Recensioni degli utenti

With cult Hong Kong director Herman Yau at the helm, The Legend is Born predates the Ip Man films we've seen thus far, seizing the window of opportunity in exploring Ip Man's life as a teenager before he became the master we're all familiar with Donnie Yen's portrayal. While it's less flashy than the two earlier films, Yau will pique your curiosity with the shrewd casting of veterans such as Sammo Hung in a different role this time as Ip Man's master Chan Wah- shun, Yuen Biao as the next generation leader Chung Sok, and even getting Fan Siu Wong back as Ip Man's foster brother Ip Tin-chi, making him the only actor to feature in all three Ip Man films thus far. Credibility for the film is even enhanced with the presence of Ip Man's real son Ip Chun as the elderly but sprightly Leung Bik who teaches Ip Man (played by Dennis To) a thing or two about his brand of Wing Chun.

That scene alone opposite To is one of the action highlights of the film. And action is something this film has no lack of, ranging from friendly and playful exchanges, to fending off petty street thugs and the Japanese – yes, again, but I suppose it's set in the era before the Sino-Japanese war that this in the narrative is somehow unavoidable. While the earlier film versions had tried to stay rooted in reality with the fight scenes, for this version there's the inevitable and obvious wirework being used from time to time, which takes you into the realm of fantasy unfortunately.

But almost everyone here has a fight crafted for them, and some of the better ones include the mouth-watering duel between Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao executing Wing Chun moves while blindfolded, imparting a key philosophy about pre-emption, Fan Siu Wong's battle against Japanese exponents in the Jing Wu premises, Dennis To against Yuen Biao when the former returned from Hong Kong, and of course the brawl involving Dennis To against many ninjas, which we now associate Ip Man with (fighting against impossible odds in headcount). Various martial arts like Judo and Karate also get thrown in even if they're used fleetingly, and there's also glimpses of the variation of Wing Chun involving weapons like the 6 inch pole (well, we know the damage what Ip Man can do with a humongous one from the first film), and the staples like the wooden dummy practices and the rapid fire punches. If there's any fight scene which is a let down, it'll be the final one which was short, and the opponent never really threatening our hero at all.

Dennis To, the current Hong Kong martial arts champion, probably has his close physical features resemble Donnie Yen to thank for in winning the title role of Ip Man, since audiences all over are currently associating the Master with Donnie's portrayal. Incidentally To had a role in Ip Man 2 as Sammo Hung's disciple, so how's that for having everyone associated with the earlier films, to chip in for this one? The pressure is on for To, but granted he cannot hold a candle to Donnie Yen's charisma yet, and because Ip Man the character here is in his early days, he gets whupped a bit more here as expected since he's nowhere near the grandmaster status. Credit to To for trying, though his acting is a lot more wooden, and his fighting moves executed for the film also having a raw feel than the fluidity we've come to know the Ip Man for.

On the other hand, I thought this was more of a Fan Siu Wong breakthrough role, where he'd make you sit up and take notice of his gentlemanly portrayal of Ip Tin-chi. In Ip Man 1 he's the ruffian from the North, and shows that he's quite the chameleon in changing his outwardly appearance for a different character here. His character also seemed to be more fleshed out (for a reason of course), and action-wise given the opportunity to shine a lot more with the various styles utilized, as well as those which Ip Man had picked up from Leung Bik, putting them two on almost equal terms.

Erica Lee's screenplay transports us back to the life and times of a young Ip Man and his life in the Wing Chun martial arts school, as well as his education in Hong Kong. Unfortunately it also meant having to put in a clunky romantic web weaved between the characters, though it didn't go beyond the surface and had plenty of "jealous fits" coming from Rose Chan's fellow martial arts student with whom Ip Tin-chi is interested in, but for her to prefer Ip Man, who in turn is in love with Huang Yi's rich girl character to probably align this to the Ip Man films.

