

The Legend is Born – Ip Man (simplified Chinese: 叶问前传; traditional Chinese: 葉問前傳) is 2010 Hong Kong martial art movie. Herman Yau is director of the “The Legend is Born: Ip Man”. Dennis To plays lead role as Ip Man in this film. Sammo Hung is the movie’s action director and choreographer, also makes an appearance as Chan Wah-Shun, Ip Man’s master and teacher, at the beginning of the movie. The viewers are little confused those who watched Ip Man 2 in which Sammo plays martial arts Master Hung.

Movie review:
The Legend is Born: Ip Man movie starts in Foshan, southern China in 1905. Ip Man (Dennis To) and adopted stepbrother Tien-Chi (Fan Siu-Wong) become students of Wing Chun Master Chan Wah-Shun (Sammo Hung). Then a year later the master dies and the school is acquired by his old friend Ng Chun-Sui (Yuen Biao).

In 1915, Ip Man captures the heart of Cheung Wing-Sing (Crystal Huang) while defending her in a fight, prompting jealousy from his childhood friend and fellow student Lee Mei-Wai (Rose Chan), who is secretly in love with him. Then Ip Man goes to Hong Kong for further his studies at a university where he meets old Wing Chun master Leung Bik (Ip Chun), who trains him new and powerful moves which never seen before in Wing Chun. But Ip Man is then punished as these new moves were considered unauthentic to Wing Chun. In the meantime of film, Japanese businessman Kitano (Louis Cheung) leads a group of Japanese smugglers. When the president of Tien-Chi’s company is assassinated with Ip Man recognizing Tien-Chi as main suspect, stir up trouble, and tension between the Chinese and Japanese reaches boiling point.

In the film, speaking of the fight scenes, there are lots of them sprinkled in the whole movie, demonstrating some of Wing Chun’s lesser-known moves, like wrestling and leg moves. Other martial arts like Karate, Jiu-Jitsu and boxing are also showing, all brilliantly choreographed by Hung.

The whole plot of the movie might be cheesy to some while the fight scenes are entertaining. It is almost a “boy meets girl” situation, when Ip Man infatuates the deputy mayor’s daughter Cheung Wing-Sing after he protects her from harm in a street fight. Then she tries to court him against the wishes of her father, but her efforts are hindered by Lee Mei-Wai, who has a crush on him.

As a part of the love story, the rest of the plot is entertaining and well paced, except for the ending, which feels slightly rushed, and rather clichéd and boring.

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Ip Man 2 (2010)

Ip Man 2 (traditional Chinese: 葉問2:宗師傳奇; simplified Chinese: 叶问2:宗师传奇; ) is a 2010 semi-biographical martial arts film based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of Wing Chun martial arts. A sequel to the 2008 film Ip Man, the film was directed by Wilson Yip, and stars Donnie Yen, who reprises the leading role. Continuing after the events of the earlier film, the sequel centers on Ip's movements in Hong Kong, which is under British colonial rule. He attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun, but faces rivalry from other practitioners, including the local master of Hung Ga martial arts.

Producer Raymond Wong first announced a sequel before Ip Man's theatrical release in December 2008. Ip Man 2 was intended to focus on the relationship between Ip and his most famed disciple, Bruce Lee. The filmmakers, however, were unable to finalize film rights with Lee's descendants and decided to briefly portray Lee as a child.

Principal photography for Ip Man 2 began in August 2009 and concluded in November; filming took place inside a studio located in Shanghai. For the sequel, Yip aimed to create a more dramatic martial arts film in terms of story and characterization; Wong's son, screenwriter Edmond Wong, wanted the film to portray how Chinese people were treated by the British, as well as the Western perceptions towards Chinese martial arts.

Ip Man 2 premiered in Beijing on 21 April 2010. The film was released in Hong Kong on 29 April 2010. Ip Man 2 was met with positive reviews; critics praised the film's storytelling, as well as Sammo Hung's martial arts choreography. Other critics ultimately agreed that the sequel was not as good as its predecessor. The film grossed over HK$13 million on its opening weekend, immediately surpassing Ip Man’s opening weekend gross. During its theatrical run, Ip Man 2 brought in over HK$43 million domestically, and an estimated US$14 million worldwide.

