- Actors: Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Wu Yue
- Director: Wilson Yip
- Disc Format: Dolby, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS 5.1), Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Cantonese (DTS 5.1)
- Subtitles: English, Mandarin Chinese
- Region: Region A/1
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rated: Not RatedNR
- Studio: Well Go Usa
- Release Date: April 21, 2020
- Run Time: 105 minutes
The Ip
Man franchise has long been dedicated to themes of Chinese pride, as
displayed by the telling of the Wing Chun master’s story. In the first film, it
was the Japanese occupying force that our Chinese hero dispelled, and in a
later entry it was the British. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the
film in which Ip Man takes on America would prove to be the most transparently
nationalistic in the franchise, once again allowing him to take on another
nation’s military. Depiction of the United States is often so negative that the
film flirts with full on nationalistic propaganda, but fortunately the fight
choreography is still pretty good.
Ip Man 4 begins in China with the title
character (played, once again, by Donnie Yen) having some difficulty in his
personal life. First is the death of his wife, which is followed by a troubled
relationship with his son. Traveling to America to search for a better life for
his son, Ip Man also reunites with his former student, Bruce Lee. Together,
these two must face a series of obstacles in San Francisco. On one side, they face
the disapproving California Chinese martial arts committee, who take issue with
the fact that Lee is teaching kung fu to non-Chinese. At the same time, both
Lee and Ip Man face adversity in the form of racism, on the streets and within
the American military.
The big heavy
that Ip Man must fight in this film is a military commander convinced that
teaching soldiers the art of karate is far more beneficial than the more
unfamiliar kung fu. That karate comes from the former Ip Man enemy country of
Japan is fitting, though the casting of British actor/martial artist Scott
Adkins in the role of the commander is a bit confusing. Either way, we know
immediately from this bad guy’s behavior that the film will inevitably end with
a showdown between martial arts.
While there may
be some truth to the narrative, there is also a lot of manipulation to make the
true story more black and white. For one thing, while Ip Man may have initially
taught Bruce Lee Wing Chun, he also eventually kicked him out of the school for
being mixed race (Lee’s mother was Eurasian). Knowing this, it seems unlikely
that Ip Man would have come to Lee’s defense in San Francisco over teaching
other white people kung fu. But more obvious in the plot contrivances of Ip Man 4 is the constant depiction of
all white American characters as violent and racist (often with very bad
acting). From school children who chase down and bully Asian students to the
American military beating Chinese characters simply because of their race, the portrayal
of these characters is far from nuanced. They are one-dimensional tools for the
film’s propagandist message, which is simply that no matter how bad China may
be, it is still better than the United States.
Ignoring the
transparent nationalism, Ip Man 4
does boast some impressive fight sequences choreographed by legend Yuen Wo Ping
(The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). There are multiple enemies that
have been embellished for this very purpose. Adkins alone has mastered the art
of being a martial arts villain, even if his character provides no real depth.
And despite there being questions about some of the history, it is quite nice
to see some of the indisputable moments from Bruce Lee’s journey depicted
onscreen, especially as it allows the franchise to come full circle from the
end of the first film.
The Blu-ray
release comes with a DVD copy as well, not to mention the extras on the discs
themselves. There are a couple of behind-the-scenes featurettes, which read
more as promotional material than informative for those who have seen the film
already. There is also an optional English-language dubbing, for those too lazy
to read the scenes with subtitles.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 5/10
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