The story also contain shades from the earlier ones, such as those involving corrupted officials, arrogant foreigners who have to be put in their place, a jail term (this makes it 3 in a row that Ip Man gets thrown into one), and having enough twists in the story to include a short murder mystery, espionage, and a turn that will make Infernal Affairs proud as well.

It's a prequel done by another production team, so don't expect the narrative to gel so nicely into Mandarin Films' Ip Man universe since there are elements here that obviously clashes with what we treat as canon. But what you can expect, as a martial arts action film, is plenty of rapid fire, hard hitting action, and of course more of Ip Man's character being portrayed on the big screen. You'd still feel compelled to applaud when Ip Man comes to the rescue, but soon realize that it doesn't exude the same emotional intensity, but makes up for it in its variety of fights showcasing the lesser seen Wing Chun moves.

I was not disappointed by this movie and certainly was entertained, but this is not a close match to the sequels with Donnie Yen. This actor is good as Ip Man but not a close match to Donnie Yen who was simply amazing. I understand that this was an early period of Ip Man's life so it had to be played by another actor, but I guess I am not the only one who would like to see one more sequel with Donnie. Everything else in this movie is somehow inferior to the previous two: composition, plot development and camera. While first two parts are slowly developing the core of the main conflict this one presents them by parts step by step making the movie somehow last tense and more slow. Pretty good acting must say. All in all, pretty good entertainment.

"The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" is a film which chronicles Ip Man in his teenage years which focuses much on his learning of Wing Chun. The film is a prequel to the previous two Ip Man films which starred Donnie Yen as the titular character of Ip Man. Now, the star has been changed and the film has gotten a different style.

First, let me tell you about the cast. The cast choosing here in this movie can be called really bizarre. Dennis To who became a temporary minor antagonist on "Ip Man 2" became the teenage titular character in this prequel. That totally got me shocked. It's so rare to see such happening. Then, we have some of the same cast used in the previous Ip Man films on a different role such as Sammo Hung (plays the teacher of the teenage Ip Man) and Louis Fan (plays the brother of Ip Man). That was really confusing. But, something surprised me. A character named Leung Bik was played by the son of Ip Man no other than Ip Chun.

Secondly, there are quite a lot of perspectives. There are around six perspectives here which really got me confused. There's one from Ip Man, then one for his brother, his love, his other jealous love and the enemy. It really got my mind turning around.

Next, the special effects were kind of cheesy. There were two scenes that showed a train leaving somewhere to somewhere. You know that those trains produce smoke. The smoke was pretty fake as it didn't suit the background. It was not good.

The acting of the characters. Not bad. Dennis To on Ip Man was not bad at all. The others were also normal. Just like a normal movie. The emotions were well acted by the actors.

Then we have the action scenes. They were also well directed. But, I still say the previous two films related to Ip Man still had better action scenes than this prequel. The moves were less cooler than the previous two pictures. But, it's not really cheesy. Not a problem.

This movie has a different style. It has a different theme. "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2" had the theme where the people were seeking freedom (although "Ip Man 2" was not totally about seeking freedom). Whereas, this movie has a different theme of love. For me, the freedom theme from the previous two films is only a small percent of the film. The directing and division of the emotional moments are also differently set.

There's also another confusing thing. If you've watched "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2", you might notice that the titular character of Ip Man doesn't know English at all. He didn't even speak any word in English language. But, in this PREQUEL, he is able to speak English quite fluently. He also spoke to an English or American person in this movie. That was strange and that totally made my mind confused too.

Well, the movie provided some sad moments too. But, they were not so sad, they were only like 40% sad moments for me. But, if you're easy to cry, you might want to just provide a piece of tissue in case you have tears flowing down your face.

The movie is different from the previous two Ip Man related films. I say this is worse than the previous ones. I'm not really satisfied with the result of the film. The previous films were much better than this. But, this movie might just entertain you with its action scenes. I half- heartedly recommend you this movie. It's still entertaining to be watched and not really a waste of time. 6 stars for this movie.

There has been a heap of movies about legendary Kung Fu master Ip Man in recent years, and each does portray a slightly different character.