Film title
The Chinese title of the film (traditional Chinese: 葉問2:宗師傳奇; simplified Chinese: 叶问2:宗师传奇; ), literally means Ip Man 2: Legend of a Grandmaster. The title is a play on the first film's working title which was Grandmaster Ip Man, a title that was changed when Wong Kar-wai clashed with producers, while trying to make his own Ip Man biopic. Wilson Yip explained that the title of the film as being purely coincidental rather than intentional: "The sequel is about Ip Man being elevated from a master, a hero to a grandmaster, so we have 'grandmaster' in the title."

Release
Ip Man 2 was released in select Asian countries and in Australia on 29 April 2010. Prior to its release, Mandarin Films publicly launched the film's official website in Beijing on 6 April 2010. The film held a premiere press conference in Beijing on 21 April 2010, only seven days after the 2010 Yushu earthquake. Guests were asked to wear dark-colored clothing in show of mourning; there was a moment of silence for the victims of the disaster. The film’s cast, Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Huang Xiaoming, Lynn Hung, and Kent Cheng attended the premiere, and donated a total of ¥500,000 (US$73,200) to relief efforts helping in the disaster recovery. The film held private screenings in Chengdu on 21 April 2010, and in China on 27 April 2010, receiving positive reactions from audiences. Mandarin Films has sold North American distribution rights for the film to distributor Well Go USA. Ip Man 2 will receive a 2011 theatrical release in the United States.

Box office
In Hong Kong, Ip Man 2 faced competition with the international release of Iron Man 2, which premiered in Hong Kong one day later than Ip Man 2. During its opening weekend, Ip Man 2 grossed HK$13 million (US$1,736,011), surpassing Ip Man’s opening weekend gross of HK$4.5 million (US$579,715). The sequel claimed first place at the box office, grossing HK$1 million more than Iron Man 2. The film's revenues decreased by 28.1% in its second weekend, earning HK$9,719,603.56 (US$1,248,996) to remain in first place. The film dropped 45.7% in its third week, bringing in HK$5,293,401 (US$678,613) while still remaining in first place. Ip Man 2 continued to stay at number one at the box office, dropping an additional 39.4% in its fourth week and grossing HK$3,199,567 (US$411,115). During its fifth week, the film moved to fifth place at 79.3%, grossing HK$664,535 (US$85,325). Ip Man 2 grossed HK$43,268,228.72 (US$5,558,704) domestically. The sequel's domestic gross in Hong Kong puts it ahead of Ip Man’s total box office gross of HK$25,581,958.69 (US$3,300,847).

Ip Man 2 has also broken box office records in Singapore. The film is currenty the highest-grossing Hong Kong film to be released in the country, beating a five-year record held by Kung Fu Hustle. On its opening weekend Ip Man 2 came in second place behind Iron Man 2, grossing SG$1.74 million (US$1,264,919). The film’s opening weekend gross surpassed Ip Man’s 2008 weekend gross of SG$827,000 (US$463,946).

In total, Ip Man 2 has grossed an estimated $14,546,583 worldwide during its theatrical run.

Source : Wikipedia

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Ip Man (2008)

Ip Man (read : Yip Man) (Simplified Chinese: 叶问; Traditional Chinese: 葉問; Mandarin Pinyin : Yè Wèn) is a 2008 semi-biographical martial arts film based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and the first person to teach Wing Chun openly. One of his students was the widely influential and acclaimed martial artist and filmmaker Bruce Lee. The film focuses on events in Ip's life that took place in the city of Foshan during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The film was directed by Wilson Yip, and stars Donnie Yen as Ip Man, with martial arts choreography by Sammo Hung. The supporting cast includes Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Lam Ka-Tung, Xing Yu and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi.

