The Kung Fu master travels to the U.S. where his student has upset the local martial arts community by opening a Wing Chun school.
Donnie Yen is a legend. At 56, he’s lost none of his agility or speed, wiping the floor with kung fu wannabes half his age. His “Ip Man” saga proved to be incredibly successful, so there’s little wonder a fourth installment was produced. Luckily, “Ip Man 4: The Finale” is less of a cash-in and more of an earnest attempt to conclude Ip Man’s journey on a touching — and action-packed, of course — note. As such, Wilson Yip’s flawed-but-entertaining feature most definitely succeeds.
The action is (mostly) set in the U.S. this time, during the 1970s. If the film’s Chinatown setting was an attempt to encompass a larger (read: whiter) demographic, then its depiction of white men as uniformly racist, reprehensible douchebags doesn’t really help matters. That said, the very fact that a film like “Ip Man” tries to broach serious subjects like immigration and prejudice, even if it does so rather ineptly, renders it a notch above the preceding chapters, which reveled in their simplicity.
The film starts on a grim note. Ip Man discovers he has the big C, and it’s spreading rapidly. Fear not though: the tone quickly switches back to silly, as an impromptu, pointless fight sequence ensues shortly after. Ip Man’s apprentice — none other than Bruce Lee (played by lookalike Danny Kwok-Kwan Chan) — invites his master to attend a tournament in San Francisco. Hesitant at first, Ip Man, pressured by his illness, decides to go find a school for his troublemaker son Ching (He Ye).
Upon arrival in Chinatown, our hero is greeted with skepticism and prejudice by his fellow masters, who are upset that Bruce Lee is teaching martial arts to Westerners (cultural appropriation of kung fu?). In order to receive a crucial recommendation for his son, Ip has to win their affection by proving himself as THE master fighter. There’s also Yonah (Vanda Margraf), a young martial arts student and cheerleader, who’s bullied by her classmates and becomes Ip Man’s apprentice of sorts. The intricate (read: muddled) narrative leads to all the Chinese masters joining forces against evil Caucasians, led by buff veteran Barton Geddes (Scott Adkins).
The plot is beyond the point. We’re here for Donnie, and we’re here for the fights. The film delivers on both accounts. Stoic and confident, Mr. Yen displays jaw-dropping kung fu skills but also carries the film’s quieter moments with sheer charisma. Yip keeps the cuts to a minimum — thank God — framing the fights as a kind of violent ballet. The film is visually splendid, courtesy of cinematographer Siu-Keung Cheng, with colorful period details.
This visual poetry comes to an abrupt halt when characters speak. A distraught white mother exclaims, “What are we going to do about those Chinese savages?” During a particularly effective alleyway brawl, Bruce Lee pointedly says, “The wall won’t fight back. But I will.”
If you’re willing to overlook those sorts of verbal exchanges and brutally on-the-nose insults, as well as spelled-out themes of racism, you’re in for a treat. The sequence involving a power play between two masters and a… lazy Susan is worth the price of a rental alone. And as for the titular finale — “Ip Man 4” ends on a note that just may tug at the most stoic kung fu fans’ hearts, where the “Ip Man” legacy will surely live on for a long time to come.
Now available on Digital HD and on 4K Ultra Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo and DVD April 21st
