Ip Man 4: The Finale

Well Go USA Entertainment | Release Date: December 25, 2019

6.7	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 61 Ratings

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SoulWarfareMar 7, 2020

I have a been a huge fan of the Ip Man series ever since the first movie came out in 2008. I watched all of the films in the series including the spinoff “Master Z: Ip Man legacy”. So, of course, I was going to go see this movie as well,I have a been a huge fan of the Ip Man series ever since the first movie came out in 2008. I watched all of the films in the series including the spinoff “Master Z: Ip Man legacy”. So, of course, I was going to go see this movie as well, especially considering its the last one in the main Ip Man films. Unfortunately, I came out feeling very disappointed in this movie.
Let’s start with the positives. The first and probably the reason most people come to watch this film is the fight scenes. They are still very well choreographed and this iteration features a variety of different type of martial arts including western Karate. Seeing how they choreographed different fighting styles. The fighting is also fast-paced and stylistic. The second has to be Donnie Yen’s marvellous performance as the titular character Ip Man. He continues to embody the character perfectly and give a convincing dialogue as a man with many wisdom. Likewise, I also have to praise Wu Yue as Wan Zong-Hua (chairman of the Chinese Benevolent Association) for providing a contrasting character to Ip Man belief but still give that aura of wisdom. Danny Chan returns as Bruce Lee from Ip Man 3 and he is still great and resembles him. The score from Kenji Kawai returns and is also still really good at elevating every scene albeit it is still kinda similar to that of all the previous entries.
Now let’s get to all the negatives from this film. Firstly, while I did praise the fights and its choreography; it’s not very memorable. Each film tends to have one or multiple fights that stick in your mind: The first film had the fight against 10 Japanese karate fighters, the second with the fish market fight and the table fight and the fight against the boxer, the third film with the fight against Mike Tyson and the final fight. However, the fights in this film don’t come close to the memorable fights of previous films. The closest it gets is maybe the Ip man vs Wan Zong-Hua or the Ip Man vs Scott Adkins (can’t even remember his character’s name…). Even those fights feel short and underwhelming at points. Secondly, why is every character in this film also borderline cartooney? There have been some over the top characters in previous entries but it was usually just one for comic relief but in this film, it feels like apart from the three characters I listed above; everyone else is over the top. This blend of serious performances from some actors with the over the top from others is very jarring. For example, Scott Adkins plays this over the top racist general but he is so blatantly racist and acts like a stereotypical general that it makes you wonder how he was even employed. Thirdly, the story is atrocious and lacks any nuance or depth. The story is simply Ip Man goes to America to get his son a school there and some weird racist stuff happens with Bruce Lee doing just kind of being there. The message in this film is, of course, exploring racism and they do kind of try to make it subtle with Bruce Lee who trains western people despite criticism from the Chinese people. HOWEVER, they waste Bruce Lee in this film by not even remotely having him involved in the main plot! He could have been used to show that it was possible for acknowledgement between Chinese and western people but they don’t even utilise this. Instead, we got over the top racist people trying to get rid of all Chinese people and prove Kung fu sucks so Ip Man has to stop him and convince some people otherwise. Due to them not utilising Bruce Lee more, the message of this film ends up feeling like western people are racist and bad even though this contrast Bruce Lee and even Ip Man point within this film. It doesn’t feel like a necessary story to tell for Ip Man with only a couple of things adding to his character like cancer and filming his training I guess? Also, this racist thing has already been done in Ip Man 2 so it is weird they are doing it again even if it explored slightly better. It just feels like similar ground and too much of a retread. Additionally, they decide to up the melodrama with all these family drama that really feels like they were trying to force some kind of character development. Overall, this film is a disappointing entry with its huge waste of story potential. However, the movie retains a lot of what makes IP Man a great martial art movie. The grounded, brutal yet fluid realistic fights are still there and are still great as always. The fluid interplay between contrasting martial arts are still great. Donnie Yen continues giving a wised yet graceful performance as the titular character with an elegant yet ferocious fighting style. Additionally, the last 15-20 minutes of this movie is very thrilling and also a very satisfying conclusion to the legacy of this franchise. In the end, this movie still provides fans with what made them fall in love with this franchise in the first place and sticking to its strengths still makes for a very good time.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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ReclusiveGamerDec 27, 2019

Ip Man 4 is a top-notch action experience stifled by extreme socio-political preaching and leftist ideology. Ip Man, played by Donnie Yen, is great as always, and new characters are welcome, interesting, and animate, but one cannot be helpedIp Man 4 is a top-notch action experience stifled by extreme socio-political preaching and leftist ideology. Ip Man, played by Donnie Yen, is great as always, and new characters are welcome, interesting, and animate, but one cannot be helped to escape the hyper-political black hole that sucks much of the fun out of the movie. You will find yourself cheering for Ip Man one moment and then wincing in disgust at the next. This makes it a disappointing and bittersweet conclusion for our final journey with Ip Man and company.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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JLuis_001Dec 28, 2019

It tries to to be a little more solemn towards the ending but in general if you have seen any or all of the Ip Man films, you should have a very clear idea of the style and tone of this one.

Very slight changes to the formula, again some ofIt tries to to be a little more solemn towards the ending but in general if you have seen any or all of the Ip Man films, you should have a very clear idea of the style and tone of this one.

Very slight changes to the formula, again some of the same mistakes of the previous films and obviously no surprises but like I said if you're here after three other films then you obviously know where you're standing.

Donnie Yen it's fine as he has always been in this role but it's clear there's wasn't really anywhere else to go with the character anymore.

This is really the end, and that's not a bad thing.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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clem666Mar 24, 2021

Classic Ip Man movie with great martial choregraphies, a good pace, visually great. Ip Man finally appears to be less strong than in the previous films. His character is way more developped since we witness him dealing with some kind ofClassic Ip Man movie with great martial choregraphies, a good pace, visually great. Ip Man finally appears to be less strong than in the previous films. His character is way more developped since we witness him dealing with some kind of family issues.

I found that the fact that the scenario joins the historical reality (with Ip Man being the master of Bruce Lee) was interesting. I like that fact that 'Ip Man' movies try to be some kind of romanced biopics instead of being a simple movie with over-powered characters. Futhermore Lee doesn't take much place in the movie. Treating racism was also meaningful even if the ways to do so sometimes seem awkward and/or irrelevant, leading to over-stereotyped characters. They could have added many more women to the cast though. Excepted Anita there are no significant woman all along.

The plot is far from being original as we can clearly see this was copied and pasted from all aother 'Ip Man' movies. The caricature of American people is relevant but far too often falls into the pit of convention.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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