The third instalment in the “Ip Man” series is undoubtedly the weakest entry so far but it is still a good martial arts movie. The first “Ip Man” was a masterpiece and the second was also terrific but do not by any means overlook “Ip Man 3”.

Still living in Hong Kong, Ip Man (Donnie Yen “Shanghai Knights”, “Hero”) is forced into defending the local school when gangsters try to force the headteacher to sell the land to a crooked property developer (Mike Tyson “Rocky Balboa”). He also must defend his honour when his Wing Chun credentials are disputed by a rival (Jin Zhang “Pacific Rim: Uprising”).

Donnie Yen is great as always as Ip Man. While the fight scenes are arguably not as good as the ones in the earlier movies, they are still very impressive and Donnie Yen is clearly giving his all. Mike Tyson does not get a lot of screen time but I think he makes for a pretty good villain. A young Bruce Lee (Kwok-Kwan Chan “Kung Fu Hustle”) appears in a few scenes but we never get to see him fight and that is a real shame. Maybe they are saving him for a fourth movie but it feels somewhat frustrating because the ending of the second film teased that Bruce Lee was going to feature in the franchise.

The action sequences are really good with the fight with Mike Tyson being the highlight of the movie. The story this time around is a lot less compelling and that is a shame. A fourth movie is supposedly in the works so I am excited to see what happens next and I hope that Bruce Lee plays a more significant role. Martial arts fans that have seen the first two movie will want to check out “Ip Man 3”. If you are unfamiliar with the franchise, start with the first one.