Reviewed by Daniel Rutledge

Ip Man came out in 2008 and absolutely blew me away. It’s up there with my favourite Kung Fu movies Drunken Master, Fist of Legend and Enter the Dragon. Donnie Yen as the Wing Chun master Yip Man was amazing to watch on screen, kicking serious ass with astonishing, brutal moves in a classic kung fu tale of good overcoming dreadful evil.

In the sequel Ip Man 2 we’re once again lucky enough to witness Donnie in the role of Yip Man, Bruce Lee’s teacher. It’s set in 1950 and Yip Man has fled mainland China, setting up a new Wing Chun school in Hong Kong. This doesn’t go down well with Hung Chun Nam (Sammo Hung), master at a rival kung fu school and leader of a league which includes all of Hong Kong’s Kung Fu schools.

It’s not long before a sensational fight erupts at a fish market, forcing Yip Man to battle more than 20 opponents at once. It’s a crazy scene filled with Donnie’s trademark lightning-quick moves, but it also shows off his versatility as he uses wood crates, poles and whatever else is lying about to fend off opponents. It ends with him using duel knives in the classic Wing Chun style.

This fight leads to more friction between Yip Man and Hung Chun Nam, culminating in the film’s centrepiece, a stunning action sequence set in the middle of a restaurant. To be accepted as a Kung Fu teacher in Hong Kong, Yip Man has to defeat all of the existing kung fu teachers, one after the other, all on top of a fairly small round table. This ends with an exhilarating match between Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen’s characters, and it’s a real joy to see two of the genre’s greats go at it.

The final fight is against a surly, cartoonishly ignorant British boxer named Twister. How ridiculous he and the other Westerners are portrayed may annoy some viewers, but long-time fans of Kung Fu movies will be accepting of this familiar over-the-top silliness. Wing Chun versus Western boxing may not sound as cool as Wing Chun versus karate or Hung Ga, but the fight is brutal and thoroughly exciting to watch.

While there is no fight scene quite as ridiculously satisfying as the amazing match in the first film between Yip Man and ten karate black belts, Ip Man 2 is still a very worthy sequel. The martial arts are of the highest calibre, captured brilliantly on film, and the storyline manages to be very engaging while still telling the (mostly) true story of Yip Man.

Highly recommended - four stars.