Ip Man: The Awakening (2021)

I am aware about the Ip Man series, and how it's based on a real-life figure of the same name, but I've never really watched the Donnie Yen movies or been interested in Ip Man stories until now. And then I found out that Xie Miao is playing a younger version of Ip Man, so how can I not watch this movie?

In this movie, Xie Miao plays a young Ip Man who at the moment was studying in Hong Kong. By chance, he encountered a mugging incident... and while he came over to lend a hand, he happened to reunite with an old friend. While spending time with his fellow martial arts student, Man came to witness a kidnapping attempt by some men working for a British company and proceeded to rescue the kidnapped women. What started as one simple incident ended up blowing up as the thugs from the company involved with the human trafficking business started to retaliate, and people around Man started to get hurt. As Ip Man began to reawaken his sense of justice and learn that righteousness must also be followed by wisdom, he sought to confront the British and make right the wrongs that had been done.

Considering that I dived into the story blind, I have no bias toward which actor played Ip Man better. But what I can say is... Xie Miao really brought out a sense of youthfulness and bright energy in his portrayal of young Ip Man. It was really refreshing, seeing him portray a prominent Kungfu master and it's really exciting to see him portray Ip Man from an early point in his life.

If there was anything that I really disliked about any characters in the movie, it would be the man villain MR Stark.Whether it was intentional or not... the character really gave the impression of a very corrupt old Imperial officer with all the many allusions about the Chinese culture that they often speak. Which was really offputting, seeing it coming from a foreigner who appeared to be cosplaying as this 'native' Chinese mob leader. But I suppose, since he's a villain, it's expected for Stark to be a hated character and it really does feel satisfying seeing Man take them down. I'm not sure there were any more plans for future movies featuring Xie Miao as Ip Man, but I would've loved to see more if possible. Xie Miao really did well portraying a Wing Chun master~

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