Plot
In 1959, Ip Man lives a low-profile life in Hong Kong. His elder son, Ip Chun, has returned to Foshan to study, leaving Ip with his younger son, Ip Ching, and his wife, Cheung Wing-sing, in Hong Kong. Bruce Lee visits Ip and asks to become one of his students. After Lee demonstrates his speed, Ip neither accepts nor rejects him, but insinuates for him to leave by opening the door. After Ip Ching gets into a fight with his schoolmate Cheung Fong, their teacher, Miss Wong, asks the parents to come to the school, though only the Ips arrive. As an apology, the Ips invite Fong to their home for dinner. At Ip's house, Fong displays rudimentary but impressive Wing Chun skills. When asked who his mentor is, Fong says it is his father, Cheung Tin-chi, who shows up to collect his son shortly after. Although Tin-chi interacts cordially with Ip, he secretly envies and seeks to surpass him. Tin-chi participates in underground fights organized by Ma King-sang, a local triad leader who works for Frank, an American property developer and highly proficient boxer. Frank orders Ma to acquire the land occupied by the school where Ching and Fong study. When Ip goes to collect his son from school, he witnesses Ma and his men beating the school principal after he refuses to sell. Ip intervenes and restrains Ma, but is forced to release him. Ip seeks help from his close friend Fat Po, a Royal Hong Kong police Chinese Detective Sergeant. Po agrees to help, but says that he lacks the manpower and influence to protect the school every day. Ip then decides to guard the school alongside his students. That night, Ma's men set fire to the school and attempt to kidnap the principal. Tin-chi happens to be passing by, and helps fight off Ma's thugs. Tin Ngo-san, a local martial arts master and Ma's former mentor, is enraged by Ma's unscrupulous acts and confronts Ma at a Hong Kong shipyard, humiliating him in front of his men. Ma retaliates with a hidden knife, but Ip stops him. Po arrives and keeps tensions from escalating further. Ma offers Tin-chi a large sum of money to get revenge against Ngo-san on his behalf. Desperate for money and wanting to open his own martial arts school, Tin-chi accepts the offer and attacks Ngo-san, hospitalizing him. Ip receives a call from the hospital and visits Ngo-san. Upon learning that Ngo-san did not call him, Ip realizes it was a set-up by Ma to lure him away from the school, where Ma's gang have abducted some of the students, including Ching and Fong. Ip arrives alone at Ma's shipyard, where Ma holds Ching at knife point and threatens to sell the children into slavery if the principal refuses to sell the school. Tin-chi is allowed to leave with Fong due to being an associate, but after his son tells him that they still have his friends, he returns and fights alongside Ip. Ip and Tin-chi hold their own until a troop of policemen led by Po arrives to arrest the gang. Frank dismisses Ma for his failures and sends a Thai boxer named Muay Thai Warrior after Ip instead. Returning home, Ip learns that Wing-sing has been diagnosed with cancer. On their way home from a medicine shop, Ip and Wing-sing are attacked in an elevator by Muay Thai Warrior, who Ip defeats before the elevator reaches the ground floor. Po tells Ip about Frank, who wants to eliminate Ip at all costs for obstructing his plans. Ip confronts Frank in his office, where Frank promises to leave the school alone if Ip can last an entire three minute fight. Initially overwhelmed by Frank's muscle and sheer force, Ip turns the tide by attacking Frank's lower half. They fight to a draw after the three minutes pass; seemingly impressed, Frank keeps his promise. Tin-chi opens his martial arts school with the money he obtained from Ma, and claims that his Wing Chun is genuine while Ip's is not. He publicly challenges Ip to a battle that will decide who is the true Grandmaster of Wing Chun. However, Ip instead spends more time with his ailing wife, ashamedly feeling that he had neglected her. Wanting to dance with his wife, Ip is taught how to dance by Lee, whom Ip finally accepts as a student; because of Ip's failure to attend, Tin-chi is declared the winner. Wing-sing makes arrangements for another match on her husband's behalf, correctly guessing that Ip would have attended if not for her deteriorating health, and accompanies him to the fight. After a long battle involving staffs, butterfly knives and unarmed combat, Ip eventually overpowers Tin-chi. Accepting defeat, Tin-chi destroys the banner proclaiming himself Grandmaster, and Ip tells him that spending time with their loved ones is more important than competing with others. A closing onscreen text states that Wing-sing died in 1960, and that Ip helped make Wing Chun well known internationally and left a legacy.Cast
