Ip Man 2 (2010, Yip Wai-shun) (Patreon)

48/100

Relieved to see that I'm not the only one who perceives this as a pretty shameless retread of Rocky IV (not exactly what you'd call a classic), with Sammo Hung subbing for Carl Weathers and a sneering, sadistic Brit in lieu of Drago. There's a weird tension in this franchise between its conception of Ip Man as a gentle warrior who fights only when necessary and its desire to see him in a traditional vengeful-badass role; Yen seems more committed to the former, Yip to the latter, and the resulting movies get your blood half-pumpin'. It's not surprising, then, that the highlight here is a fundamentally friendly competition (not unlike the "break no object" challenge in Wong's The Grandmaster), with Ip taking on several other martial-arts instructors atop a large, rickety circular tabletop—first one to touch the ground, or one of the upturned chairs symbolizing spikes that are on the ground, loses. Considerably less exciting are Ip's relationship with a new protégé, the occasional reappearance of Simon Yam as his now brain-damaged buddy, a subplot in which he loses the lease (!) on his Wing Chun school, and the entire "for my country...and for my friend!" finale, which culminates in a battle that prohibits Ip's flying roundhouse kicks but shrugs when he punches Twister repeatedly in the face while holding him down in a fully reclined position. (Don't watch a lot of boxing but I believe that would be frowned upon by most referees.) Serviceable at best, but, again, this is just needlessly anal-retentive prep for Master Z: Ip Man Legacy.