Ip Man 4: The Finale is allegedly the final movie starring Donnie Yen as the titular Wing Chun master known for being Bruce Lee’s instructor. It is a biopic/period piece predominantly set in 1964 San Francisco after Ip Man gets some bad news and contemplates starting a new life in the US after his famous student invites him over.
Ip Man 4: The Finale bears a strong resemblance to Ip Man 2 in terms of the overall character arc, but if you have not seen the prior three movies, while you could probably figure out what was going on, because it was the first Ip Man movie that I did not see immediately after its predecessors, it took me a few minutes to get my footing. Ip Man is still the paragon of Chinese manhood, but his challenge is understanding life as a minority. Even though I am not familiar with Bruce Lee movies, those films gave me the impression that Lee felt a kinship to the black community. While this film does not feature strong supporting black characters, they are always presented as sympathetic to the Chinese American community or enthusiastically welcoming. Also when I heard the name of an evil child, I feel as if the filmmakers are more familiar with the African American community than I expected. I cackled!
Ip Man 4: The Finale faces an inherent narrative problem. In a world in which Bruce Lee is an option as a feasible vigilante to fight for the Chinese American community, it kind of does not make sense that Chinese Americans, especially Lee’s pupils, would ask Ip Man, who is older though not looking as old as he should considering his age, to intervene and fight. Lee gets one real fight scene, but has to take a back seat because this movie is not about him. It retroactively makes more sense to me that the franchise has done everything in its power to keep the master and his pupil separated because now that they are together, should not they at least fight together? These movies are essentially fiction even though they are about real life people so even if such a fight never occurred in real life, I would want to see it. It never happens, and it is a missed opportunity. I also get that Lee is such a memorable and unique individual that it is hard to ask another actor to play him convincingly even if he is the greatest actor. Kwok-Kwan Chan gets the attitude right.
The Ip Man’s franchise long-term problem is that if you are an English speaking viewer, and you don’t know Chinese, you have no idea if the Chinese actors are delivering their lines well, but when the English speaking actors deliver their lines, there is no doubt that they are awful. They appear to be hired based on availability and physical prowess, which makes sense for a martial arts movie, but still detracts from the movie. Also because it is a Chinese movie depicting American life, specifically the military, I had moments when I was not sure if I did not get it because I did not understand enough about martial arts, karate versus kung fu, or the filmmakers messed up their depiction of the military in trying to create a conflict, which at its foundation was definitely likely, but the actual discrimination probably looked different in the real world and would be difficult to portray in a martial arts film. For example, a higher ranking officer clearly displeased with the behavior of an inferior, who is a raging lunatic, just stands quietly and sadly by as if he is as powerless as the men under the lunatic’s command. I do not think it would work that way.
Ip Man 4: The Finale had some solid fight scenes. My favorites were the ones that were not even supposed to be the show stoppers. There was a kid giving everyone the business, and I would have loved watching her kick more ass or alternatively Ip Man disciplining bad kids everywhere. I secretly wished that Master Chiang got more onscreen time because it seemed that after Ip Man, she was used to handling an enemy who physically dominated her and could have stood her ground. She needs to take Wan’s position on the CBA. Ip Man’s first, lowkey face off with Wan was terrific.
I loved that Ip Man 4: The Finale allowed Ip Man to keep his hero status while also acknowledging that he was a little wrong in his understanding of the Chinese American community’s suffering. This movie feels extremely and rightfully critical of the US’ immigration policy, and even though the film is talking about the historical racist treatment of the Chinese community, which still exists to this day, it is a broader critique of white supremacy and its hypocrisy in appropriating cultures then acting as if it was always a part of their community—kind of like the literal land that the US is on. Ip Man always believes in defending himself, but his attitude started more aligned with Martin Luther King Jr., but he was a Black Panther by the end. The actual ending had me laughing because
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Ip Man had to choose between his son being uneducated and staying in Hong Kong versus moving to the US and getting an education, and he chose high school dropout over immigration because racism was not worth it! Valid! I was in an audience filled with Chinese Americans, and I did not hear one person disagree. I wish that I spoke Chinese because I am certain that some of the talking that I heard was vociferous approval based on the tone. I felt like this segment of the targeted audience, even though they made completely different choices, really felt this movie in their soul, and I was so happy that they got a movie that voiced their pain and made them feel pride.
If you are into the Ip Man franchise, then you will not be disappointed by Ip Man 4: The Finale. Even though sequels are never as good as the original, and this one had some serious flaws, it is still an entertaining installment with a soul that spoke to an audience, including me, in a way that recognized the realities of our lives even if it could not accurately portray them. I care more about the spirit of the message than the actual accuracy, especially since I am an ignorant American who knows nothing about this history or martial arts. I will still be here cheering this film on and am looking forward to throwing my money at the expected spinoffs under the Ip Man Legacy franchise.