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Released by: Well Go USA
Released on: April 19th, 2016.
Director: Wilson Yip
Cast: Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Jin Zhang, Mike Tyson
Year: 2015
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The Movie:
Once again directed by Wilson Yip and starring Donnie Yen in the lead role, Ip Man 3 brings us to the streets of Hong Kong where our hero is doing quite well for himself, having opened up an increasingly successful martial arts training academy.
However, his fairly tranquil life is once again disturbed when an American named Frank (Mike Tyson) starts setting up shop in the area. Though he purports to be a legitimate business man, running a shipping business out of the harbor front, he's actually involved in some shady real estate dealings. When he decides he wants to own the building that houses a school, he sends a small army of toughs to talk to the principal and force him into handing it over. Unfortunately for Frank, this school happens to be where Ip Man's son is currently enrolled. It just so happens that Cheung (Max Zhang), the father of another boy who attends the school, is also quite skilled in Wing Chun. He and Ip Man team up to watch over the school, dispatching any of Frank's thugs brazen enough to take them on.
It works, for a time, until Frank reveals his designs to take Ip Man out of the picture and crown himself the new king of martial arts training schools. If that weren't enough, Wing-Sing (Lynn Hung), Ip Man's loyal and loving wife, falls seriously ill…
There are really two stories at play here, the rivalry with Frank and then the follow through rivalry with Cheung. The first conflict is gimmicky and while it's entertaining to see Yen and Tyson go head to head (many will consider that reason enough to check out the movie, and they wouldn't necessarily be wrong) it never feels particularly realistic. It's a gimmick, to be sure (Tyson is not a good actor) but at least it's an interesting one worth checking out. The movie also features a small cameo from Ip Man's most famous student, played by Chan Kwok Kwan, that is also a little gimmicky but at least fits in with the biographical side of the movie. To Chan Kwok Kwan's credit, he does well enough in the role of Bruce Lee. Even if the likeness isn't spot on, it's pretty damn close and he has the mannerisms and that cocky attitude down.
The story involving Cheung feels more in keeping with the Ip Man movies that came before. It's a very grounded, more realistic conflict that works in the context of who these characters are and what they're all about. The subplot wherein Ip Man must deal with Wing-Sing's illness gives the storyline the requisite dose of melodrama that's been a part of this series since the start, and it's handled well. You feel for the husband and wife team as they suffer through all of this, external conflicts clearly taking their toll on them as they cope.
As to the fight scenes, the main draw in any martial arts film, they're excellent. At this point in time fans would expect no less from Donnie Yen, Wilson Yip and Yuen Woo Ping and the movie delivers some remarkable action set pieces.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Well-Go USA presents Ip Man 3 in an AVC encoded 1080p 2.39.1 widescreen high definition transfer that looks excellent. The quality of the image itself is generally remarkably detailed and crisp. The film was made with a certain style in mind and so it shouldn't ever be the most colorful looking picture in the first place and this transfer does replicate that sort of sepia toned look that it had in theaters. The movie uses a very bleak color scheme, with a lot of grays and browns and blacks and dark blues, and, like the first two movies, parts of the film take on a 'period feel' appearance which we can probably assume was to give it an appropriately aged look. Contrast is good and skin tones are rendered fairly well and this definitely offers up more than standard definition can provide. The transfer is free of any obvious noise reduction, edge enhancement or compression artifacts. All in all, the image is very good and leaves little room for complaint.
This disc offers up a blisteringly good DTS-X audio track in Cantonese with optional subtitles offered in English, French and Spanish. The Cantonese track, the film's original language offering, sounds fantastic. There are frequent directional effects used throughout the film, and the score is spread out very nicely demonstrating appreciable depth throughout. The action scenes have a really strong weight to them, in that you'll feel the various kicks and punches on impact - this helps give the movie more ambience and atmosphere and makes it a more involving watch. This disc sounds fantastic. Optional DTS-HD tracks are provided in English, French and Spanish.
Extras include two quick Making Of segments - the two and a half minute Story section and the three minute Action section. These really just touch on their respective subjects but they're moderately interesting and worth checking out.
More comprehensive is the selection of interviews found on the disc. Donnie Yen talks for six minutes, Tyson for seven and a half and director Wilson Yip for nine. Also found in this section are five and a half minutes of Yen and Tyson doing a press conference and two minutes of Yuen Woo Ping doing his thing behind the scenes.
Rounding out the extras are a teaser, trailer and international trailer for the feature. Menus and chapter stops are included on the disc and trailers for a few other Well Go USA properties play before the main menu screens load.
The Final Word:
Although it is the weakest of the three Ip Man movies to star Donnie Yen, Ip Man 3 is still very much worth seeing, particularly for fans of the film's leading man or those who appreciate insanely well-choreographed martial arts battles. It might occasionally rely on style over substance but it looks good and succeeds in entertaining even if it doesn't have the emotional depth of earlier chapters. Well Go USA's Blu-ray presentation contains some moderately interesting extras but the presentation is nearly reference quality.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
