This week in cinemas: ‘Ip Man 3’ (Hong Kong)

Ip Man 3This week in Aussie cinemas we have the third and likely final (though Donnie Yen said that of the second film, too!) installment of the Ip Man series of films from director Wilson Yip and martial arts superstar Donnie Yen.

(For completeness, here are our reviews of Ip Man (2008) and Ip Man 2 (2010))

Continuing the story of the Foshan-born, Hong Kong-based martial artist most famous for taking the young Bruce Lee on as a student, this film has drawn some notoriety in production for its casting of boxer Mike Tyson, who appears to be enjoying himself immensely in the trailer, and for the early announcement that CGI would be used to depict a young Bruce Lee. Later on (and after some legal wrangling), it looks like the job of bringing Bruce to life on the screen has fallen to Danny Chan Kwok-kwan, who’s played him before on TV. Stephen Chow fans might remember him as the goalie in Shaolin Soccer and the leader of the Axe Gang in Kung Fu Hustle.

Donnie Yen returns in the lead, as does Lynn Hung as his wife Cheung Wing-sing. Zhang Jin (SPL 2, The Grandmaster) also stars, and kung fu film fans of old will be delighted to spot Leung Kar-yan in the cast as well. Wilson Yip is directing, while the job of action director has been passed this time to veteran Yuen Woo-ping.

Here’s a trailer:

Ip Man 3 opens in cinemas Australia-wide this Thursday 21 Jan. If you’re in Melbourne, it’s also showing at the Chinatown Cinema, which looks like it has a premiere screening on tonight (Sat 16 Jan) as well!

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