TheRetroCritic

Although a longer (and I hear better) cut of The Grandmaster does exist, I have yet to see it so the following review will focus on the shorter, "West-friendly" version. Iconic Chinese filmmaker Wong Kar Wai tackles the story of legendary martial artist Ip Man, this time casting the ever reliable Tony Leung in the role made even more popular to audiences by Donnie Yen some years prior. The result is a gorgeous looking film bearing all the class and style you'd expect Wong Kar Wai to bring to the table. The film opens with a thrilling fight in the pouring rain between Ip Man and a bunch of dudes and it promises one moody, kickass film to say the least. We are then given some historical background and introduced to Zhang Ziyi's character Gong Er, whom, it turns out, is actually the real focus of the film. In the US cut, of course. Actually, Ip Man's story ends up feeling almost intrusive seeing as there's already tons of films and drama series about the guy