The premiere of the film was released in Hong Kong on 16 December 2015, and officially released in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia on 24 December 2015. It opened in Taiwan on 31 December 2015, New Zealand and United Kingdom on 15 January 2016 and one week later in Australia. It was released in the United States on 22 January 2016, and was released in mainland China on 4 March 2016. The film received positive reviews and eight Hong Kong Film Award nominations, including Best Film and Best Director, and won in the Best Editing category. It also won Best Action Choreography, Best Director and Best Picture at the 2016 Shanghai International Film Festival.
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 local police 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,[6][7] 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 school teacher.
Kent Cheng as Fat Po (肥波), head 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.
Louis Cheung as Tsui Lik (徐力), a student of Ip Man.
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."[8] 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.[9] 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 instalment.[10] 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.[1] 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.[11]
Casting
In March 2015, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Mike Tyson would also be starring as a street fighter and property developer.[3] This marks the first time Tyson appears in film or television as a substantial character other than himself.[12] They also noted that because the team could not find an actor who could portray Bruce Lee's intensity onscreen, they decided to use CGI to portray Lee.[3] In the same month, Kris Storti, the COO of Bruce Lee Enterprises (BLE), said that BLE, which is the sole owner of all worldwide rights relating to Lee, including his name, image and likeness, was "justifiably shocked" over Pegasus Motion Pictures' decision to include Lee in their film, which Storti said was "completely unauthorized" by BLE. "To state it in no uncertain terms, BLE intends to seek all remedies available to it to stop Pegasus from including the computer-generated version of Bruce Lee in Ip Man 3," he added. However, Pegasus asserted that Bruce Lee's brother Robert Lee, who worked as a consultant on Ip Man 3, owns the intellectual property rights of Lee, a claim which was denied by BLE.[13]The Guardian noted that plans to use a CGI Bruce Lee were dropped as a result, though Lee did appear in the film, portrayed by Danny Chan, who had previously portrayed Lee in the 2008 TV series, The Legend of Bruce Lee.[14]
Yen said that, despite initial reluctance, he agreed to return to the role of Ip Man because "no matter where I go, nobody knows me as Donnie Yen. They call me Ip Man. So I decided to play the role one more time to fulfil everyone's wishes",[15] and implied that Ip Man 3 could be his final martial arts film.[16] Lynn Hung reprised her role as Ip Man's wife from the first two films.[17] In November 2015, it was revealed on the website of music composer Kenji Kawai (who scored the series' first two films) that he had returned to work on the soundtrack of Ip Man 3.[18]
Filming
Principal photography began in Shanghai on 25 March 2015.[3] While filming an action sequence with Yen, Tyson's finger was fractured.[19]
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.[20] Principal photography wrapped in June 2015.[21][22] 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.[citation needed]
Release
Ip Man 3 was released in Hong Kong on 24 December 2015,[23][24][25] as well as in Malaysia and Singapore.[4] Earlier, it was scheduled for a 2016 release.[26] 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.[4] It was released in mainland China on 4 March.[27] It was released in Sri Lanka in March 2016.[28]
Critical reception
The review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes reported that 76% of critics have given Ip Man 3 a positive review based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Ip Man 3 isn't the most tightly plotted biopic a kung fu fan could ask for, but the fight scenes are fun to watch — and at times, the drama is even genuinely poignant."[29] Another review aggregator, Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 14 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[30]
Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Bolstered by Yuen Woo-ping's exhilarating action choreography and some stunt casting in the shape of Mike Tyson and Zhang Jin (the breakout star in Wong Kar-wai's rival Ip Man biopic The Grandmaster), Yen and Yip have managed to wring a serviceable film out of a pedestrian plot riddled with erroneous period details." Tsui called it "a fitfully effective finale to the franchise."[31] James Marsh of Screen International stated, "Ip Man 3 trades the crowd-pleasing intensity of its predecessors for a more introspective portrait of its central character." However, Marsh added, "Yen has always portrayed Ip Man as a modest beacon of calm and restraint, which has added to the enigmatic nature of the character, but he struggles here when called upon to express grander emotions. As expected, Mike Tyson fails to convince in his role of Frank, whose origins are never revealed in the film, and whose motivation is simply greed."[32]
