Posted in: Movies | Tagged: bruce lee, donnie yen, Ip Man 4 The Finale, Jeet Kun Do, martial arts, scott adkins, WellGo USA, Wing Chun, Yuen Wo Ping

"Ip Man 4: The Finale" Trailer Teases The End of the Donnie Yen Martial Arts Saga

WellGo USA has released the official US trailer for Ip Man 4: The Finale starring Donnie Yen. The movie series is a highly idealized and fictionalized telling of the story of the man who taught Bruce Lee martial arts. Ip Man has become a Chinese folk legend on his own because of this and other movies about him.

The martial arts form Wing Chun might have died out if Ip Man hadn't moved to Hong Kong and started a dojo in the 1950s. Bruce Lee used Wing Chun as one of the bases for Jeet Kun Do, the martial arts form he developed on his own.

Donnie Yen and the filmmakers say this will be the final movie in this series. In real life, Ip Man would have been old and frail by the the late 1960s and early 1970s that The Finale seems to be set in. This is a "print the legend" approach where the ageless and still dynamic Donnie Yen plays the grandmaster.

This is a Chinese Superhero Saga

And Bruce Lee finally appears in the story. This was the unspoken promise the series made before it became a franchise. British martial artist and action star Scott Adkins also appears in the movie as a racist fighter. The series continues its ongoing theme of Chinese pride fighting back against white racist, which Bruce Lee's own movies often pursued as well. Martial arts master and director Yuen Wo Ping choreographs the action.

It's remarkable that the series managed to have three sequels with the same star, producers and directors over 11 years. The first movie came out in 2008 and nobody thought it would get to a fourth.

WellGo USA also released an official synopsis for the movie:

"Ip Man's life remains unchanged after his wife's death, but he and his son are slowly drifting apart. To seek a better future for his son, Ip Man decides to travel to the U.S. only to find the stable, peaceful life abroad is only skin deep. Underneath lies a deep rooted racial discrimination that is far worse than he has expected. Ip Man re-examines his position and ponders on the reason he took up martial arts in the beginning."

Ip Man 4: The Finale opens in select theatres in the US on December 25^th.

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