Ip Man 2 (2010)
Ip Man 2 also known as Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster) is a 2010 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film loosely based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun. A sequel to the 2008 film Ip Man, Ip Man 2 was directed by Wilson Yip and stars Donnie Yen, who reprises the leading role. Continuing after the events of the earlier film, the sequel centres on Ip’s early life in British Hong Kong. He attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun, but faces rivalry from other practitioners, including the local master of Hung Ga martial arts, Hung Chun-nam (Sammo Hung), and later the British boxing champion Taylor “The Twister” Miller (Darren Shahlavi).
Producer Raymond Wong first announced a sequel before Ip Man’s theatrical release in December 2008. For Ip Man 2, the filmmakers intended to focus on the relationship between Ip and his most famed disciple, Bruce Lee. However, they were unable to finalize film rights with Lee’s descendants and decided to briefly portray Lee as a child. Principal photography for Ip Man 2 began in August 2009 and concluded in November; filming took place inside a studio located in Shanghai. For the sequel, Yip aimed to create a more dramatic martial arts film in terms of story and characterization; Wong’s son, screenwriter Edmond Wong, wanted the film to explore the treatment of Hong Kongers during the colonial era and Western perceptions of Chinese martial arts.
Ip Man 2 is the second film in the “Ip Man” film series. It premiered in Beijing on 21 April 2010, and was released in Hong Kong on 29 April 2010. The film met with positive reviews, with particular praise for the film’s storytelling and Sammo Hung’s martial arts choreography. The film grossed over HK$13 million on its opening weekend, immediately surpassing Ip Man’s opening weekend gross. During its theatrical run, Ip Man 2 brought in over HK$43 million domestically, and its domestic theatrical gross made it the highest grossing Hong Kong film released during the first half of 2010. In total, Ip Man 2 grossed an estimated US$49 million worldwide. This amount does not include successful DVD sales all over United States, Asia and Europe.
Plot.
Wing Chun master Ip Man and his family move to Hong Kong in 1949 after their escape from Japanese-occupied Foshan. In 1950, Ip attempts to open a school to propagate his art, as well as make a living during the difficult times, but struggles to attract students due to his lack of reputation in the city. One day, a young man named Wong Shun Leung appears and promptly challenges Ip to a fight, but is easily defeated. Wong storms off and brings a gang of his friends to take revenge, but Ip easily beats them as well. Stunned and impressed by Ip’s skills, Wong and his friends become Ip’s first students, bringing more disciples to help the school thrive. Wong is later confronted by some thuggish Hung Ga students while posting promotional posters for Ip’s school. One of them, Kei, challenges Wong to a fight and loses, but his vengeful friends take Wong hostage and demand a ransom from Ip. Ip goes to the local wet market as directed, but the meeting ends in a confrontation with a growing mob of Hung Ga students.RELATED:
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Fighting their way outside and hopelessly outnumbered, Ip and Wong are rescued by Jin Shanzhao, a martial artist, former bandit, and ex-rival of Ip, who comes to their aid with his own gang.
The students’ master and head of the coalition of Hong Kong’s martial arts clubs, Hung Chun-nam, arrives to break up the fight. Ip introduces himself, and Hung informs him that before setting up a school, he needs to partake in a special ceremony to test his worth. Ip, Wong, and Jin are subsequently arrested by Fatso, a deputy chief of the HKPD, for disturbing the peace but are later released on bail. Hung and Fatso secretly meet with Superintendent Wallace, the HKPD’s corrupt British commandant, to deliver protection money collected from both the local shops and martial art schools.
Ip attends the ceremony and easily defeats his first two challengers, before battling the last challenger, being Hung himself, to a draw. Ip is allowed to keep running his school in
exchange for paying protection fees, but he declines to do so. In response, Hung has his students deliberately loiter in front of the Wing Chun school and harass prospective students, resulting in a street brawl between them and Ip’s disciples. Ip is thus forced by his landlady to leave the property he leased for his school; the disciples resort to training in the local park.
Ip confronts Hung, who blames him for the recent events since he refused to pay, while Ip criticizes Hung’s management of his students and subservience to the foreigners. Hung insists that he is doing what he must and decides to finish off his earlier duel with Ip. Hung’s son suddenly appears during this encounter, and Ip stops Hung from accidentally kicking the boy, while also suggesting that he prioritize spending time with his family over settling their dispute. Ip’s wise counsel earns him Hung’s respect. Ip leaves, and the next day, Hung gives him and his students free tickets to a martial arts exhibition arranged by Wallace and Fatso.