With that said, then this 2010 version portrays the early years of Ip Man. And while being a newcomer to a lead role, then Yu-Huang To did manage to put on a persuasive and good performance of a young Ip Man. And his performance was good in martial arts and acting alike.

The story was good and captivating, and it does offer a good variety of drama, action, intrigue and romance, all mixed together in a manner that worked out quite well.

Being a martial arts movie, then the martial arts is crucial, and it needs to be impressive, well-choreographed and most importantly well-executed. The martial arts in this movie was good and varied; from street fights, playful sparring and deadly brawls. It was well-performed and looked impressive. And the movie was relatively free of 'Wire Fu'. There were some disappointing transitions into 'Wire Fu' though, which was a shame.

"The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" (aka "Yip Man chin chyun") has some good names on the cast list, including Yu-Huang To, Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen, to name but a few. Most impressive, though, is the fact that they got Ip Chun to be in the movie.

If you like Hong Kong martial arts movies, then "The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" is definitely well-worth watching.

Like some critics are saying I have to agree this isn't as entertaining as the previous Ip Man movies that feature Donnie Yen so far. But this isn't a bad movie, in fact it turned out to be much better than I expected. Maybe it's because I had such low expectations after finding out the person that will be playing Ip Man won't be Donnie Yen. This movie isn't really a prequel to the previous Ip Man movie although it shows the beginning of Ip Man's legend. But a alternative telling of the Ip Man story or a origin story. What I also found funny is how some of the cast from the previous Ip Man movies is in this but are entirely different characters. The plot isn't entirely believable but the fight sequences are at least compared to the previous two Ip Man movies. The story for a origin movie isn't all that interesting and not that entertaining and a bit slow paced for this style and type of movie. But the twist near the end makes it slightly bit better than it would have been. Not that the twist is all that great but it's still not that predictable and makes sense although a bit far-fetched. It's a worthy installment in the Ip Man franchise but it's not better than the previous two that has Donnie Yen. Although Dennis To does a great job playing Ip Man as Donnie Yen, in fact I find them both to be almost equals.

6.1

Being this is a time based prequel to the first film it sets the tone of how Kung Fu Sifu became the legend he is IP MAN. The plot and story were enticing as it brought the viewer into the life he led prior to becoming a master. It was a action filled film with very well choreographed fight scenes.

The strength of the film lies within the story of the political ties to the school and how the Japanese tried to infiltrate to have double agents learn the art. Ip Man would not stand for this and took on the Japanese agents and became a direct link to his mastery. If you have an affinity to the martial arts and how Wing Chun became the style of Ip Man the you will enjoy the format of this film. I give it a solid 8/10

THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN is a prequel to the two widely successful IP MAN films starring Donnie Yen. I absolutely love those movies, finding them a delight with strong storytelling and outstanding action, so I wasn't quite sure how this prequel - which DOESN'T feature Yen - would stand up.

The answer is that it's worth a shot, although not of the same calibre as the other two films. It's an amiable enough martial arts story, mixing biographic storytelling with some action sequences that don't disappointment. Dennis To is an exact lookalike for a young Yen, but he doesn't have the same level of acting ability although his martial arts skills are quite good.

The film is well shot by Herman Yau, the notorious bad taste director of the 1990s, who puts every penny of the budget up on the screen. The story is familiar and contains some rather generic and stereotypical villains, but that's par for the course for a martial arts flick. The supporting cast is exemplary, however, and where the movie really shines. Fan Siu-Wong (THE STORY OF RICKY) excels as Ip Man's adopted brother, and Sammo Hung has a nice opening cameo as a martial arts master. Better still is Yuen Biao, off our screens for too many years and still cutting it where it counts. There's even an important role for Ip Man's real-life son, Ip Chun, which can't be scoffed at.

I watched this in two sittings. It's a complex story and a bit to read. I felt a bit tired so I stopped watching and returned to it a couple of days later. Yeah there's a lot going on in this film. The skill of these guys is astounding. Even if you're not really into Martial Arts films it's still a good watch as it was a nice story that weaves and bobs it's way along. It's got action, a love story, intrigue and more action. Recommended viewing in an anti-Hollywood way if you know what I mean. Sometimes it's nice to sit through something with subtitles for once and experience different cultural elements. Good movie.

