Ip Man (2008)

Ip Man – Wilson Yip

Yip Man (original title)

Summary:  In South China, Foshan is a prosperous town known for its martial arts.  It’s 1935 and there are numerous kung fu schools from where the town gets much of its reputation, yet a local townsman named Ip Man (Donnie Yen) who does not run his own school, or teach his art to anyone, is considered to be the undisputed fighter above all else.  Many plea to be his student and teach them the Wing Chun focus of Kung Fu and although he always refuses, he is still highly respected.  However, Foshan soon changes for the worse when World War II erupts and the Japanese invade and occupy the town, killing many of its inhabitants.

My Review:  Well I never thought I’d enjoy a kung fu movie as much as I did this one – and it’s based on a true story too!  Although it’s likely much of the story has been dramatised for more effect, it still made me look up Fo Shan and who Ip Man was after the credits rolled – he was Bruce Lee’s martial arts trainer by the way, so kind of a big deal!  I did travel in China for 2 months in 2013 and sadly missed out on this little town with so much heritage.  Regardless of that, on face value this is a great lightly cheesy kung fu flick, with some feeling to boot!

My Rating: 2/5

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The Eye (2002)

The Eye – Danny Pang & Oxide Chun Pang (the Pang Brothers)

Gin gwai (original title)

Summary:  20 year-old Mun (Angelica Lee) has been blind ever since the age of two, but thankfully her eyesight is restored after undertaking a successful eye cornea transplant surgery.  Despite being able to see again, Mun starts to feel everything is not as it seems as she begins to see mysterious figures that are becoming increasingly intrusive towards her.  Frightened, she goes to see Dr. Wah (Lawrence Chou), a psychologist, who at first doesn’t believe her when she tells him what she sees, but eventually decides to join Mun on a trip to northern Thailand to discover more about what happened to her eye donor before they died.

My Review:  This, alongside other horrors like Ringu (1998) and Ju-On: The Grudge (2002), are why Asian horrors first got noticed – because they’ll scare the **** out of you!  The Eye (2002) has brilliant tense-building scenes that just keep building until you think you can’t take watching anymore.  The elevator scene in particular is one you’ll definitely need your pillow for.  I’ve not seen the Hollywood remake staring Jessica Alba, but with a killer storyline such as this I’m not surprised it’s been redone and has a few spin-offs.  There’s some nice spine-chilling scares in the first half, which sadly tails off towards the end.  Still definitely worth a watch though.

My Rating: 3.5/5

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