Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy (2018)

Master Z diverges from the Ip Man path but employs much of the same formula. Cheung Tin Chi who lost to Ip Man behind closed doors abandoned teaching and practicing Wing Chun and left town with his son. Now residing in Hong Kong, he will have to face a host of new challenges including a disgruntled Triad member, a drug smuggler, and a corrupt police force. It doesn’t take long for him to realize what the audience already knows, he will have to put the cape back on and fight. Fight for his son. Fight for himself. Fight for his people.

Cheung Tin Chi had been working for Yuen Wah and Tony Jaa as muscle for hire with a code. He earned enough money to open a small store under his apartment. Fate puts him in the path of Julia and Nana who are running away from Tso Sai Kit who runs the local opium den. Cheung protects the women but makes an enemy of Kit. Soon he will be working with Julia’s brother Fu who has a bar that caters to Westerners. He also comes into contact with Kit’s sister who is trying to convert their gang into a legitimate business and Owen Davidson, a giant of a man who runs an upscale restaurant and is a philanthropic businessman or so he would have people believe. Soon Cheung is in a battle for not only the lives but the souls of the people on Bar Street.

Master Z was a by-the-comic-book interpretation of history. Bar Street was pristine and gleaming, far too perfect looking. Cheung’s son even idolized Black Belt/Batman. The villain was bald, white, and enormous, similar to Daredevil’s Kingpin. You know he was a villain because he ate steak which is code for barbaric, I guess. Michelle Yeoh’s complicated Triad boss showed that the Chinese can clean up their own messes when she disarmed her drug dealing brother. But it would take a team effort to defeat the foreigners. The dialogue could be heavy handed and some of the supporting characters weren’t very strong actors but fortunately, Zhang Jin was captivating to watch even if his character was thinly drawn. Michelle Yeoh added some movie star cred to the cast and gravitas to her elegantly lethal character.

Since this was an Ip Man spinoff I expected good fights. Some of them were. Zhang Jin actually practices martial arts so that’s usually a good start. Yuen Woo Ping had to dip back into his Shaw Brothers days and bring out the wires. I don’t mind a little wire-fu, but it has to flow naturally. In a street fight as Cheung and the bad guys flew up and down the buildings awkwardly, all I could think about was the epic building fight from Chocolate (2008) with Jeeja Yanin sans wires. Much of the wire work in Z was not orchestrated well. To quote another superhero, “Jarvis, just skip the spinning rims.” Dave Bautista beating a good guy like he was using a paddle ball was another over the top stunt but showed the big man was a super bad guy. Zhang Jin was fun to watch and his moves were smooth, confident, and fast. And I will never tire of Michelle Yeoh being a badass whether hand-to-hand or with a sword. I wish Tony Jaa had been able to cut loose, but this wasn’t his movie. Kung fu movie alum Yuen Wah made a welcome guest appearance. They had plenty of veterans on screen and the excellent Yuen Shun Yi choreographing the fights. Most were well done except when they completely defied gravity in less than fluid manners.

Master Z was entertaining even when it lacked nuance. Cheung Tin Chi and his new Bar Street family made a competent addition to the Ip Man series. The grand fight between good and evil when Cheung finally regained his mojo was what kung fu and superhero movies are made for, especially when the people bond together around the hero to take back their town.

7 March 2024

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A breath of fresh air in the Ip Man series! I’m never tired of Donnie Yen, but you could tell the writers were running out of ideas. Max Zhang as Cheung Tin Chi is a good protagonist, more the strong but silent type, taciturn and prideful, different enough from Ip Man who was genial and dignified. The movie retains a lot of what makes the Ip Man series so enjoyable: a lot of inventive action (stand out scenes like a fight on top of neon signs, a duel around a glass of booze) and high-stake boss battles, some humour, some sentimentality. Another big draw is seeing stars shining in supporting roles especially Michelle Yeoh and Dave Bautista, but also Kevin Cheng and Ong Bak’s Jaa Tony. Worth a watch for any kung fu fans!

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