Ip Man and the Four Kings (2019)

[Drunken Monk]

Another straight-to-streaming effort?

 

[Omni Dragon]

I wonder if it will be any fourking good? 

[DiP]

The Yiploitation continues I see... I'm good with Ip Man 4. After that, that's it for me.

[rdenn]

still going to watch it regardless.

[KUNG FU BOB]

5 hours ago, DiP said:

The Yiploitation continues I see... I'm good with Ip Man 4. After that, that's it for me.

I understand why you feel that way @DiP, but I don't. Just like I never tire of films about Wong Fei-Hung. I just want more kung fu from Hong Kong cinema. 😃

 

4 hours ago, rdenn said:

still going to watch it regardless.

Me too @rdenn. I'm ready!

Wish we had more information though. Is this going straight to cable? Or is it coming out in theaters, home video? Anybody have any more details about it?

[AlbertV]

15 minutes ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

 

Wish we had more information though. Is this going straight to cable? Or is it coming out in theaters, home video? Anybody have any more details about it?

I think it's straight to streaming. It seems to be the big thing in China now. Mark Houghton talked to me about how it was done in the interview I did with him a few months back.

" a lot of their action films go straight to streaming. I mean if a film costs maybe 100,000 dollars and you have Chinese people paying 3 dollars a view to see that film, it has a high chance of being profitable."

[KUNG FU BOB]

1 minute ago, AlbertV said:

I think it's straight to streaming. It seems to be the big thing in China now. Mark Houghton talked to me about how it was done in the interview I did with him a few months back.

" a lot of their action films go straight to streaming. I mean if a film costs maybe 100,000 dollars and you have Chinese people paying 3 dollars a view to see that film, it has a high chance of being profitable."

Oh. Okay, thanks.

I'm guessing you mean of a Chinese streaming service?

[AlbertV]

1 minute ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

Oh. Okay, thanks.

I'm guessing you mean of a Chinese streaming service?

Yes, something like YouKu or something along the lines of that. It stinks...it could make for a good international market.

[DiP]

5 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

I understand why you feel that way @DiP, but I don't. Just like I never tire of films about Wong Fei-Hung. I just want more kung fu from Hong Kong cinema. 😃

 

Me too @rdenn. I'm ready!

Wish we had more information though. Is this going straight to cable? Or is it coming out in theaters, home video? Anybody have any more details about it?

Yeah, pardon my pessimism. Seems to me that most action filmmakers these days are milking whatever are made successful and are sticking to those same formulas for long.

That being said, I still have hope. Really like to see more risks and opportunities of limits being pushed. 😎👊

[KUNG FU BOB]

14 hours ago, DiP said:

Yeah, pardon my pessimism. Seems to me that most action filmmakers these days are milking whatever are made successful and are sticking to those same formulas for long.

That being said, I still have hope. Really like to see more risks and opportunities of limits being pushed. 😎👊

As I said above, I totally get why you feel that way, and I don't blame you one bit. I personally just don't feel that way about this particular subject. To each his own, and we'll all be more or less tolerant in this regard depending on the subject matter. For instance, I am so over giant period war epics and over-blown CGI fantasy films from HK and China, and have been now for a very long time.

[Secret Executioner]

Wait, they are still making Ip Man movies ? I thought the series had been over since Ip Man: Final Fight (about as final as Friday the 13th Part 4 is the series "Final Chapter" apparently, though it may be "final" in that he is portrayed as a quite old man in this film) and Donnie Yen's Ip Man 3 (IIRC, supposedly the last of Donnie's movies)... They do realize the movies are supposed to be about a real person, not some superhero like Iron Man ? Or are they just in it for the money and thus they milk anything that brings in a quick buck - as @DiP suggested ?

[One Armed Boxer]

On 10/3/2019 at 6:10 AM, Secret Executioner said:

Wait, they are still making Ip Man movies ? I thought the series had been over since Ip Man: Final Fight (about as final as Friday the 13th Part 4 is the series "Final Chapter" apparently, though it may be "final" in that he is portrayed as a quite old man in this film) and Donnie Yen's Ip Man 3 (IIRC, supposedly the last of Donnie's movies)... They do realize the movies are supposed to be about a real person, not some superhero like Iron Man ? Or are they just in it for the money and thus they milk anything that brings in a quick buck - as @DiP suggested ?

Well, there's over 120 movies featuring Wong Fei Hung who was also a real person, so since Ip Man has still headlined less than 10 at this point, we may still have a fair way to go.

[Omni Dragon]

I've always considered the WFH and Ip movies more myth and legend than biopics (not that there has ever been a 100% faithful/accurate biopic).

[Secret Executioner]

9 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Well, there's over 120 movies featuring Wong Fei Hung who was also a real person, so since Ip Man has still headlined less than 10 at this point, we may still have a fair way to go.

 

6 hours ago, Silver and Gold Dragon said:

I've always considered the WFH and Ip movies more myth and legend than biopics (not that there has ever been a 100% faithful/accurate biopic).

Considering what @Silver and Gold Dragon is mentionning, I understand the "franchise" aspect and how you can come up with dozens of these films with no problem.

Maybe someday we'll get stuff like Ip Man vs the Flying Guillotine. I'll probably want to check it out, especially if it includes callbacks to classics like Master of the Flying Guillotine - a blind monk or that Neu! theme for the main villain. Hell, the mere idea of Donnie Yen's Ip Man fighting a flying guillotine master sounds like an awesome idea.

[DragonClaws]

 

[Qing Long]

Here's a review: https://asianfilmstrike.com/2019/12/11/ip-man-and-four-kings-2019-short-review/

[DrNgor]

A subbed version has been uploaded to Youtube:

 

[DrNgor]

Watched it last night. A very insubstantial film with a very brief running time (75 minutes) and a lot of fight scenes. Sadly, the title doesn't deliver on its promise of having Ip Man (played by an actor who looks like a combination of Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Collin Chou, with a dash of David Chiang) take on Andy, Aaron, Jacky and Leon in hand-to-hand combat. The other four kings also don't figure a whole lot into the film very much, either. In the script, Ip Man must defeat four martial artists--a gambler, a prostitute, a cook and a drunk--in order to get the tokens to enter British territory where the bad guys reside. The way the story is told, you think he could've simply entered by beating people up.

Not only is Ip Man's look ripped off from The Grand Master, but two of the fights are as well. The film opens with Ip Man taking on a bunch of gangsters in slow motion in the rain, although no explanation is given. Ip must simply like beating up people while risking a case of pneumonia. Later on, there's a wing chun vs. bagua zhang fight in slow motion on a staircase, which closely resembles Tony's fight with Zhang Ziyi from the aforementioned film. Most of the action is composed of quick cuts and stylish camerawork, sort of a case of all sizzle and no steak. The last fight against the villain's main lackey is pretty good, the opponent being a good martial artist in his own right.

In the end, it might be worth watching once, but I doubt a lot of people will feel the need for subsequent viewings.

[sym8]

Just finished watching this on YouTube,worth a look but don’t expect to much.The fight scenes while plentiful have to much slow motion that spoils the flow of the choreography.Dont know much about the stars but they seemed to be lacking in the skills department.Dont know if it’s the choreographers not being that great or the protagonists not being bonafide martial artists.