“Ip Man” is an excellent martial arts film that looks great, has a captivating story and has some truly spectacular fight sequences. The movie is especially interesting for fans of the martial arts genre considering that this bio-pic is centred around Ip Man, who trained martial arts movie legend Bruce Lee (“Enter The Dragon”).

Donnie Yen (“Hero”, “Blade II”) stars as Ip Man, a wealthy and skilled martial artist. When the Japanese invade China, he finds himself struggling to look after his family. As the situation grows more desperate, he’s forced into using his martial arts abilities to train fellow Chinese so that they can protect themselves and he even has to do battle with the Japanese military.

Donnie Yen may not quite have the same loveable personality as Jackie Chan (“Project A”) but he sure knows how to deliver the punches and the kicks. He demonstrates some amazing skills throughout the course of the film and helps to create some of the most exciting and brutal fight scenes of the genre. His acting is actually fairly good and that helps distinguish him from the guys in the genre that can just do the stunts. Ip Man certainly seems like an interesting character although many have claimed that the movie is filled with historical inaccuracies. Some of the other actors show off their great fighting skills too.

“Ip Man” is a masterful martial arts film that really engages you with a winning combination of terrific fight choreography, some real emotion and a little bit of humour. There is a wonderfully amusing scene in the first act where Ip Man’s young son interrupts a fight as he rides along on his little bike. Martial arts fans that have seen “Fist Of Legend”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “The Legend of the Drunken Master” and “Once Upon A Time In China” will absolutely adore “Ip Man” and I think the masses will enjoy it a lot too.