Master Z: Ip Man Legacy
Master Z: Ip Man Legacy
Remember the Wing Chun master who challenged Ip Man himself at the end of? Apparently he was popular enough a character that he got his own spin-off movie.Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy is set after that climatic fight, which Wing Chun master Cheung Tin Chi (Zhang Jin) lost. He closes his Wing Chun academy after that loss and keeps a low profile – moonlighting as a mercenery for a while, before leaving the martial arts world altogether to lead a quiet life as a grocery storekeeper.He even decides to give up using Wing Chun altogether, relegating his wooden training dummy to a mere clothes hanger.Of course, even when he doesn’t go looking for it, trouble naturally comes to him. While on a delivery run, he is dragged into helping opium junkie Nana (Chrissie Chau) and her best friend, Julia (Liu Yan) to escape a group of gangsters led by Kit (Kevin Cheng).After that, Kit decides to make life a living hell for Cheung and his son, leading him to seek refuge with Julia and her brother Fu (Shi Yanneng), a bar owner on the notorious Bar Street.However, his new life is interrupted once again by Kit, who is sick of being overlooked by his sister Kwan (Michelle Yeoh), leader of the Cheung Lok triad their father founded, and decides to sell drugs on Bar Street behind her back.
Aren’t you guys a little over dressed for rooftop brawls?Plot-wise, there’s nothing we haven’t seen before when it comes to movies like this. Former martial artist gives up the fighting life for a normal one, but is forced back into action in order to survive? We’ve seen that in dozens of other Hong Kong kungfu movies before.But you don’t go for an Ip Man movie (even one without Ip Man himself) for the story, especially when it is directed by the one and only Yuen Woo-ping.As expected, the action is the main draw of Master Z, with Yuen keeping the fights going even when there seems little reason for the fight in the first place. One high wire fight atop the neon signboards of Hong Kong is particularly well executed, while a straight out brawl in Kwan’s office is an old school hark back to the good old Hong Kong action movies of the 1980s.
Note to self: never play Twister with two martial artists.It’s also great to see Yeoh in a good old Hong Kong martial arts movie once more, and she’s definitely. Besides holding her own in the action sequences, she also exudes a powerful presence as the leader of a triad who is trying to go legit.While we already know that Zhang can fight, he showed in Ip Man 3 that he could pull off the tortured martial arts master role perfectly. He’s no Donnie Yen, of course, but he does have a certain steely charisma that makes for a convincing hero. What’s it gonna be? The Batista Bomb, or the Drax Destroyer?Special mention should also go to Dave Bautista, who does his best with the stereotypical role he is given – that of a foreign gangster with the police under his thumb.
Parents need to know that Master Z: Ip Man Legacy is a spin-off of the series; it follows a character who was defeated by the hero in 2015's Ip Man 3. The movie highlights the beauty of martial arts but also has brutal violence. In addition to tons of martial arts fighting, expect guns and shooting, severed limbs, characters being attacked and killed, and, worst of all, a woman who's beaten and then killed by having drugs forcibly stuffed down her throat. A child is injured in a fire and punched by a bully.
Drug dealing is part of the plot: A supporting character is an opium addict (she's seen smoking and having withdrawals), and social drinking is shown throughout. Language is infrequent but includes uses of 'a-hole,' 'son of a bitch,' and 'goddamn.' A woman is shown in her bra and panties, and characters flirt in bars. Overall, the movie is spirited and well crafted and recommended for mature martial arts fans. In MASTER Z: THE IP MAN LEGACY, Cheung Tin-chi (Max Zhang) is trying to move on after being defeated by Ip Man in Ip Man 3. He briefly works as a mercenary before deciding to live a quiet life as a grocer and raise his son. While on a delivery, Tin-chi notices an opium addict, Nana (Chrissie Chau), and her friend Julia (Liu Yan) being hassled by a thug, Tso Sai Kit (Kevin Cheng), over debts.
Tin-chi intervenes and defeats Kit and all his men. Unfortunately, this brings unwanted attention to Tin-chi, and his store is burned down. He's taken in by Julia's brother, Fu (Xing Yu), and given a job in Fu's bar.
Meanwhile, while syndicate leader Kwan - Kit's sister - wishes to make her organization legit, Kit wants to move further into illegal drugs. And so Tin-chi finds himself in the crossfire between a hired assassin , a crooked restaurateur , and other criminals. It's time to call on his Wing Chun skills once more.
What could have been a feeble attempt to ride on the coattails of 's franchise turns out to be an exhilarating, tightly paced, expertly crafted martial arts romp. Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy succeeds mostly thanks to its legendary director, who's best known for choreographing the poetic fight scenes in, and the movies. He's still at the top of his game here, emphasizing clarity, fluidity, and beauty of movement; the impact is still violent, but - aside from one character's brutal murder - it's more exciting than shocking overall.Another winning factor is the lead performance by Max Zhang in a strong but sympathetic role. Tin-chi is fueled by his defeat at the hands of Ip Man, but he's not pathetic or whiny.
He accepts his loss with dignity and begins to take pride in his new roles as father and working man - yet he still chooses to do the right thing, at great risk. It's too bad that the other 'stars' advertised so prominently (Yeoh, Bautista, and Jaa) have such small roles (and that star Bautista's role is villainous), but once this spirited, hugely entertaining movie gets going, that marketing ploy is easily forgiven.