The idea of an Ip Man biopic originated in 1998 when Jeffrey Lau and Corey Yuen discussed the idea of making a film based on Bruce Lee's martial arts master. However, the studio producing the proposed film closed, and the project was abandoned.

Producer Raymond Wong decided to develop his own Ip Man film with full consent from Ip's sons, and had filmmakers head to Foshan to research Ip's life. Ip Chun, Ip Man's eldest son, and several other Wing Chun practitioners served as technical consultants for the film. Principal photography for Ip Man began in March 2008 and ended in August; filming took place in Shanghai, which was used to architecturally recreate Foshan.

During filming, conflicts arose between the producers of Ip Man and filmmaker Wong Kar-wai over the film's working title. Wong, who had been developing his own Ip Man biopic, clashed with the producers after learning that their film would be titled Grandmaster Ip Man (traditional Chinese: 一代宗師葉問), which was too similar to the title of Wong's film. The producers of Ip Man agreed to change the title, despite Wong's film being in development hell.

Ip Man was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 19 December 2008, receiving widespread acclaim from critics and audiences. Prior to the film's release, Raymond Wong announced that there would be a sequel; a second installment, titled Ip Man 2, will be released in April 2010. Ip Man grossed over US$21 million worldwide, despite not being released in North America and most of Europe. Following its success, the film was nominated for 12 Hong Kong Film Awards, winning awards for Best Film and Best Action Choreography.


Release
Ip Man was first released in China on the week of 8 December 2008 to 14 December 2008. The film was later released in Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand on 18 December 2008, one day prior to its release date in Hong Kong. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 2 October 2009. In 2010, Mandarin Films sold North American distribution rights for the film to distributor Well Go USA.

Box Office
Ip Man grossed ¥14,948,157 ($2,188,982) on its opening weekend in China, and went on to stay in second place for four consecutive weeks. On its fifth week, the film moved down to fifth place with a total of ¥91,783,626 (US$13,439,486). At the end of its theatrical run in China, Ip Man grossed ¥100 million (US$14,705,882).

The film was released in Hong Kong on 19 December 2008. On opening weekend, it came in first place at the box office, grossing HK$4.5 million (US$579,715). At the end of its box-office run in Hong Kong, Ip Man had grossed HK$25,581,958.69 (US$3,300,847). In total, the film had grossed $21,888,598 worldwide, despite not being released in North America and most of Europe. To date, Ip Man is the highest-grossing film featuring Donnie Yen in a leading role.

Sequels
Ip Man is the first film in a planned trilogy. Donnie Yen will reprise the lead role in the forthcoming sequel Ip Man 2, the second feature film based on the life of Ip Man. The film will focus on Ip's movements in Hong Kong as he attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun martial arts; it will also focus on a young Bruce Lee prior to becoming one of Ip's most famed disciples. Ip Man 2 will be released theatrically in Hong Kong in late April 2010. Lynn Hung, Lam Ka-Tung, and Fan Siu-Wong will reprise their supporting roles, while martial arts choreographer Sammo Hung will appear as a master of Hung Ga martial arts.

Yen has expressed his disinterest in making a third film, feeling that, "Ip Man 2 will incontrovertibly become a classic, bettering the first."[36] Yen later stated that after Ip Man 2, he would no longer be involved in a film based on Ip's life. While both Donnie Yen and Raymond Wong are not keen on making a third Ip Man film, director Wilson Yip has expressed interest in making one that would focus on the relationship between Ip and Bruce Lee. While Ip Man 2 will focus on Lee as a child, Yip hopes to find a suitable actor to portray Lee as an adult for the third installment.

Awards
- Won Best Film Category, Best Action Choreography (for Sammo Hung, Tony Leung Siu-Hung)in 28th Hong Kong Film Awards
- Won Best Picture, Best Action Choreography (for Sammo Hung, Tony Leung Siu-Hung), Best Actor (for Donnie Yen)in 2nd Iron Elephant Awards
- Won Best Action Choreography (for Sammo Hung, Tony Leung Siu-Hung) in 46th Golden Horse Film Awards

Source : Wikipedia

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