The strength of the Ip Man series would be cemented with the debut of the spinoff Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, focusing on Ip Man 3's breakout character Cheung Tin-chi with Max Zhang reprising the role. Needless to say, Donnie Yen's performance in the title role, and in the series' incredible Wing Chun-powered action scenes, is a central aspect of the acclaim it continues to receive. Decades from now, the entire franchise is sure to be looked back on with the same reverence that it currently holds, with not a single entry being anywhere near lackluster. Though the Ip Man movies would reach their conclusion with 2019's Ip Man 4: The Finale, its impact on martial arts films is simply impossible to deny. RELATED: All 8 Unmade Bruce Lee Movies & Shows (& Why They Didn't Happen) Today, Donnie Yen has become a huge action star, with the Ip Man series now standing as one of the landmark martial arts series of all time. However, Ip Man would shoot his career to the moon with his portrayal of the famed mentor of the legendary Bruce Lee, with Yen later appearing Hollywood films like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, and Mulan. First getting underway in 2008 and wrapping up in 2019, the Ip Man series has become the stuff of legend while being the ultimate love letter to the art of Wing Chun kung fu. Furthermore, it would also launch Donnie Yen to global stardom.Īlthough well-known in the Hong Kong film industry since the 1980s, Yen truly began his rise to greater recognition with the release Sha Po Lang and Flash Point.
The Ip Man movies are beloved among martial arts film fans, but the quality of each installment varies. Here's every Ip Man movie, ranked worst to best.
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Yen went on to reprise the role in several sequels in the decade that followed, but he wasn't the only actor playing the kung fu veteran - numerous other Ip Man movies were released in that time, and while some have been pure cash-grabs, others are essential viewing for martial arts movie fans. When Donnie Yen's Ip Man became a hit at home and abroad, it kick-started what fans of that film refer to as the "Ipsploitation" era. When Bruce Lee passed, what's become known as the "Bruceploitation" period of Hong Kong cinema began, with filmmakers casting lookalikes in crude movies like (no joke) Enter Another Dragon.
His legacy would remain largely unknown in the wider world until 2008, when Donnie Yen portrayed him for the first time. Ip would pass on his expert knowledge to Lee and numerous others before succumbing to cancer at the age of 79. After spending his childhood between his home in Foshan and the island of Hong Kong (he left the mainland for good when the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949), he opened a kung fu school, the first of its kind. Ip began his training in the Wing Chun style of kung fu at the age of 12.
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In the West, he's known as the guy who taught Bruce Lee how to fight, but in his native China, kung fu grandmaster Ip Man is an icon in his own right.
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