With the huge successes of "Ip Man" and the latest sequel, it's no surprise that the producers are cashing-in on their success, and therefore making a prequel. However, despite some solid moments, the film never really comes together, save for the action.

Now Dennis To is no Donnie Yen. He can fight, but that's about it. Yen can fight AND act with ease, while To, playing the lead instead of minor roles in the previous two, is as bland as a doorknob. One can never feel that he is in danger, or feel with his character as he delivers a boring and uninspired performance as pre-Grandmaster Ip Man. I wish I can't say the same for the other new actors, but....man, they really screwed up with the young cast. Many actors from the previous two movies return, including Sammo Hung and Louis Fan - but they both play different characters. Yuen Biao is a new addition to the franchise, but what stands out is a very nice special appearance by Ip Chun, the eldest son of the real Ip Man. Together these supporting actors make the best of what they are given.

But where they mostly fail with the actors, they make up for it in the fight sequences. The fights are fast-paced and well-choreographed, but they seem to make up the bulk of the movie; in fact this movie is basically all fight, little substance. Granted, they are well handled but basically you've seen it all before and the sequences look quite bland until the final act where it really heats up. But story wise, it's basically nothing, it serves as an excuse to see more fights and I think has practically nothing to do with the real Ip Man's history. And the music score is bland and uninspired as well - the songs on the other hand is atrociously arranged. Production design and cinematography however are great.

In short, it's an-OK time waster, it's not bad to kill an hour and a half, but it's something one wouldn't want to see again. See this as a temporary action/Wing Chin rush.

Entertainment value: 7/10

Overall: 5.5/10

I had heard positive things about the Ip Man films and I generally have found Donnie Yen to be an enjoyable and engaging martial arts star so, sight-unseen I decided to check out the sequel when the chance came up on an airplane recently. That it turned out to be a prequel to the original film didn't really bother me, since I didn't really have any expectations on the film in this regard and the lack of Donnie Yen didn't really bother me either (albeit this was because I expected the film to transition to him as the film progressed in time!).

Anyway, the story here sees the rise of Man as he is trained up from a child, adapts his style thanks to input from the brother of his former master before returning to his original school to find shadowy plans from a Japanese influence moving into the area and making deadly political power moves. The plot generally does enough to provide a structure for the action sequences, but there is really nothing more to it than that. It had the potential to build character development and thus character tensions as well as making the most of the local political machinations and deceptions to add to the tension, but it doesn't really do either of these because it doesn't seem interested in making this more than a frame. It is still a semi-decent frame, but it is only a frame.

In terms of fight sequences the film is also decent enough without being thrilling. The individual fights are well choreographed and are filmed without the frantic editing that western films often use to cover up that the cast are only able to do one move at a time – here the performers are the ones with the skill, not just the editors. This isn't to say that they are thrilling though, but at least they are impressive in terms of technical skill. It isn't till the final fight where a bit of passion and danger gets into the film, prior to this it is noticeably lacking and it did mean I was "watching" the action rather than getting into it. Although a lot of this feeling is from the film as a whole, a good chunk of it has to rest with Yu-Hang because he is frankly dull. In the same way Seagal tends to have the same expression in all manner of scenes, so Yu-Hang tends to have a slightly simple bland expression whether he is fighting off sideshow bullies or talking with a girl he likes. I imagine if I'd seen Yen in the first film, this comparison would be unbearable because, even on its own merits he is a remarkably bland presence in the lead. Sammo shows up so briefly you wonder why he bothered apart from being a known name to help sell the film. The rest of the younger cast are pretty average as well – skilled for sure, but mostly bland or limited; the only performance that really stuck in my mind was the girl who played the Japanese general's daughter) as she showed some colour and heart in the (albeit one-note) character she had.

