Ip Man: The Awakening review – martial-arts action offers quickstep fight rhythms – The Guardian
A mainland Chinese language try to money in on Donnie Yen’s superior Hong Kong sequence about Bruce Lee’s eponymous sifu, this movie’s quickstep preventing rhythms are slowed down by a laughable lack of effort on the narrative entrance. Budding martial arts grasp Ip Man, performed right here by former little one star and Jet Li acolyte Miu Tse, arouses the ire of the boastful British colonialist Mr Stark (performed by Sergio de Ieso in a attainable nod to Iron Man) after interrupting his human trafficking ring. That’s your lot story-wise; slogging by 76 minutes looks like being compelled to do one-finger press-ups for a similar size of time.
That is the form of plot staple – plucky martial arts college takes on overseas bullyboys – that animated many a Shaw Brothers or Golden Harvest manufacturing again within the day. Ip’s wing chun should finally trump the bartitsu of Mr Stark and his minions; the latter sounds made up, however was really a real Nineteenth-century British martial artwork. It’s an indication of the occasions that Britons are actually viable unhealthy guys for Chinese language and Indian cinema, as in RRR, and why shouldn’t we be honest recreation? However there’s one thing insidious in regards to the demonisation of overseas devils right here within the context of China’s latest crackdown in Hong Kong.
De Ieso offers keen pantomime, taking a leaf from the Andrew Tate college of cartoon villainy by completely cradling a stogie and glass of port. All the baddies right here converse a weird, Chinese language-accented English. Solely Tse emerges with any credit score, spry and virtually supernaturally indifferent within the (typically competent) combat scenes. He has sufficient authority, regardless of a gaping void the place some characterisation would have been good, to go for the junior-high model of the hallowed grasp. However that is light-weight, forgettable stuff.
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