Wong’s dramatic range shines in a cordial, slow-brewing romance with a Shanghainese songstress (Zhang Chuchu), the unmistakable sexual chemistry in contrast with a brief, almost platonic interlude with his wife Wing Sing (Anita Yuen). Wong convincingly draws on his lifelong training in Monkey Fist boxing style to strike the pose of grandmaster, Ip’s outsider status underscored by a thick Foshan accent. Their sportsmanlike rapport contrasts with a later battle against an unscrupulous underground boxer (Ken Low), which combines visual exuberance with undertones of malice. A duel between Ip and Ng Chun (comedian-producer Eric Tsang), master of the White Crane school, displays a precision and fierceness unexpected of elder-statesmen Wong and the pint-sized Tsang. A brief encounter between Ip and a pupil who’s become an “international star” (who looks suspiciously like Bruce Lee) reinforces Ip’s anti-elitist attitude toward disseminating his art.Īlthough the proportion of action to drama is less than that in “The Legend is Born,” this sequel still boasts four vigorous setpieces, shot with minimum stylistic distraction by Joe Chan, and edited briskly by Azrael Chung. In this sense, the theme is as much about the difficulty of making an honest living as it is the challenges of preserving the core values of Wing Chun.
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Leung subsequently uses his professional connections to help Ip form a makeshift school on a rooftop, which attracts a motley crew of pupils: policeman Tang Sing (Jordan Chan), jail warden Wong Tung (Marvel Chow, Sin’s disciple and the film’s Wing Chun consultant), dim-sum vendor Sei-mui (Gillian Chung), Lee King (Jiang Luxia) and tram-driver Ng Chan (Donny Ng).Īs in “The Legend in Born,” Yau delights in period nostalgia, recreating the messy but bustling street life of ’50s and ’60s Hong Kong with colorful studio sets, but also depicting an environment of labor unrest, government corruption and colonial oppression. In a sequence that skillfully highlights the pliant style of Wing Chun, Ip defeats Leung without moving from where he stands. Calling on a friend, he is challenged to a duel by cocky cook Leung Seung (Timmy Hung, son of action star Sammo Hung). Ip leaves his family in his hometown of Foshan, Guangdong Province, and arrives in Hong Kong. In 1949, following the Communists’ victory in China. The film follows Ip’s life from age 56 to his death at 79. Qualities like humility and restraint are readily appreciated by Asian auds, but genre fans in the West may be underwhelmed by the fewer scenes of stirring conflict.
There’s only so much to draw from one man’s life, and this installment’s focus on Ip’s middle age and his role as a teacher yields an inherently less active story. The story - credited to Sin, a pupil of Ip’s son Chun - is diligent in representing the protag’s life with authenticity and respect, but pacing suffers.
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