Overall Ip Man Legend is a solid martial arts film which delivers solid fight sequences in a so-so plot populated by mostly bland or limited performances. It carries itself with a rather worthy air that doesn't help escape the feeling of being a bit of a trudge, but it is still an "OK" film although nothing more than that.

Another story about poor Ip Man. It is likely that the reality is very different from all those films that celebrate his personal art of kung-fu.

Here we have a production with a lot of means for everything that concerns the technical elements: sets, costumes (we can note a very good work on the costumes), makeup and the whole production values.

The scenario is still the standard pattern with the Japanese villains, with the evil rival school, with the betrayed master, a romantic story thwarted, with the master who is murdered or at least here there is a master who dies alone and then another one who is murdered.

The quality of this kind of film is linked to the fights and the choreography. In this film they come at regular intervals and are rather well executed, the main actor being convincing; the choreographies are well staged with many long shots and very few close-ups. The choreography incorporates a lot of destruction of set pieces, which gives it some punch. The director does not insist on the violence of the fights, but there are some spectacular and really violent in the way they break the furniture, the walls and the surrounding scenery.

In the very typical elements of this kind of production, there is a rough or even rough dramaturgy, as well as elements of philosophy associated with kung fu of course, which without being laughable are sometimes a little heavy (and a little ridiculous).

Otherwise, it is very nice to see Sammo Hung (not for long) and Yuen Biao (throughout the film), old friends of Jackie Chan (when he did the stunts himself).

Awesome movie but out of all the characters in the film, the one that grasped my tiny little eyes the most was the niqqa square head. He's such a valuable visual addition to the production and I can't wait to see what other non-speaking roles his talented head will takes him to. God Bless square head and God bless China. IpIP

"Yip Man chin chyun" is a Biography - Action movie in which we watch the martial artist of Wing Chun Ip Man defending against some foreign invaders while he is getting into some romantic moments.

I liked this movie because it was very different from the Yip Man movies of Wilson Yip's with Donnie Yen played as Ip Man. In this movie the direction of Herman Yau was very good in comparison with what we watched in his later movie "Yip Man: Jung gik yat zin". He presented very well the philosophy behind Wing Chun and what Ip Man advocated. The interpretation of Yu-Hang To who played as Yip Man was good but not better than Donnie Yen. It is a good action movie to watch with many good scenes and a lot of suspense.

Kung fu movie is not my cup of tea. However, most of the Ip Man movies were done exceptionally well, including this one. The case is well-rounded, the story line and its flow is above average, contrary to what other viewers said. The main actor did a decent job of playing the young Ip Man. His demeanor can reasonably play up to that of the actor playing the same character in Ip Man 2. I like this movie..Normally Kung fu movie can only be watched once. This, I watched it twice. OK all of the Ip Man movies I watched them twice..

Producer Checkley Sin had long wanted to make a movie about Ip Man, but it wasn't until he met veteran producer Raymond Wong that his plans came to fruition. Raymond brought on board undeniably the two most crucial elements that made Ip Man and Ip Man 2 such resounding successes- lead star Donnie Yen and action director Sammo Hung. With newfound interest in the subject and his newfound credibility, the real-life Wing Chun practitioner and disciple of Ip Chun (eldest son of Ip Man) has finally been able to make his own movie about Ip Man- without for that matter, Donnie or Raymond.

"Ip Man: The Legend is Born" takes place before the first Ip Man movie and chronicles the younger days of the Wing Chun pugilist. From a young age, Ip Man was already learning Wing Chun from Chan Wah-Shun (played by Sammo Hung), and then subsequently from Leung Bik (played by Ip Chun) when his father sent him to Hong Kong's St Stephen's College to study. Unlike the first two movies which arguably took some creative liberties with Ip Man's story, this prequel tries to be a more accurate biography of the life of the Grandmaster.