Edmund Lee of South China Morning Post gave the film a 3.5/5 rating and commented, "A respectable action drama that doesn't try to replicate the pleasure of its predecessors, instead admirably turning to contemplate Ip's priorities in life, Ip Man 3 will reward those who come in with no preconceptions about what an Ip Man biopic headed by Donnie Yen should be like. For the character has irreversibly mellowed and it's left to audiences to respond in kind."[33] Andrew Chan of Film Critics Circle of Australia commented "Rarely do a trilogy of films, gets better with age and this one provides us with plenty of the evergreen Yuen Woo Ping inspired fight sequences one after another."[34]
Hans David Tampubolon of The Jakarta Post called the film a "messy patchwork of stitched-together plotlines" that was an "action-packed but ultimately disappointing finale of the Wing Chun trilogy" and concluded, "Well, judging by the atrocious script and character development in Ip Man 3, there is a very large possibility that Donnie is regretting his final decision to portray the legendary grandmaster for the third time."[35]
Box office
According to Box Office Mojo, Ip Man 3 has earned US$7.8 million in Hong Kong[36] and $2,679,437 in the United States.[37] In China, it made US$24.1million on its opening day, debuting at No. 1 and US$28.7million on its second day for a two-day total of $52.4million.[38] In its opening weekend, it topped the box office with an estimated US$71.2million from 191,400 screenings and 10.4million admissions.[39] Internationally, the film earned $154,165,316, bringing its worldwide total to $156,844,753.[37]
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,[12] which Donnie Yen stated was possible if there was a good script, and if reaction to Ip Man 3 warranted it.[45] On 30 September 2016, Yen announced via Facebook that he and Wilson Yip would continue the franchise with Ip Man 4.[46] Filming began in April 2018,[47] and this final film was released on 20 December 2019.[48]
Wing Chun is a concept-based martial art, a form of Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial arts style characterized by its focus on close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, rapid-fire punches, and straightforward efficiency. It has a philosophy that emphasizes capturing and sticking to an opponent's centerline. This is accomplished using simultaneous attack and defense, tactile sensitivity, and using an opponent's force against them.
Ip Man, also known as Yip Man, was a Hong Kong-based martial artist and a grandmaster of the martial art of Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martial arts masters in their own right, the most famous among them being Bruce Lee.
Yim Wing-chun is a Chinese legendary character, often cited in Wing Chun legends as the first master of the martial art bearing her name. Wing-chun, though a person's name in Chinese language, translates literally to "spring chant", or may be substituted with the character for "eternal spring".
Yuen Woo-ping is a Hong Kong martial arts choreographer and film director who worked in Hong Kong action cinema and later Hollywood films. He is one of the inductees on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong. Yuen is also a son of Yuen Siu-tien, a martial arts film actor.
Donnie Yen Ji-dan is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, action director and politician. He is regarded as one of Hong Kong's top action stars.
William Cheung or Cheung Cheuk-hing is a Hong Kong Wing Chun kung fu practitioner and currently the Grandmaster of his lineage of Wing Chun, entitled Traditional Wing Chun (TWC). He also heads the sanctioning body of TWC, the Global Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu Association (GTWCKFA). He is the recipient of a Masters Award for lifetime achievement in Kung Fu from Martial Arts Australia.
Sum Nung or Cen Neng (岑能) was a Peruvian-Chinese martial artist. He was a Grandmaster of the Wing Chun style and the only disciple of martial artist Yuen Kay Shan. At the age of 18, he became famous in Foshan, and is now considered the father of Wing Chun of Guangzhou.
Wilson Yip Wai-Shun is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and screenwriter. His films include Bio Zombie, The White Dragon, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Dragon Tiger Gate, Flash Point and the Ip Man series.
Ip Man is a 2008 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and teacher of Bruce Lee. The film focuses on events in Ip's life that supposedly took place in the city of Foshan during the Sino-Japanese War. The film was directed by Wilson Yip, and stars Donnie Yen as Ip Man, with martial arts choreography by Sammo Hung. The supporting cast includes Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Lam Ka-tung, Xing Yu, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, and Tenma Shibuya. The film was a co-production between China and Hong Kong, and was the last film to be distributed by Mandarin Films.