* Donnie Yen as Ip Man (葉問), an unassuming Chinese Wing Chun master originally from Foshan * Zhang Jin as Cheung Tin-chi (張天志) also known as Sum Nung, a martial artist from the same Wing Chun lineage as Ip Man. He lives as a lowly rickshaw puller and aspires to surpass Ip Man as a famous Wing Chun teacher. In contrast to Ip Man, he is much less restrained and merciless when using his Wing Chun. * Lynn Hung as Cheung Wing-sing (張永成), Ip Man's wife and mother of their two sons, Ip Chun and Ip Ching * Patrick Tam as Ma King-sang (馬鯨笙), a local triad leader and former martial arts disciple * Karena Ng as Miss Wong (黃老師), Ip Ching's schoolteacher * Kent Cheng as Fat Po (肥波), a Chinese detective sergeant of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and friend of Ip Man * Bryan Leung as Tin Ngo-san (田傲山), a local martial arts master and umbrella salesman *Production
Development
Donnie Yen, who played the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in two films, initially expressed no interest in appearing in a third film, feeling that, "Because '' Ip Man 2'' will incontrovertibly become a classic, bettering the first. I believe it's best to end something when it's at perfection, and leave behind a good memory." Before the release of ''Ip Man 2'', he stated he would no longer be involved in a film based on Ip Man's life due to the proliferation of Ip Man films produced by different studios following the success of the first ''Ip Man'' film. While both Yen and Raymond Wong were not initially keen on making a third ''Ip Man'' film, director Wilson Yip had expressed interest in making one that would focus on the relationship between Ip Man and Bruce Lee. While ''Ip Man 2'' very briefly shows Lee as a child, Wilson Yip hoped to find a suitable actor to portray Lee as an adult for the third installment. In March 2014, '' Variety'' announced that ''Ip Man 3'' would be shot in early 2015, and would be released in 3D during Chinese New Year that year, with Wilson Yip, Yen, and Wong reprising their duties. In December 2015, regarding the decision to make ''Ip Man 3'' five years after ''Ip Man 2'', Wong said there were numerous unrelated Ip Man films being made such as '' The Legend Is Born: Ip Man'', '' Ip Man: The Final Fight'' and '' The Grandmaster'', so they wanted to wait till all that ended.Casting
In March 2015, ''Filming
Principal photography began in Shanghai on 25 March 2015. While filming an action sequence with Yen, Tyson's finger was fractured. Despite Yuen Woo-ping being credited as the action choreographer of the film, both Yuen and Yen have revealed during interviews that many scenes are actually choreographed by Yen himself as he often improvised on the set and add new actions and sequences while filming. This is especially evident in the fight scene against Tyson where Yen wanted to include some MMA and physics theories, targeting the lower body of Tyson. Principal photography wrapped in June 2015. Yen has gone uncredited in action choreography many times, and his improvisation and contribution includes many Hong Kong Film Award winners such as the previous two ''Ip Man'' films, '' Bodyguards and Assassins'' and '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny''.Release
''Ip Man 3'' was released in Hong Kong on 24 December 2015, as well as in Malaysia and Singapore. Earlier, it was scheduled for a 2016 release. The film had a limited release in New Zealand on 25 December 2015, followed by a wide release in Taiwan on 31 December 2015, and a limited release in the United States on 22 January 2016. It was released in mainland China on 4 March. It was released in Sri Lanka in March 2016.Critical reception
The review aggregatorBox office
According toHome media
''Ip Man 3''Accolades
Future
Sequel
While many sources suggested that ''Ip Man 3'' could be the final film in the franchise, Patrick Brzeski of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' stated that due to the film's strong commercial performance, he "wouldn't be surprised" if a sequel was made. Raymond Wong had expressed interest in making a fourth ''Ip Man'' film, which Donnie Yen stated was possible if there was a good script, and if reaction to ''Ip Man 3'' warranted it. On 30 September 2016, Yen announced viaSpin-off
Max Zhang reprises his role as Cheung Tin Chi from ''Ip Man 3'' in this spin-off film. Directed by Yuen Woo-ping, it also stars Tony Jaa, Dave Bautista, andReferences
External links
* * * * * {{Ip Man 2010s biographical films 2015 3D films 2015 action drama films 2010s Cantonese-language films Cultural depictions of Bruce Lee Depictions of Ip Man on film Films about cancer Films directed by Wilson Yip Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Shanghai Hong Kong 3D films Hong Kong biographical films Hong Kong sequel films Biographical action films Kung fu films Wushu films 2015 martial arts films Films scored by Kenji Kawai 2010s Hong Kong films Wing Chun films Films set in the 1950s