I like martial arts cinema. It’s been a big part of my rhythm since joining the Polygon team. But that hasn’t always been true.
The action movies I grew up with were more of the James Bond variety – lots of spy movies, some superheroes, with the occasional Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sneaked in. About 10 years ago, over the course of a week, I chanced upon a slew of excellent modern martial arts films. Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing, Universal Soldier: Judgment DayAnd Blood and bone opened my eyes to what was possible in the direct-to-video space. But it was Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen’s Ip Man series that solidified my interest in the genre and pushed me to explore more.
Loosely based on the life of famed Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, the films Yip and Yen reunite after the pair delivered back-to-back bangers with SPL And Flash point. The Ip Man films combine great fight choreography with moving historical stories, all centering on the unique talents of their protagonist, a movie star operating at the absolute pinnacle of his abilities.
Image: Well Go USA Entertainment
Donnie Yen is one of today’s most charismatic and talented movie stars. Western audiences probably know him best from his recent roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story And John Wick: Chapter 4or from Shanghai Knights And Knife II. (He also served as Knife IIaction choreographer). But he has a long, long history of using his star power to propel excellent action films in Hong Kong, and the Ip Man series is just one of the latest examples.
Yen’s incredible martial arts ability coupled with the choreography of the series is the most showy part of the movies. But what elevates them to truly great films is the way they lean on his deep soul to tell a moving story. The IP man films deal with tragedies on both a personal and national level, confronting oppression, brutality and the many ways people hurt each other – not just through bone crushing blows.
And Yen is up to the task and imbues Ip with a deep melancholy. He starts off as someone who fights because he wants to, who enters into friendly competitions with fellow martial arts masters, but in the end he fights because he has to, protecting the people and values he holds dear. The films’ storytelling and Yen’s performance are great for building out this clear goal, easily making audiences deeply invested in his fights.
Image: Well Go USA Entertainment
There’s a lot more to like about the Ip Man movies, but the standout element is the franchise’s excellent action, backed by the two most influential and accomplished martial arts directors and choreographers of the modern era. IP guy And Ipman 2 have action directed by Sammo Hung (best known for his collaborations with his childhood friend Jackie Chan), while IP male 3 And Ip Man 4: The Finale have action directed by Yuen Woo-ping (who helped launch Chan as a star with Drunk masterand is internationally known for his work on the Matrix movies; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; And Kill Bill). In their hands (and Yen’s) the franchise’s fight scenes sing, matching Ip with some of the best screen fighters working today, including Max Zhang, Louis Fan, Scott Adkins, and Hung himself.
The striking fight of IP man sees an enraged Ip demanding to fight 10 Japanese soldiers (all black belts) after seeing them mistreat a fellow master. Until now, Ip has been relatively quiet and reserved, hesitant to use his bravery against the Japanese troops who occupied his home during the Second Sino-Japanese War. But after witnessing this brutal act against a friend and colleague, a switch is flipped and Ip brutally dispatches all 10 fighters in a relentless display of Yen’s unthinkable speed and fighting skills.
Not content with repeating the hits, the later movies add exciting ripples to some of their bigger set pieces. In Ipman 2Yen battles Sammo Hung on top of a barely balanced table. In IP male 3he fights former Tony Jaa stunt double Simon Kook in a tightly packed elevator as he brought his wife home from the hospital.
In each of these fight scenes, the Ip Man movies use impressive choreography in service of the larger story and character beats. Yes, they are impressive spectacles, but they are not just now That. The best action movies use the beauty of moving bodies to show the ways we can express anger, remorse, joy, redemption, and a litany of other emotions, not just through words or facial expressions. There are few better vehicles for that than Yen, an incredibly skilled martial artist with the acting chops to match.
Together with Undisputed 2 (available for digital rental or purchase), Universal Soldier: Judgment Day (free with ads on Crackle), and Blood and bone (free with ads on Crackle), the Ip Man movies were welcome gateways to the world of martial arts cinema for me, and now they can be for you too. Be sure to catch them before they leave Netflix on July 21.
If you’re reading this after the movies have left the platform, you can still watch the first three Ip Man movies on Peacock, Hi-Yah!, for free with a library card on Hoopla or Kanopy, or for free with ads on Tubi , Crackle and PlutoTV. You can watch Ip Man 4: The Finale on Hi-Yah! or free with a library card on Hoopla and Kanopy. For more Ip Man goodness I highly recommend checking out Yuen Woo-ping’s too IP male 3 spinoff Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (Peacock, Hi-Yah, free with a library card on Hoopla and Kanopy, or free with ads on Crackle, Pluto, and Freevee), and Wong Kar-wai’s very different take on the Ip Man story, The Grand Master (streaming on Prime, or free with ads on Tubi).
For more excellence from Donnie Yen, look up In the line of duty 4 (free with ads on Tubi, Crackle and Freevee), Wing Chun (available for digital rental or purchase on Amazon), and his past collaborations with Wilson Yip, SPL (free with ads on Tubi) and Flash point (streaming on Peacock and Hi-Yah!, free with a library card on Hoopla, or free with ads on Tubi, Pluto, and Freevee).