The Grandmaster

Ratings: 5.2/10

Film Class: C

Genre: Action Drama

Set in the era of Ip Man's prime, the film is about the handling over of the prestigous title of "Grandmaster" by Master Gong, who is well respected and reputed in northern China. Arriving in Foshan, southern China, and challenging the masters of the South, they send Ip Man to bring honor to the martial arts of the South.

The defeat of Gong and the crowning of the new Grandmaster ignites a chain of events which acts as the basis of the film's plot.

Being a Donnie Yuen Ip Man fan, I was skeptical about another Ip Man movie being made without the original star... . It's like making another Iron Man sequel without Robert Downey Jr., or Pirates of the Carribean without Johnny Depp. In fact, there were 2 recent Ip Man movies, the other starring Anthony Wong. I gave this a try because of Tony Leung, but it turned out to be as I had expected, a futile attempt at milking the franchise. It was such a letdown, I almost couldn't finish it.

*major spoilers ahead* The opening scene of Ip Man fighting in the rain with a bunch of baddies totally felt like a stand alone scene and added no value to the plot development. Ie. No link. All it did was showcase Ip Man's fighting, and it almost felt like a last minute addition. The director probably only realised that there wasn't enough action scenes after filming the scenes, and so decided to make one more hoping to please his audience.

And is this movie about Ip Man? NO, it wasn't. That's big news for you. Then who's the lead star you might ask? It's Zhang Ziyi, acting as Gong Er, Master Gong's daughter who wants to bring back the honor to her family name. She has to fight Ip Man, fight her evil god-brother Ma San and crosses path with this nationalist patriot, nicknamed "The Razor". Who is "The Razor" and why did I mention his name? He's apparently an undercover covert agent for China when the Japanese took over and while there's a few scenes of him, there's absolutely no link (omg, not again?!?) between his character and that of Ip Man's, an obvious hint that the lead star isn't Ip Man but Gong Er instead. And that one scene of their paths crossing only took a minute or so.

The Grandmaster failed on multiple levels, with the wishy washy scenes accompanied with overly subtle dialogue, the director 's intention to bring artsiness to this movie failed especially for the finale. It was so draggy at the end and watching the tension between the 2 suppressed love birds (Ip Man and Gong Er) was more torturing than sweet. 

To be right smack honest, it was a total waste of my time and I felt sorry for myself for letting curiosity get the better of me...