At the exhibition, the various martial arts schools seek to promote themselves and by extension, Chinese culture. However, Wallace’s guest, boxer Taylor “The Twister” Miller, openly insults and assaults the students, causing a brawl that the masters try to quell. Hung demands that Twister apologize; in response, Twister challenges Hung to a fight, saying that he will apologize for his behavior if Hung wins. At first, Hung’s wide range of skills and techniques allow him to hold his own. However, most of his counterattacks have little effect on the younger and more fit Twister, and he is slowly worn down by the boxer’s powerful punches. Ip tries to persuade Hung to concede, but the old man refuses, and even stops Ip from throwing in the towel himself. In the final round, Hung suffers from an asthma attack, allowing Twister to gain the upper hand, and Hung is eventually beaten to death against the ropes.
News of Hung’s death spreads throughout the city, enraging the Chinese populace. Wallace’s superior scolds him for the turn of events and Wallace then arrests and tortures Ip’s friend, newspaper editor Leung Kan, for publishing the news; Fatso intervenes and releases him with no charges. A press conference is held the following day, where Wallace lies about Hung’s death being accidental and Twister announces that, in order to clear his name, he will accept a challenge from any Chinese martial artist. However, he continues to disrespect the Chinese and boasts that none of them have the courage to face him. Ip arrives and challenges Twister to a fight, while Fatso secretly meets with Kan and offers him compromising information on Wallace. As his pregnant wife goes into labor, Ip prepares for his match with Twister.
Casting.
Several cast members from Ip Man reprise their respective roles in the sequel. Donnie Yen reprises his role as Ip; Lynn Hung reprises her role as Cheung Wing-sing, Ip’s wife, who is now pregnant with their second child. To prepare for her role in the film, Hung asked producers for a 10-pound prosthetic belly to portray the feeling of being pregnant. Hung stated that the difficulty of her role lay in playing someone who goes from “a naive and simple-minded young woman to a strong, understanding and supportive adult.”[citation needed] Fan Siu-Wong reprises his role as Jin Shanzhao, Ip’s aggressive rival in the first film. In the sequel, Jin attempts to retire from the martial arts world by becoming an ordinary citizen; he later befriends Ip. In a cameo appearance, Simon Yam reprises his role as Ip’s friend Chow Ching-chuen, who is now a mentally disabled beggar. Li Chak reprises his role as Ip Chun, Ip and Wing-sing’s son.RELATED:
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Sammo Hung was announced as part of the cast in April 2009. Apart from serving as the film’s martial arts choreographer, Hung appears as Hung Chun-nam, a master of the southern Chinese martial art of Hung Ga. In August 2009, it was announced that Huang Xiaoming would be playing Wong Leung, a supporting character based on Wong Shun Leung, one of Ip Man’s disciples and the person responsible for mentoring Bruce Lee. Former child star Ashton Chen was also announced to be playing a disciple. Veteran actor Kent Cheng also has a supporting role in the film. To Yu-hang, who had a supporting role in the first film, appears in the sequel as a different character named Cheng Wai-kei. Cheng is a gang leader practicing Hung Ga, who decides to exact revenge on Wong after Wong defeats Cheng in a fight. Wilson Yip commented on the casting of the veteran actors as being “a form of tribute to old school kungfu movies
Filming
Prior to filming, a production ceremony for Ip Man 2 was held in Foshan, receiving plenty of media coverage. Principal photography began on 11 August 2009; filming took place in a sound stage at Songjiang Studios in Shanghai. On 28 October 2009, reporters were invited to the set to view the anticipated duel between Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung as it was being filmed. Filming ended on 8 November 2009.
Box office.
In Hong Kong, Ip Man 2 faced competition with the international release of Iron Man 2, which premiered in Hong Kong one day later than Ip Man 2. During its opening weekend, Ip Man 2 grossed HK$13 million (US$1,736,011), surpassing Ip Man’s opening weekend gross of HK$4.5 million (US$579,715). The sequel claimed first place at the box office, grossing HK$1 million more than Iron Man 2. The film’s revenues decreased by 28.1% in its second weekend, earning HK$9,719,603.56 (US$1,248,996) to remain in first place. The film dropped 45.7% in its third week, bringing in HK$5,293,401 (US$678,613) while still remaining in first place.
Ip Man 2 continued to stay at number one at the box office, dropping an additional 39.4% in its fourth week and grossing HK$3,199,567 (US$411,115). During its fifth week, the film moved to fifth place at 79.3%, grossing HK$664,535 (US$85,325). Ip Man 2 grossed HK$43,268,228.72 (US$5,558,704) domestically. The sequel’s domestic gross in Hong Kong puts it ahead of Ip Man’s total box office gross of HK$25,581,958.69 (US$3,300,847) In total, Ip Man 2 has grossed US$49,721,954 worldwide during its theatrical run.