john staunton What a drawn out movie with no real appeal. It tries to be too many things at the one time. A love story, a cool martial arts movie and a documentary about Japanese occupation.By attempting to be all three, it was none. Some of the fight scenes are nearly a cut and paste job from the matrix. It was a drawn out movie with a confusing timeline. I can't recommend this to anyone.Garbage.

ma-cortes This film tells the story of Chinese Martial Arts Master IP man , the most famous fighter of China and around the world ; this is the tale of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee . In fact , Bruce Lee trained in Wing Chun and later developed his own hybrid martial arts philosophy . IP Man was the founder and spiritual guru of the Win Chun . This luxurious Kung Fu film was marvelously filmed with good production design , colorful cinematography , spectacular combats and breathtaking scenes . The flick displays lots of violence , action filled , fierce fights though turns out to be overlong and some tiring . It deals with Ip Man's (Tony Leung) peaceful existence in Foshan , but his life changes when Gong Yutian (Wan) seeks a successor for his family in Southern China . Ip Man then meets Gong Er (Ziyi Zhang) who challenges him for the sake of regaining her father's honor . Later on , there takes place the Second Chinese-Japanese War , as Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide food and comfort for his family but they decease . While , Gong Er takes the way of revenge after her father is wrongly murdered . Good film starring Tony Leung , based on the true story of the martial arts master IP Man . Tony Chiu Wai Leung trained four hours a day for a year in preparation for his role . This moving Chop-Socky displays drama , action-packed , thrills , and wild fighting images . It is an action-filled and violent film , being filmed in Shanghái , Foshan, Kaiping ,Guangdong, and Shenyang, Liaoning, China . Director Kar Wai Wong establishes his signature style of kinetically-paced story-telling through sumptuous imagery , leading to international critical acclaim . The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with frenetic action , surprises , fierce combats and groundbreaking struggles . The rousing fights with deadly use of fists , feet and palms ; actors exercised ¨Wing Chun¨ it is a Chinese martial art that emphasizes short-range practical combat with direct punches and blocks and low kicks , its practitioners are trained to quickly approach and engage opponents at close range , this can negate the longer range of taller opponents by attacking from inside their offensive perimeter. Fights , attacks and exciting combats very well staged by expert fighters , the result is a strong entry for art martial buffs . Amid the glamour and grandeur of the scenarios is developed an intrigue between Chinese-Japanese confrontation and about a fighter master who attempts to restore his name . Groundbreaking combats among Tony Leung , Ziyi Zhang and a lot of enemy fighters . Classic as well as impressive Chop-Socky in which wild fighting scenes provide an overwhelming view of Tony Leung/Ziyi Zhang's skills . Actors made their owns stunts ; some of the players got injured and to had to be hospitalized during the shooting , some of them suffered mild concussions during filming, after being struck several times during fighting scenes . The motion picture was well directed by Kar Wai Wong , but some moments results to be a little boring and slow moving . He is 1st Chinese to win the Best Director Award at Cannes film Festival (1997) for "In the Mood for Love" and has directed several successes such as ¨My Blueberry nights¨, ¨2046¨, ¨Happy together¨, ¨Fallen Angels¨ and ¨Chungking Express¨. And , of course , this ¨The Grandmaster¨ that was official submission of Hong Kong to the Oscars 2014 best foreign language film category . One reason for the long development time of the movie was that the film spent over a year in editing before director Kar Wai Wong was satisfied . The ¨Grandmaster¨project was announced almost 10 years before its final release, due to director Kar Wai Wong's endless perfectionism. Several other motion pictures about the Ip Man that were conceived after this announcement most famously ¨Ip Man¨ (2008) by Wilson Yip with Donny Yen , ¨IP Man 2¨ (2010) by Wilson Yip with Donnie Yen as Yip Man , Xiaoming Huang , Wong Shun-Leung , Sammo Hung Kam-Bo , Lynn Hung , Simon Yan and ¨IP Man 3¨ (2013) with Anthony Wong Chau-Sang as Ip Man, Gillian Chung , Jordan Chan and Eric Tsang , all of them were all released in the meantime.

