Donnie Yen as Master Yip Man (Mandarin Films)

"Yip Man" is arguably the greatest martial arts movie of all time.

"Yip Man", the story of a real-life martial arts master and trainer with a background in Wing Chu, showcases his true martial arts ability by defeating every master in Foshan and ultimately battling the Japanese empire, even at the expense of his own life.

The plot begins with Yip Man being challenged by Master Liu (Zhi-Hui Chan) in a friendly duel to determine whose kung fu style of martial arts is superior. Yip Man wins convincingly and did so without hurting his colleague. A few segments later, a group of thugs led by Kam Shan-Chau (Louis Fan) begin challenging every martial arts master to a duel, to see if their style is superior. It's a battle of north versus south techniques. After defeating everyone, they face the greatest martial artist of all time. Master Kam challenges Master IP to a duel which led to IP Man schooling him, taking back the honor of Foshan. Master IP, after his fight with Master Kam, makes it clear that it’s not about styles, but about the individual performing those moves. That's what makes a winner in battle. Soon after, the plots takes a dramatic twist as the Japanese invade the Chinese and overtake their lands and homes.

IP Man along with every other Chinese man is left very poor with little to eat. Many die during the invasion as many are without a home. IP, having lost everything, decides to work in a coal mine to support his family. Every day, the Japanese soldiers challenge any Chinese man to battle the Japanese in a fight gym to see whose kung fu is superior. Many of Yip Man’s friends, including his close friend Master Zealot Lin (Yu Xing) and Master Liu, are beaten to death and shot. This urges Master Yi to battle against 10 Japanese fighters at the same time, demolishing them in front of the head of the army General Miu (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi). This is the most intense fight of the entire movie.

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Yip Man is ultimately kidnapped by General Miu and threatened by the Japanese army that if he beats General Miu in their fight (which Yip Man challenged him to), they would shoot him afterward. Of course, Yip Man defeats General Miu in brutal fashion, with juxtaposed flashbacks of Yip Man's striking training with a wooden dummy, finishing the scene off with Yip rushing the general with punches and knocking him out for the win. As the crowd celebrates their victory over the Japanese, Master Yip is shot as predicted, which leads to the Chinese rioting against the Japanese army. Yip Man is rushed to the hospital by his friends and family, where he ultimately survives.

The choreography and editing is this movie is superb. Donnie Yen's physical movement and performance is epic and authentic. It’s almost as if we were watching the real Master Yip. Yen has a charming, charismatic personally and the humility of a great fighter. Donnie was the perfect actor to play this role. His demeanor completely changes when he is getting ready for battle. All of a sudden, his facial expression changes as he morphs into the martial artist that can defeat any fighter. What made this character great was his willingness to show his emotion by tearing up in front of his wife and fighting for his fellow country man. 

Bruce Lee, Master Yip's student (Warner Bros)

The movie uses rapid-style to depict the punching speed and power that Yip Man unleashes on his opponents. There is a bit of CGI used in the fight scenes to enhance the impact of punches and kicks Yip Man lands on his opponents. The editing was not used in this movie so much to hide the deficiencies Yen may have had, but moreso to give the fight scenes that extra boost of impact and intensity.

Another great feature about this warrior is his physique. Many other martial art movies like the ones starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger make their heroes look psychically imposing by having an exceptuonally fit body. Master Yip was not interested in what his body looked like. That was the least important part to him. He wanted to display his martial arts technique and win fights, regardless of what he looked like physically.

The themes utilized before a fight scene worked well to intensify the scenes. The music utilized throughout the movie enhances the level of desperation that the Chinese were going through as a result of the Japanese invasion. The music was almost like a character added that informed the audience of how terrible their oppression was.

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What made this martial arts movie the greatest of all time is that it’s based on a true story featuring a martial artist with the best Wing Chu Style in China who went on to defeat multiple black belts in the arts and fought for the freedom of his country. He was also the man responsible for training Bruce Lee to become the dominant martial artist that everyone knows him to be. Yip Man displayed true greatness as a fighter and a teacher of martial arts. Bruce Lee went on to become one of the most celebrated martial artist of all time and Yip Man is to be hugely credited for Bruce Lee’s success. A lot of us are used to seeing actors pretend to be martial artists who do a good job of mimicking that role. In this case, though, Yen goes above and beyond expectations to honor a true martial artist's accomplishments.

This movie is among the few successful martial arts movie of the 21st century. Despite the many fighting movies and martial arts movies that have been made over the years here in the Unites States, this movie uses a unique editing style along with a real life character, that makes it the best martial arts movie to date. "Yip Man" was also made at a time when the UFC was growing exponentially in the states. Many of us have wondered if "Yip Man" would have been as successful if he were still fighting today. I would like to think that he would be victorious holding a title during his career. Still, it's hard to imagine that his Southern Kung Fu style would work in a real fight.

Retro Movie Reviews is a weekly column by Kent Martinez, published every Friday. Read other Retro Movie Reviews here.

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