Ip Man 3 (2015, 2016)

Cheung vs Fighter: 2/5


Ip Man vs Thugs: N/R


School Fight: 4/5


Cheung vs Tin: 2.75/5


Shipyard Fight: 4/5


Ip Man vs Thai Boxer: 4/5


Ip Man vs Frank (Mike Tyson): 3.75/5


Cheung Fight Montage: 2.5/5


Ip Man vs Cheung: 4.5/5


Man I loved this film. I kind of thought the Ip Man films would go the way of the Rocky films where they would just get cheesier and lose focus, while remaining entertaining. I mostly thought that due to the inclusion of Mike Tyson. But this might've been the most grounded movie of all of them.

There's a ton of great action in this one and a lot of great themes. There's a lot of focus on Ip Man and his wife's relationship, and I really dug that. I feel their relationship always played 3rd or 4th fiddle to Ip Man's quests but here it's highlighted throughout the film. A lot of emotional depth here.

The Tyson fight scene over delivered. I was expecting it to be the worst thing in the whole trilogy and it was surprisingly good, reminiscent of Bruce Lee and Kareem-Abdul Jabbar from Game Of Death. Tyson threw in some really cool boxing head movement which made his character seem more dynamic and cinematically eye pleasing.

The finale sees the one thing this entire trilogy had been missing. A big time Wing Chun vs Wing Chun fight. And it delivers. I'd probably rank it in the top 3 fights of the entire trilogy, and arguably #1. It's a classic.

Loved this movie. Highly recommended.

Ip Man 2 (2010)

Ip Man vs Wong: 2.75/5


Ip Man vs 3 Dudes: 2.5/5


Wong vs Martial Artist: 2.75/5


Ip Man/Wong vs Gang: 3.25/5


Ip Man vs Law: 2.25/5


Ip Man vs Cheng: 3/5


Ip Man vs Hung: 4/5


Twister vs Hung: 3.75/5


Ip man vs Twister: 4.25/5



This is a great film. Ip Man is Donnie Yen's best role. Good fighting throughout, with 2 great fights that make the whole film worthwhile.

It's kind of hilarious how evil the foreigners act. This is a very "Ra Ra China!" movie. Though that's a fairly common trope among Chinese martial arts films, it was especially noticeable in this.

The final fight is so great. I really dig the music backing it. The choreography blending the styles together, Ip man overcoming the odds, using Sammo's moves...really well done. I'm also a huge fan of limb destruction in fight scenes, so Ip Man's comeback was especially cool to me.

As good as the first movie. Recommended.

Ip Man (2008)

Ip Man vs Liu: 2.25/5


Northerner vs Master: 2.75/5


Northerner vs Weapons Master: 2.75/5


Northerner vs Liu: 3/5


Northerner vs Ip Man: 3.75/5


Liu vs Black belt: 2/5


General vs Lin and Two Men: 2/5


Liu vs 3 black belts: 2.5/5


Ip Man vs 10 Black Belts: 4.25/5


Ip Man vs Soldiers: 2/5


Factory Fight: 3.5/5


Ip Man vs General: 4/5




Great movie. Donnie Yen's best role. Recommended.

Kung Fu Killer, aka Kung Fu Jungle (2014)

Prison Fight: 3.5/5


Tam King-Yiu vs Fung Yu-Sau: 2.5/5


Wong Chit vs Fung Yu-Sau: 3/5


Hung Yip vs Fung Yu-Sau: 3.5/5


Skirmish at the docks: 2.75/5


Sinn Ying vs Fung Yu-Sau: 3/5


Hahou Mo vs Fung Yu-Sau: 4/5




This movie is a mixed bag. As a movie it's mediocre. But the fights are pretty good. Wang Baoqiang, who plays the villain, is excellent in this. Which is a good thing since he does 90% of the fighting in this movie. I do wish they gave a more compelling backstory for him. He has a bit of clubfoot going on, which makes his impressive fighting skills even more impressive.

As a modern martial arts film, it's fairly paint by numbers as far as storytelling goes. The thing that stands out is the choreography and editing during the fight sequences. It's eye grabbing stuff. At times the moves performed feel a little too magical and out of place for a modern film, The real bread and butter in the fights is the speed and fluidity of the longer exchanges.

Also, I'm still waiting for a movie where Xin Yu kicks ass and isn't immediately killed, but that's a side point.

If you're a Donnie Yen fan, you'll dig this movie. As a martial arts film, I can only give it a Mild Recommendation.

Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)

Tiger vs Gangsters & Dragon: 3.5/5


Dragon/Turbo vs Gangsters: 2.25/5


Kun vs Double Devils/Gangsters: NR


Dragon vs Double Devils/Gangsters: 3/5


Shibumi vs The Gate: 3.25/5


Shibumi vs Tiger/Turbo: 3.5/5


Shibumi vs Dragon: 4/5



How much hair product was in the budget for this movie? Anyway, this is a solid action flick. And it features the most one sided final battle (for the hero) I can remember. Donnie Yen's "Dragon" gets hit once in the course of the entire film. Unheard of for a kung fu protagonist. It's strange because Tiger and Turbo get some shine early on in the movie but become afterthoughts for the rest of it. It's all about Dragon. In fairness, Donnie Yen is the best screen fighter of the 3, but still, I expected Tiger to get more to do considering his name is in the title of the film.

The action is solid throughout but let me get to this final fight. Shibumi, who is one of the most strongly written badass martial arts villains in modern film, gets absolutely owned by Dragon. It's insane. Before this, we get to watch Shibumi do things like work over a Guinness World Record setting heavy bag, crush Master Wong to death, and just generally be awesome at everything. Then Dragon shows up, and Shibumi is completely outclassed. Normally in a martial arts film, the hero has to fight from underneath and overcome. Shibumi NEVER LANDS A HIT on Dragon. Dragon slaps him around about 50 times.

Now, let me also say, I really liked the fight. See the above score. The reason I rated it so highly is because the first minute of the fight features some of the best handwork choreography Donnie's ever done. It's so fast, sharp and fluid. Also I love how once Shibumi gets palm thrusted into a wall he looks up and says, "18 Dragon Slaying Palms?" like it's some mythical technique he'd only heard legends of.

Now normally, after that initial protagonist flurry the villain would start to take control and dominate. But nope. Dragon continues to slap Shibumi around for the rest of the fight. Shibumi gets zero offense until the end. And the ending gets a little ridiculous. Sometimes less is more. I actually would've rated this higher but the lack on drama due to Dragon's dominance takes it down a little for me. I wonder if Donnie's intention was to subvert the norm by having the hero just clean the floor with the big bad. I don't know.


Anyway, this is a solid flick, though not a must unless you're a Donnie Yen completist. Mildly Recommended.

SPL Sha Po Lang a.k.a. Killzone (2005)

Sammo vs Cops & Donnie: 3/5

Donnie vs Cops: 2.5/5

Donnie vs Wu Jing: 5/5

Donnie vs Sammo: 3.75/5

Donnie vs Wu Jing is the best modern day weapons fight I've ever seen. Donnie with his YRG baton against Wu Jing's knife. Incredible stuff. The end fight with Donnie and Sammo suffers from overused wire work. But the grappling and straight kickboxing is still great. Sammo plays a surprisingly good villain. Those are the 2 major fights. Recommended, for the weapons fight alone. 

City of Darkness (1990)

Bar Fight: 3/5

Billy Chow vs 3 Guys/ Donnie Yen: 3.75/5

Restaurant Fight: 3.25/5

Kim Maree Penn vs Guy: 3.25/5

Kim Maree Penn vs 3 Guys: 3.5/5

2 Guys vs Assasin Guy: 3/5

Donnie Yen vs Collin Chou: 4.25/5

Donnie in top form. Donnie's charisma carries the fighting for most of the movie. The other guys do a decent job as well. Billy Chow is a great early obstacle. And the finale between Donnie and Collin is great stuff. Recommended. 

Flash Point (2007)

3 Brothers vs Gang: 2.25/5

Donnie Yen vs Xin Yu: 4.5/5

Donnie Yen vs Collin Chou: 5/5

Not much for quantity, but definitely quality. The end fight is one of my favorite fight scenes of all time. Highly recommended.

Crystal Hunt (1991)

Donnie vs Thugs in Street: 2.5/5

Restaurant Fight: 2.25/5

House Fight: 2.75/5

Office Fight: 2.5/5

Donnie/Girl vs Thugs: 2.5/5

Donnie vs John Salvitti: 3.5/5

Finale: 4/5

Donnie in his prime. Decent fighting throughout, nothing too substantial until the finale, which suffers from a bit of damage overkill. But good performances by Donnie and John. Somewhat recommended. 

Special ID (2013)

Donnie vs Ken Lo: 2.25/5

Donnie vs Thugs: 4/5

Donnie vs Andy: 3.25/5


One great group fight but Donnie experiments with grappling and ground fighting a little too freely in the finale. And the fight with Ken Lo is underwhelming. Skippable.

Tiger Cage 2 (1990)

Donnie vs David Wu: 2.75/5

Donnie vs David Wu II: 2.5/5

Donnie vs Thugs on Bus: 2.75/5

Cynthia Khan vs Girl: 2.25/5

Donnie/David vs Thugs: 3.5/5

David Wu vs Robin Shou: 4.25/5

Donnie Yen vs John Salvitti: 3.75/5

Donnie Yen vs Michael Woods: 4/5

Donnie Yen vs Robin Shou: 5/5


Spectacular Finale, and a great fight midway through. Donnie in his prime. Highly recommended.