YOUNG IP MAN: CRISIS TIME – Review

I’ve enjoyed many of the films based on Ip Man, the eponymous actual Chinese martial arts hero of the last century – especially the batch starring Donnie Yen. YOUNG IP MAN: CRISIS TIME is set in 1917, when Ip Man came to Hong Kong as a teenager to further his education. Unfortunately, his upper-crust school is targeted by a big time criminal who’d just escaped from prison to occupy the whole place, holding the entire student body for ransom, aided by a small army of hench-persons.

Ip Man, of course, is compelled to rise to the occasion despite overwhelming odds, diminutive stature and a couple of other personal complications. In structure, this one more closely resembles a Bruce Willis DIE HARD ordeal than most traditional martial movies. I wanted to like this film more than I could. The production is lavish enough, and there are some satisfying action sequences but two factors blocked the path to a higher rating.

First, although claiming to be set in 1917, they seemingly borrowed sets, costumes and props from a recently-wrapped period piece occurring in the 1930s to ‘40s. I’m all for recycling, but this bit of economizing created a huge distraction from the story for any of the diminishing audience base that can still distinguish between eras. At least no one used a cell phone.

Second, Pantheras Freedman may not have been the best choice for the lead here. Though 26 at the time of filming, he did look like a fresh-faced teenager. But after so many other heroic productions – some of which had included Ip Man’s early years – Freedman lacked the gravitas associated with that legendary figure. The dialog was fine. He said all the principled words meant to establish the requisite integrity and courage for honoring the man, but they sounded more like rote than conviction.

In 1992, after the Indiana Jones films had been such a phenomenal success, George Lucas whipped up a TV prequel series, THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES, with Sean Patrick Flanery as the youth that would become the Harrison Ford character. Although it only lasted 28 episodes, production values were quite exceptional for the medium, and Flanery captured just enough of Indy’s panache to make the show worthy of 10 Emmys, and a slew of other nominations. Pretty much what one would expect from Lucas, irrespective of screen size. This one falls well short of that mark.

Had this been the same movie, except with Freedman playing a fictional kid forced to rise to an occasion, they could have matched the dates with the accoutrements, and not been pressed to live up to all that rich historic and cinematic past. If you’re unfamiliar with the Ip Man background (which includes the fact that his most famous student was Bruce Lee), your chances of enjoying the excitement this does contain should be significantly greater.

YOUNG IP MA: CRISIS TIME, mostly in Mandarin with English subtitles, streams on Hi-YAH! starting Apr. 28, and will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD as of May 16.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars