MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Leofwine_draca IP MAN: THE FINAL FIGHT is the second of two biopic movies made by former Category III director Herman Yau. The first, THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN, was a prequel to the Donnie Yen trilogy, whereas THE FINAL FIGHT is a natural successor. In this one, the great and underrated Anthony Wong delivers a subdued portrayal of the quiet master, once more driven into action by the machinations of some violent gang leaders.Yau's films look quite poor when compared to the great Yen trilogy, but on their own merits they're quite enjoyable. The main problem I have with them is that the writing isn't great, descending into sentimentality to often and never really feeling too mature. This one feels like a soap opera at times, but the good news is that the hard-hitting fight sequences are really effective and give the performers a chance to shine. I've always been a fan of Wong and he doesn't disappoint here, while the likes of Eric Tsang, Ken Lo, and Sammo's lad Timmy all impress. It's no masterpiece, but for solid martial arts fun you could do a lot worse.

Reno Rangan For the record, it is not a sequel to Donnie Yen's 'Ip Man' duology. This movie tells the story of grandmaster's last few years of life especially his personal life problems. Where he stayed alone in a rented rooftop house teaching martial arts to the young generation. Actually it won't tell anything about Bruce Lee-Ip Man's relationship. I kinda expected that and got disappointed. This story was mainly narrated by Ip Chun's perspective about his father. That he struggled his new livelihood in Hong Kong who was apart from his wife. As usual good in making friends who visited him often. After his wife's death his son joins him who witnesses a local singer who had affair with his father but that he resisted it. More likely a fine sentimental drama with the couple of fights now and then.This movie was not impressive like other movies based on this man did. Movie's like 'The Legend is Born' and 'Bruce Lee, My Brother' had some good portrait of Ip Man life and events which left nothing for this movie. Everyone likes Ip Man after Donnie Yen's movie so the other filmmaker making benefit of it and that's where 'The Final Fight' born. Although the movie was okay but the problem with it was the sentiments were not touching and also the lack of some fine stunt sequences.On the technical side of the movie it had no flaws. Camera works, the giant sets of 50s Hong Kong, musics, editing, costumes all were simply good, even the performances were appreciable. But the movie did not travel on the path as I expected. It may disappoint some people for its lack of some good actions and some people for not strong enough emotions. Still good to go for it only if your expectation are low, especially not to expect on the level of Donnie Yen's movie. Then only it will justify to your watch.6/10

mrrockey Ip Man: The Final Fight is another knockoff of Wilson Yip's Ip Man films once again directed by Herman Yau. It shows the final years of Ip Man's life and has a more somber tone to it compared to the previous films. But is that a good or bad thing, let's take a look!Firstly, I want to talk about our new Ip Man, Anthony Wong. When I first heard that he's our new Ip Man, I wasn't pleased. I thought that Wong looked too tough and hard-edged to play a guy who's supposed to be humble and peaceful. But when I saw this film, he won me over. The difference between Anthony Wong's Ip Man and Donnie Yen's Ip Man is that Yen is supposed to be the kinda guy who's always had the perfect life. He was always sitting at home, drinking tea, practicing Wing Chun, and having meals with his family. Anthony Wong's Ip Man has some of those traits as well but he's also a man who's gained a lot of wisdom from his experiences. His version of Ip Man, while still humble, is a little more aware of his abilities and isn't afraid to show it off here and there. Both portrayals are great but you can't really say one is better because they're playing different ages at Ip Man's life.Secondly, the story. While the earlier films are essentially action movies, this one is more of a historical drama which I actually kinda like! After the first film, the Ip Man series had problems trying to incorporate action into the plot but there's a lot less of that here. It focuses more on Ip Man's later life in Hong Kong being told in a somewhat somber tone and it's actually pretty compelling. So the story for me gets a thumbs up!The problems with this movie is the continuity, the villain, and the lack of Bruce Lee. I'm still not completely sure about this movie's continuity. I think it's supposed to be an alternate continuation of the first Ip Man movie with Ip Man first being introduced to Hong Kong and mentioning he fought the Japanese before but then I thought, didn't he also do that in The Legend is Born: Ip Man? So I have no fricking idea whether or not the first Ip Man movie is canon with this film. There's also a really forced villain in this movie. He's so over-the-top and comic-book like, it doesn't quite fit with the tone of this movie. I really wish one day, someone will make an Ip Man movie that has action but doesn't have a villain. I'm also surprised by the lack of Bruce Lee in this film. He's probably the reason Ip Man is famous in the first place so I was really disappointed with his lack of screen-time in this film.Overall, it's not perfect but I certainly prefer it over the previous two Ip Man films so I say check it out! 6/10.

DICK STEEL Herman Yau's films have got its bragging rights, having Ip Man's own son Ip Chun involved with the production, not only in making cameo appearances, but providing story input to paint a more dramatic picture of the subject. And it couldn't get more authentic than this, even with artistic license obviously taken at some points. And if you were to extrapolate them, then you'd see shades of the rest of the other films that seem to tangent off important plot points. Things such as underground fighting rings, corrupt cops, battling with other grandmasters, setting up shop, and tales of rash disciples all have its air time here as well, and this one offered a lot more than the others because it's now a snapshot of a time that the rest hasn't, and probably will not, cover. This is Ip Man in his later days when Bruce Lee was beginning to make a name for himself in the USA, and chronicles the life and times, filled with its fair share of ups, downs, moments of pride and that tragic sense of loss, that comes with ageing, with a lot more focus on his group of disciples as much as it is about Ip Man's personal life.The surprise is of course Yau teaming up with his one time iconic collaborator Anthony Wong, who together have made classical Category III films in The Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome. Here, they reunite to bring a kung fu master to life, and a biographical one at that, and going by the trailers, Wong is no pushover as he executes the Wing Chun moves with grace and ferocity, with little that betrays the use of a stuntperson or wires to help make his a lot more graceful. What works here in the fight department is the awesome choreography that does justice to both the martial arts and the actor, obviously having trained for it, to execute the moves with as much authenticity as possible. Action sequences may be limited in quantity given Herman Yau's and Erica Lee's story focused on the more dramatic moments, and relationships that Ip Man has with his wife (Anita Yuen), a songstress (Zhou Chu Chu) and his many disciples, but more than made up for it in terms of quality. Cinematography in action films are key in either wanting to play the cheat sheet with quick cuts and edits, with either faraway or tight shots to hide the stuntperson, but this one is done perfectly well to show off the cast members' moves and intensity of their blows, and does its action choreography justice, which for a martial arts film, matters most. Besides some speeding up detected, it doesn't have over the top style, but kept things as simple as Wing Chun's philosophy, and that battle between Ip Man and Master Ng (Eric Tsang) remains one of the best in this movie, and dare I mention also ranks as one of the best amongst the rest of the Ip Man films put together.If there's a downside to this, it's the issue of having too many characters jam packed into this less than two hour story. There's a whole host of disciples that Ip Man had recruited, and while screen time is dedicated to these characters, their development was fleeting at best. Headlining the disciples were the likes of Gillian Chung chalking up her resume in her recent comeback, but her role was rote at best, with her relatively less well known stars given more screen time instead. Jordan Chan is the other famous headliner for the film, starring as Ip Man's disciple and a policeman, caught up with moral issues as his profession brings about opportunities for corruption at the time, and how he struggled with this moral dilemma. But it's not much of a struggle as it turned out, although the narrative steered clear on passing any judgement or ending on the character, except to remind that he was an important source of income to keep things going. Zhou Chu Chu as the songstress provided a promise of a romance that wasn't much, but this love story has its shades in Wong Kar-Wai's epic in being a love that could have been, told in a very different fashion here.The opening film of this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival, with that territory comes a certain guarantee that this has to live up to its honor with high production values, which was a plus point as the 50s and 60s Hong Kong got recreated both in terms of external sets and interior art direction and production to transport the audience into an era long gone. Giving it some artistic credibility is how the narrative blended with the history of Hong Kong as a background, making it as much of a historical epic of the colony at the time as it is about the story of Ip Man's advancing years in life. Still, as part of the Ip Man movie canon, The Final Fight has its moments, and even if you're jaded from too many films about the grandmaster in such a short duration of time, this movie still has what it takes to offer audiences a different aspect yet to be seen of Ip Man, with its Wing Chun moves and fights being the icing on the cake. Recommended!