IP Man (Hong Kong, 2008)

Denied their chance to make a movie about Bruce Lee, thanks to the Lee family's tight control of his image, producers in Hong Kong got the idea of making a movie about his master, Ip Man, back in 2007. Rival Ip Man projects multiplied like rabbits, but it was Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen, working with action choreographer and martial arts legend, Sammo Hung, who hit the big screen first with IP MAN. Minting money across Asia, it launched the "Ip Man wave" which now includes projects by Wong Kar-wai (GRANDMASTER IP MAN, coming in 2011), prequels (THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN with Sammo Hung and Bruce Leung) and sequels (IP MAN 2). But the first still has an energy that none of the others can match.

Foshan, 1935. Ip Man is a happy guy who lives in a nice house with his wife and kid, occasionally resorting to a little kung fu to teach folks what’s what. He can take apart a gun or beat down a punk with a "Please," an "After you,” and a “Thank you for letting me win." But the world is an imperfect place and after he must remonstrate with Master Jin (Fan Siu-wong, STORY OF RICKY) by applying his foot to the redneck kung fu killer’s face, World War II happens and the Japanese arrive.

Like the real Ip Man, Donnie refuses to teach the Japanese wing chun. Unlike the real Ip Man he turns down their offer by taking on a dozen Japanese karate experts and giving them impromptu spinal adjustments with his rock hammer fists. Needless to say, he's gotta move. The film ends with him on his way to Hong Kong, his date with a young Bruce Lee and a sequel.