Ip Man 2 takes us into the world of Hong Kong, where Ip Man has fled after being forced out of Fo Shan, China. Hong Kong, currently under British colonial rule, is home to several different martial arts schools and an organization that determines who can or cannot start a martial arts school. Ip Man, now wanting to perpetuate his style of Kung Fu, wing chun, decides to challenge the martial arts organization so he can start his own school in Hong Kong. He ends up in a tie with Hung Chun-nam, who is a teacher of Hung Ga, and with whom Ip Man has a rivalry with. Ip Man's impressive showing gives him the right to start his martial arts school.
When a British boxer comes to visit a demonstration of the kung fu schools in Hong Kong, the Kung Fu schools are ready to put on a show for the British. However, the boxer, thinks otherwise. The boxer decides to challenge Hung Chun-nam, and remarkably, kills the man when the latter refuses to back down. Ip Man, enraged, decides to challenge the boxer to one final fight.
Ip Man 2 is a decent martial arts movie in its own right, but it pales in comparison to the first one. What I liked about the first movie is that it didn't fall into typical martial arts cliches, and I felt this one did. The fighting in Ip Man 2 features a lot more "special effects" and "gimmicks" whereas Ip Man just had great choreography and straight-up fights.
The storyline in Ip Man 2 is also quite a bit more jumbled. The final struggle doesn't really come in until the very end of the movie. The initial conflict with the martial arts schools, which seemed like the main storyline, is pretty much done with halfway through the movie. The second half features pretty much a new storyline, where Ip Man and all of Hong Kong must face British colonial rule and their hero, the boxer.
Besides its shortcomings, Ip Man 2 will still at least satisfy fans of the first film and fans of Donnie Yen. You're going to watch some excellent martial arts action, both from Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung, and you're going to see an inspiring underdog storyline.
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