Donnie Yen reprises his role as legendary Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man one more time in Ip Man 4: The Finale. Available on Digital now, and on Blu-ray+DVD later this month, Ip Man 4 concludes the awesome Donnie Yen Ip Man collection. In the last week, I have re-watched the previous three films to refresh my memory and indulge my hype for the finale. It’s been quite a ride for over ten years for the Ip Man franchise; together, this collection comprises one of the best martial arts sets ever.
Ip Man 4 takes place in 1964, in both Hong Kong and (mostly in) San Francisco. The film begins with Ip receiving an invitation from his most renowned student, Bruce Lee, to come to a Karate Tournament that is being held in San Francisco. Ip decides not to go, but also discovers he has mouth and neck cancer and his younger son Ching is having trouble at school, to the point of being expelled for fighting. Realizing his time is coming to an end, Ip decides to go to San Francisco to find a school for Ching to attend. The process of a Chinese immigrant to get into the schools requires a special letter of recommendation from the Chinese Benevolence Association, which is chaired by a Tai Chi master. He and Ip don’t get their relationship started off on the best of terms, but things later improve after Ip saves his daughter from bullies. This incident is one of many times the main theme of the film is revealed: racism and bigotry expressed by many of the Americans at the Chinese.
In terms of fun factor and raw entertainment, Ip Man 4 is the toughest of the series to enjoy because of the racism and the knowing that there is not a happy ending to this movie (neither was there in Ip Man 3 with the passing of Ip’s wife, also due to cancer). Still, these films are based on real life characters, and their death is inevitable. The topic of racism and bigotry is uncomfortable as well, but similar to death, it remains a present fact of life. There was really no avoiding these difficult subjects, but I thought the film handled them pretty well, while still including scenes that showcase the peaceful wisdom of Ip as well as his (and other other actors’) amazing martial arts ability (which for me, it’s these latter two points that make the series so fun to watch).
Wilson Yip and Woo-Ping Yuen return as the director and action director, and do an excellent job. Kent Cheng returns as well to play a friend of Ip’s, while we also see Scott Adkins playing the racist Marine sergeant. Scott Adkins is quite a few action movies due to his athletic ability and ability to portray a very unlikable bad guy, which he does a nice job of again in Ip Man 4.
Technical quality of the film on Blu-ray was great, no complaints. It’s a very crisp and clean looking film and the Cantonese 5.1 audio sounded clear and good. There are several previews of other films as well as three very brief and overlapping features. The features including a Making Of, Ten Years of the Legend, and an additional, similar feature. These are all about three minutes, in HD, and show scenes of the movie while music and very brief blurbs by the actors and crew are mixed in. Something more definitive and concrete, perhaps a long interview with Donnie Yen, providing a retrospective on his career playing Ip these last ten-plus years, would have been really ideal, but instead you get the typical “it was great working with everybody, this film is awesome,” kind of lines from the cast and crew.
Overall, Ip Man 4: The Finale is a must-see for fans of the series. Speaking very candidly, because of the subject matter and sad ending, not because of the quality of the acting or production, Ip Man 4 is my least favorite Ip Man movie of the collection, but it’s still very good and absolutely worth watching (and owning, for that matter).
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