Ip Man

We all know Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and even Chuck Norris. But do we know who taught these legendary martial artists? One of them is in this movie, and he's the one that taught Bruce Lee.

I'm going to say it right now: I watched this movie with subtitles, because well, Netflix didn't have any other option besides Cantanese, and I don't exactly know a lot of Cantanese. Anyways, Ip Man (Donnie Yen) was a very well known martial artist. He was very much loved and admired. It even came to the point where he was always putting his love in martial arts before his wife and son, but it wasn't until the Japanese Invasion of 1937 that spiraled his life out of control. Barely making enough to nurture his family, Ip Man agrees to teach Wing Chun for self-defense. Now, you may think since this is a foreign movie, all you would be seeing is a whole bunch of action and not a lot of a plot, but it was actually pretty interesting learning about the Japanese invading China. Especially the antagonist and why he keeps coming back. Now, I may be a little rusty on my history, but it was still interesting learning about the war. Viewers even get to see the different fighting styles between the Japanese and the Chinese (since they were taught from Ip Man.) Just remember though, if you do want to pick up a martial arts, think of your intentions of why you want to learn it.

*Rated R for violence.

My Rating: A