I say more accurate because audiences should know that though this film takes itself very seriously, sometimes too seriously, as a biography of Ip Man, it is only a semi-biography. Those familiar with Ip Man's history will immediately know that he had no adopted brother by the name of Ip Tin- Chi (played by Louis Fan Siu-Wong) and by extension, no romantic triangle with Tin-Chi and a fellow disciple (Rose Chan). Why these characters were added into the film becomes clear only much later- but this also ultimately proves to be its undoing.

For almost two-thirds of the film, director Herman Yau sets up an interesting premise about the rivalry between descendant schools of the same martial arts form. Leung Bik was in fact Chan Wah-Shun's elder fellow-disciple, and son of Wah-Shun's master Leung Jan. When Ip Man returns to Foshan after learning a modified form of Wing Chun from Leung Bik, Brother Chung Sok (Yuen Biao) who is in charge of the Wing Chun school after Wah-Shun's passing objects to Ip Man's new techniques and declares those movies unfitting to be called Wing Chun.

The opposition among different schools of Wing Chun is no doubt an interesting and in fact prescient topic to explore, considering how the number of Wing Chun schools would have increased dramatically in recent years following the success of the Ip Man movies. How many of them can claim to be teaching authentic Wing Chun? Have the techniques been modified over the years? Does any form of refinements in fact dilute their essence? Despite a promising discourse on the subject between Chung Sok and Ip Man, screenwriter Erica Li abruptly casts the matter aside in favor of more dramatic tension by way of Ip Man and Ip Man 2.

Ah yes, both Ip Man and its sequel advocated a strong sense of nationalistic pride for the Chinese as Ip Man fought against the Japanese in the first movie and the 'gwai-los' in the sequel. The threat of the Japanese is once again revived in this prequel- which accounts for the sudden change in tone in the last third of the film- as someone close to Ip Man turns out to be more than meets the eye. Yes, the filmmakers have tried to work in a twist at the end, but it is not only rushed, it is also unconvincing.

It doesn't help that the climax is only barely more interesting than the rest of the unspectacular fight sequences in the movie. Though the film tries to showcase some rarely before seen Wing Chun techniques, these are lost amidst a bland performance by Dennis To. He may bear the physical resemblance to Donnie Yen, but Dennis lacks Donnie's screen charisma and acting prowess. Obviously imitating Donnie's understated performance as Ip Man, Dennis takes it one step too far by not injecting enough emotion especially in the fight sequences. Sure Dennis can fight, but by playing it too low-key, one never gets the sense that Ip Man is in any sort of real trouble.

But really, the fault isn't with Dennis since neither director Herman Yau, screenwriter Erica Li nor of course producer Checkley Sin seem adventurous enough to move out of the shadow cast by the earlier two Ip Man movies. So the cast remains largely similar (except for swapping of roles), the theme remains largely similar and Dennis tries to portray similarly Donnie Yen's performance as Ip Man. That's a shame- given that there is much wasted potential here that could have been used to take this prequel in a bold new direction away from the earlier films. This prequel could very well have taken a leaf from its own advice from Ip Man to Chung Sok- without change, how can there be progress? Indeed, how true.

My review is going to be very short.

Everything is amazing about the movie. Acting, sets, locations and of course the action choreography. This provides an insight into Grandmaster Ip Man's life and his contribution to Wing Chun.

While I am not that familiar with Hong-Kong actors, upon recognizing the face of the chap who played a thuggish-bully(which I dislike from the start till the end) in IP-Man2, in this movie, I knew that his character would be a flop and I was right!!! This chap who plays Samo Hung's student/protégé/worker in harassing other masters onto paying protection fees who teaches Kung-Fu in IP Man2, has a belligerent, thuggish, haughty character.

The weird thing is, now that that this chap plays IP Man, the same character he played in IP Man2 almost resembled the character he played as Ip Man in this movie.

Compare with Donnie Yen who was charismatic, this fella who plays Ip Man has the most mundane persona.

Not only was this movie ain't interesting enough compare with Ip Man 2, you get the wrong man for the right movie!!! And this person could hardly be an actor.

When my friends asked me "would you consider to watch a sequel", I told them "I want a refund!!!!!!!!!!!!!"