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| Review by by Joe Yezukevich |
Walking into The Grandmaster, I had zero idea of what to expect, besides Bruce Lee.
If you have the same expectation, you will leave sorely disappointed as — spoiler– there is very little Bruce Lee to be had.
I, however, enjoyed myself for the cinematography and the beautifully choreographed martial arts matches that one might expect from the great Wong Kar-wai.
The story revolves around Ip Man (Tony Leung) who is introduced as one of the greatest martial artists circa early 20th century.
The narrative moves jerkily along, probably due to the editing of the movie from its original 4 hours to 2 hours. The result is a biographical tale that sometimes features the central character coming off as more of a supporting actor. His love interest, Gong Er (Ziyi Zhang), is introduced fairly late in the movie to somewhat steal the show. She is the last member of her family to practice a particular Martial Arts style.
After their worlds are turned upside down by the Japanese Occupation of China during World War 2, Ip Man and Gong Er separately leave mainland China for Hong Kong and the promise of a new, prosperous life. The preceding portion of the movie is fantasy like as the leader of 12 styles of Martial Arts tries picking a successor and then the Japanese arrive. The movie in Hong Kong feels like an afterthought, though several important plot points are coming to a head here.
Is the movie worth seeing in the theater?
Certainly there will be things lost going from the big screen to a flat screen TV.
However, the fight scenes are some of the most artful action scenes this side of John Woo. Wong Kar-wai takes historical figures and transforms them into living gods. Hopefully, this is enough of a showpiece that this director will break out to a wider audience. More importantly, I would love to see him get a shot at a superhero movie of some sort here in the states.
Perhaps without the issue of an audience reading subtitles for 4 hours, Wong Kar-wai will get his chance to shine in the West.
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