Our take
It’s been acclaimed as one the best Kung Fu movies ever made. You are probably wondering why this contemporary movie made that short list when its genre had its peak decades ago: it is visually striking and at the same time surprisingly story-oriented. As you would expect of course, there is quite a fair amount of action scenes, but the characters are also brilliant which is very uncommon in this type of movie. It is an exciting movie, and worthy of any compliment or good rating it may get.
The story
A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun. The film focuses on events surrounding Ip that took place in the city of Foshan between the 1930s to 1940s during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Directed by Wilson Yip, the film stars Donnie Yen in the lead role, and features fight choreography by Sammo Hung.
The details
Streaming arrival
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.
This movie has been given a lot of praise, and it deserves it all. What really makes it stand out to me from the Kung Fu movies, is its story and the raw emotions we see from Donnie Yen. I almost shed a tear at one point! The action scenes are well done, not too many changes in camera angle and the scenes are fluent enough to keep track off what is happening on screen. Not to mention the scenery, culture and such is fascinating and very well done.
This movie really caught me by surprise, both the drama and the story did. The fact this is all based on a true story makes it that much more exciting to me. I highly recommend this movie if you’re a martial arts movie fan, drama fan or like good storytelling!