The sturdy but shallow martial arts melodrama “Ip Man 4: The Finale” isn’t much more than what fans have already gotten from the popular action franchise.

In their latest collaboration, series director Wilson Yip (2011’s “A Chinese Ghost Story”) and star Donnie Yen stick to their already established formula: their version of real-life Wing Chun instructor Man Ip (Yen) fights anybody who dismisses kung fu. This time, Ip takes on racist American Marines and policemen in San Francisco during the mid-’60s.

“The Finale”‘s new American setting — Yip and Yen’s last two “Ip Man” movies are set in Hong Kong, while their first one takes place in Foshan, China — also coincidentally gives the director-star duo an opportunity to issue a small corrective to “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” and its provocative depiction of Bruce Lee (here played by Danny Chan), Ip’s most famous student, by...