Louis Fan Siu-wong is a Chinese actor and martial artist. He is best known worldwide for his starring role as Ricky in Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991) and as Jin Shanzhao in Ip Man (2008) and Ip Man 2 (2010), as well as roles in numerous television series produced by TVB.
Ip Man 2 is a 2010 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film loosely based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun. A sequel to the 2008 film Ip Man, Ip Man 2 was directed by Wilson Yip and stars Donnie Yen, who reprises the leading role. Continuing after the events of the earlier film, the sequel centres on Ip's early life in British Hong Kong. He attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun, but faces rivalry from other practitioners, including the local master of Hung Ga martial arts, Hung Chun-nam, and later the British boxing champion Taylor "The Twister" Miller.
The Legend Is Born: Ip Man is a 2010 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film based on the early life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man, directed by Herman Yau and starring Dennis To in the title role. The film was followed by a sequel in 2013, Ip Man: The Final Fight. Though not made in collaboration with Wilson Yip's Ip Man or Ip Man 2, The Legend is Born features several actors who appeared in Yip's films, including Sammo Hung, Louis Fan, and Chen Zhihui. The film also features a special appearance by Ip Chun, the son of Ip Man. Released as Ip Man Zero in German and Dutch-speaking areas.
Dennis To Yu-hang is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor. He started his career as a wushu practitioner and won several awards at various competitions, including a silver medal at the 2002 Asian Games and a gold medal at the 2005 East Asian Games. He became an actor in 2007 and started by playing minor roles in Ip Man (2008), Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) and Ip Man 2 (2010). He is best known for his role as the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the 2010 film The Legend Is Born – Ip Man.
Ip Man: The Final Fight is a 2013 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film directed by Herman Yau, starring Anthony Wong, Anita Yuen, Jordan Chan, Eric Tsang and Gillian Chung. It is based on the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man. This film is the sequel of The Legend Is Born: Ip Man but has no connection to the earlier Ip Man films, such as Wilson Yip's Ip Man and Ip Man 2, and Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster.
Iceman is a 2014 Hong Kong-Chinese 3D martial arts action-comedy film directed by Law Wing-cheung and starring Donnie Yen, who also serves as the film's action director. The film is a remake of the 1989 film The Iceman Cometh which was directed by Clarence Fok and starred Yuen Biao. The film was released in Hong Kong and China on April 25, 2014.
Ip Man is a series of Hong Kong martial arts films based on the life events of the Wing Chun master of the same name. The progenitor of the series was Ip Man (2008), which was followed by three sequels: Ip Man 2 (2010), Ip Man 3 (2015), and Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019), as well as the spin-off Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018). All four main films were directed by Wilson Yip, written by Edmond Wong, produced by Raymond Wong, and starred Donnie Yen as the titular character. Mandarin Films released the first two films in Hong Kong, which earned more than $37 million with a budget of around $24.6 million. As of 2023, the four main films and the spin-off have grossed $426.2 million worldwide combined.
A New Life is a 1991 Hong Kong action crime drama television series produced by TVB and starring Margie Tsang, Savio Tsang, Donnie Yen and Kitty Lai. Originally released overseas on September 23, 1991, the series is currently rerunning on TVB's Network Vision channel starting from 16 January 2016 on weekends as a part of the special, Our... Donnie Yen (我們的...甄子丹), that began running on 11 January 2016.
Ip Man 4: The Finale is a 2019 Hong Kong-Chinese biographical martial arts film directed by Wilson Yip and produced by Raymond Wong. It is the fourth film in the Ip Man film series, which is loosely based on the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster of the same name, and features Donnie Yen in the title role.
Master Z: Ip Man Legacy is a 2018 Chinese martial arts film directed by Yuen Woo-ping and produced by Raymond Wong and Donnie Yen. It is a spin-off of the Ip Man film series, and takes place after the 2015 film Ip Man 3. This film stars Max Zhang, Dave Bautista and Liu Yan, and was released on 21 December 2018.
Chu Shong-tin was grand master of Wing Chun kung fu who had lived in Hong Kong. He was the third student of the famous teacher Yip Man, and remained at Yip Man's school to become his senior instructor.
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