Our first look at Wilson Yip's martial arts biopic Ip Man (previously known as Yip Man) with Donnie Yen in the lead role, comes to us from Sohu.com in a form of a news clip. While the video quality ain't so great, it does contain loads of behind the scene footages from the film, including shots of Donnie using the Wing Chun style in his fight scenes, under the direction by martial arts choreographer Sammo Hung. There is also a glimpse of the underrated Fan Sui Wong of Riki-Oh fame engaging an one-on-one duel with Donnie. Oh man, it looks pretty damn good and I simply can't wait to see more! Heres the synopsis from gscmovies.com:
Ip Man is adapted from the life story of Ip Man, the grand master of the Wing Chun style of kung fu and sifu (master) of legendary kung fu superstar Bruce Lee. This movie will be the first important record of the master's life. Ip's persistent devotion to Wing Chun is a classic example of the love and respect shown to wushu and the freedom and spirit it represents. Ip Man is a concept, a spirit, a way of thinking - and it represent a new peak in Hong Kong's wushu movies.
The theatrical release date in Hong Kong is on December 18th.
Looks Sweet! Cant wait
Donnie Yip lol.
And I pronounce Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen "Director" and "Star"...
Intellectual Property Man? Internet Protocol Man? Why lose the "Y"? ;-(
I am looking forward to Ip Man as I did with SPL, Dragon Tigers Gate, and Flashpoint as I like the combo of Director Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen.
I like the poster.
Wing chung, Sammo style? I'm in.
I still have my doubts if Wilson Yip can take on a more serious-minded project like this. After all, he gave us the silly Dragon Tiger Gate and Flashpoint (which had its share of unintentionaly hilarity, mind you). But at least we get to see Donnie Yen kick more ass.
I like the poster too, but that is not Wing Chun that Donnie Yen uses in the footage. It's kind of sad that all these so-called 'historical pride' films always end up destroying and debasing their own credibility by justifying style over substance. The philosophies and principles of the masters are almost always intertwined with their fighting style, so a misrepresentation of the martial arts almost always results in a misrepresentation of what the master actually stood for (I'm looking at you, FEARLESS. Where's the Mizong style Kung Fu?). I guess even Sammo Hung couldn't make Wing Chun intresting enough on film.