This is a spin-off series that worked very well and I can only hope for more “Master Z” films in the future. “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy” is recommended!
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TITLE:Â Master Z: Ip Man Legacy
FILM RELEASE: 2018
DURATION: 108 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16:9 widescreen), Cantonese Mandarin, English and French 5.1 Dolby Atmos, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Well Go USA Entertainment
RATED: Not Rated
Release Date: July 23, 2019
Directed by Woo-Ping Yuen
Written by Edmond Wong, Tai-lee Chan
Produced by Dave Bautista, Jonathan Meisner, Raymond Bak-Ming Wong, Donnie Yen
Co-Producer: David Fu, Edmond Wong, Allison Lok Kam Yuen
Cinematography by David Fu, Seppe Van Grieken
Edited by Kai Pong Chow, Chi-Leung Kwong
Casting by Cheyenne Peng
Art Direction by Raymond Chan
Costume Design by Joyce Chan
Starring:
Jin (Max) Zhang as Cheung Tin-chi
Dave Bautista as Owen Davidson
Michelle Yeoh as Tso Ngan Kwan
Tony Jaa as Sadi the Warrior
Chrissie Chau as Nana
Kevin Cheng as Tso Sai Kit
Yan Liu as Julia
Xin Yu as Fu
Legendary action director Yuen Woo-Ping draws on a stellar cast (Michelle Yeoh, Dave Bautista, Tony Jaa, and Max Zhang) to create a hard-hitting martial arts blast worthy of its place in the celebrated IP MAN universe. Following his defeat by Master Ip, Cheung Tin Chi (Zhang), tries to make a life with his young son in Hong Kong, waiting tables at a bar that caters to expats. But it s not long before the mix of foreigners, money, and triad leaders draw him once again to the fight.
NOTE:Â If you haven’t watched “Ip Man 3”, I highly recommend watching it before watching “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy”!
A spin-off and direct sequel to the 2015 film “Ip Man 3” (starring Donnie Yen), the storyline focuses on the character of Cheung Tin Chi (portrayed by Jin (Max) Zhang).
In “Ip Man 3”, we learned that Cheung Tin-chi learned from another master taught by Ip Man’s master, but both have different perspectives on how to utilize their Wing Chun. Cheung Tin-chi who wants to build his own school as the true Wing Chun school one day and after his defeat by Ip Man, he gives up wanting to build his own school.
Fastforward and Cheung Tin-chi and his son keep a low profile and works as a mercenary for a brief time. He decides to leave that life to focus on his son and decides to operate a grocery store.
Wanting to be a good father to his son, he tries to make sure he’s always there for him.
Meanwhile, opium addict Nana (portrayed by Chrissie Chau) is beaten by Tso Sai Kit (portrayed by Kevin Cheng) for not paying her debt in time and demands her to call someone to get the money, so she calls her friend Julia (portrayed by Liu Yan).
As Julia comes for Nana and pays her debt, Tso Sai Kit demands for more payment, which Julia refuses. As the men try to get it from her, she fights them but when it leads to a street fight, Tso Sai Kit bumps into Cheung Tin-chi, who was holding a birthday present for his son. When Cheung tells him that present was for his son, Tso Sai Kit kicks it and this leads to a brawl in which Cheung Tin-chi defeats all of them. But each are arrested.
At the police station, the chief releases everyone except Cheung Tin-Chi which Julia protests. And then she mentions her brother Fu’s name, the owner of the Gold Bar on Bar Street. Eventually he is released too.
Meanwhile, Kit’s sister, Kwan (portrayed by Michelle Yeoh) wants her family crime syndicate is wanting to transition the family business to a legal business, which Kit disagrees with.
At home with his son, fire bombs are thrown into his room as Kit’s men are trying to get revenge on Cheung Tin-Chi. Cheung manages to get his son out of the burning building and while going against his men while his son is in his arms, he sees Julia walking and hands her son over to her to watch over him.
