Ip Man 4: The Finale

Official Australian release date: 20/12/19. Viewed: 23/12/19.

Director: Wilson Yip

Actors: Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Van Ness, Yue Wu

Genre: Action / Drama

Rating: M

  

‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’ is the final film in Yip’s saga of kung fu Master Ip (Yen)’s journey of taking his Wing Chun teachings across China, and this time to America. Not sure there needed to be a fourth film, but they wanted to shoehorn some of Bruce Lee (Chan) into it, as he was Ip Man’s most famous student. Ip Man travels to San Francisco to find a boarding school for his son, so he can learn independence.

Once in America, Ip Man is confronted with adversity from other kung fu masters, led by Wan Zong Hua (Wu), the tai chi master – they don’t like Bruce Lee trying to teach non-Chinese people kung fu. Ip Man must prove himself is an impressive battle with Hua, as Bruce Lee has to do in an alleyway fight scene.

The political commentary comes from a young marine, Hartman (Ness), who wants to incorporate Wing Chun into the US Marines’ hand-to-hand combat training. This is not appreciated by Geddes (Adkins), the racist Sargent who then becomes the main villain and beats Hua and then has the final fight with Ip Man. It’s a bit predictable by the final act, but it’s very impressive to see Yen’s skills and see what he can still do as a 56 year old.

Overall: Solid conclusion to kung fu saga.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.