ss_areeb_h When I was deciding whether to watch the movie or not, i decided to read the reviews on IMDb and finding several positive reviews i decided to give it a shot. However after watching the movie I felt obliged to give the clear picture. First, the story. As you know the movie is based on Bruce Lee's master Ip Man. The story shows snippets of Ip Man's life. However, I did not feel any connection to them and in fact the sub plot of Gong Er and her family legacy is much more interesting. Second, the action. The first half of the movie contains sufficient action and then it sort of dulls over. The action scenes are slightly exaggerated with people flying about. But what I really felt annoying was the slow motion effects. Somehow they just did't work for this movie. Moreover, though the cinematography effects were great, coupled with the slow motion effects they spoiled the action sequences.Finally, since this story follows Ip Man and is presented as a true story it must be compared to Donnie Yen's Ip Man. The grandmaster fails miserably in comparison. The plot, fight scenes, character development every thing was just perfect in Donnie Yen's Ip Man which is probably why I was quite disappointed with The Grandmaster. Even a noob like me could tell the stark difference in fighting styles of each school in Donnie Yen's Ip Man. The moves were choreographed so perfectly that I was literally lost in the martial arts fights. However, the fight scenes in The Grandmaster failed to do so, and lets face it. Most of us watched these movies for the fight scenes. There was no real story in The Grandmaster, just different incidents, whereas Ip Man had a very interesting plot culminating in an epic fight. Donnie Yen also did a mind blowing job as Ip Man whereas Tony Leung did not feel as believable. My Verdict, well as a past time this movie is watchable but it would definitely not stay in my collection. After Donnie Yen's master piece, another Ip Man movie is unnecessary unless it is able to compete with it.

tedg I've been in training of a sort and unable to view serious movies, so it was difficult to arrange for this, and the anticipation built. Now I regret not having prepared better.Filmmaking for me is calligraphy on water.A filmmaker's art can be in the shape of what is written. Nolan, for example does well with this. It can be in how it is written. Kurosawa and Wells are good examples.Or it can be in the nature of the *brush,* the instrument of capture itself. Kae Wai Wong is the only living filmmaker that works in all three simultaneously. So far as the story, I was lost much of the time. This clearly was made for a Chinese audience who would know the history and characters — and who would appreciate important regional differences. The unrolling was slightly non-linear but that was not a hindrance. Nevertheless, the three stories had power: a meditation on soulmates, a tragedy of lost/stolen tradition, an implicit history of cinematic fight styles. These are indeed treated as if they are fluid flows, only partly captured and disturbed by the looking. Some of the shifts from realistic to formalized (not unlike Herzog) underscore this.Among the various threads on screen, the love story was what engaged me. Power in its restraint. A sort of noble but incomplete joy in the tragedy. Waiting to say little. Alone. The nature of the tragedy has so many ambiguous overtones it bleeds into an open life, which I presume to be a requisite for any of his films.Among the threads behind the camera, I found the strokes here to be novel. This is film about traditions being merged to create power, a power incidentally that spawned a choreographic tradition in cinema. It seems as if the partnership with the new cinematographer (after the rich relationship with Chris Doyle), is based on moving from one *style* to another.We have a variety of cinematic perspectives, many of which are beautiful. But the point seems to be the transitions one to another, the movement from one world-view to another. Lyrical vision, always expanded vision. Slow eye jazz. Experimental rhythms. Typical to this filmmaker is a reference to this: the ultimate fight scene is photographed with four perspectives, each with a unique style. *Behind* is a train that starts and by the end of the fight (and causing the end) it is racing. The effect is amazing. I am used to the patterns he used with Doyle, whose choppiness clipped Kar Wai's meditations. Doyle's drifting complemented Kar Wai's fixed meditations. Now, it seems he has a new worthy collaborator, a partner in exploring new mixes, new expressions. I don't know this fellow well, but of course have seen his work. From how well the thing is assembled, I imagine they have shot a 20 hour movie.At all three layers, he references dynamic water.Rating: 3