As he takes on Kit, also wanting to fight him is Sadi, a hired assassin (portrayed by Tony Jaa). While Cheung is able to defeat Kit’s men, he and Sadi fight and it’s an even match which is stopped when police arrive.
Not having a home, Julia takes in both Cheung Tin-chi and his son and has her brother Fu (portrayed by Xing Yu) hire Cheung to work at the Gold Bar.
Meanwhile, heavy drug dealing is occurring at Gold Street, courtesy of Davidson (portrayed by Dave Bautista) who works with corrupt British police and runs a posh restaurant in the area. And wanting to get into the drug business is Tso Sai Kit.
VIDEO:
“Master Z: Ip Man Legacy” is presented in 1080p High Definition (16:9 widescreen). Picture quality is very good! A lot of focus is on the actual martial arts fighting but close ups show great clarity and I didn’t notice any banding or artifact issues during my viewing of the film.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Master Z: Ip Man Legacy” is presented in Cantonese Mandarin, English and French 5.1 Dolby Atmos. Â Dialogue is crystal clear and there are a good number of action scenes that utilized the surround channels and ambiance.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES
“Master Z: Ip Man Legacy” comes with the Behind-the-Scenes featurettes.
EXTRAS
“Master Z: Ip Man Legacy” comes with a slipcover and both the Blu-ray and DVD version of the film.
I’m going to be truthful and say that I as not expecting much from “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy”.
For one, “Ip Man 3” featuring Donnie Yen taking on Mike Tyson, was a bit of a let down. And while I have rooted for Dave Bautista as a WWE wrestler and his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films ala “Guardians of the Galaxy”, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of him starring in a martial arts film and felt it may be another “Ip Man 3”.
By mentioning “Ip Man 3”, the other thing that concerned me is a spin-off film/sequel starring Jin (Max) Zhang’s character Cheung Tin Chi, a former Wing Chun instructor who lost against Ip Man and is now down in the dumps and having lost his way.
Having watched “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy”, I can confidently say that I had an enjoyable time watching this film.
What I feel that helps is the film’s ability to work outside of the expectations of an “Ip Man” film.
There has been a flood of “Ip Man” films in cinema within the last decade including a TV series. And while each of them are fascinating in their own way, nothing has come close to the 2008 film, the film which starred Donnie Yen and kicked off the “Ip Man” attention.   The original film had an excellent story and captivated viewers.
The other films were more or less popcorn action films. Again, some are better than others and so I was a bit hesitant on “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy”.
But I felt that director Woo-Ping Yuen and writers Edmond Wong and Tai-lee Chan realized they could branch off and create something new and exciting. And sure enough, they did!
Jin Zhang is no doubt a star to keep your eyes on. Having appeared in “The Grandmaster” and “Ip Man 3” and also “Pacific Rim: Uprising”, he has appeared in many other films for stunts and for the most part, he has the potential to become the next action hero!
The writers managed to craft a film about Cheung Tin-chi, a father wanting to be there for his son, but also a man of principles who is loyal to those that try to help him. In the case of “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy”, by helping a woman who was being attacked by a criminal gang leader, he becomes a target and when they hurt his son, you know that Cheung Tin-chi is not going to take it easy.
The film features good chemistry between actor Jin (Max) Zhang and Yan Liu, and manages to carefully utilize Dave Bautista and Tony Jaa without overdoing it. I felt with “Ip Man 3”, Mike Tyson’s character was just not well-utilized but with “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy”, it was best giving these two men cool fighting scenes but not overdo it with dialogue.
But having enjoyed this film, it begs the question of what comes next for the character Cheung Tin-chi. “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy” was very good that I don’t think it needs to be in Ip Man’s shadow. It’s time to give Cheung Tin-Chi free reign and let the stories continue (as long as they are not cheesy).
This is a spin-off series that worked very well and I can only hope for more “Master Z” films in the future.
“Master Z: Ip Man Legacy” is recommended!
