Day: May 5, 2018

Director: Wilson Yip

Writer: Tai-lee Chan, Hiu-Yan Choi, Edmond Wong (Screenplay)

Starring: Donnie Yen, Xiaoming Huang, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Lynn Hung, Kent Cheng, Darren Shahlavi

 

Plot: Centering on Ip Man’s migration to Hong Kong in 1949 as he attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun martial arts.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Hard Hitting Actioner

 

Story: Ip Man 2 starts in 1949, as Ip Man (Yen) has migrated to Hong Kong to start his own martial arts school, struggle for pupils early on it is Wong Shun-Leung (Huang) who becomes his first student, one of many who want to learn the art of Wing Chun. Ip must also come to terms with the causalities of the war with the friends that are no longer the same.

Ip clashes with fellow Master Hung Chun-Nam (Hung) who also has control of the city, this forces Ip into passing tests to prove himself worthy of being able to train in the city. This soon turns into a city-wide battle between the students trying to honour their masters.

 

Thoughts on Ip Man 2

 

Characters – Ip Man find himself residing in Hong Kong, he looks to pass on his training to anyone who wants to learn but he must stand up for what he believes in against the Master who runs the city to prove he is the true master. Leung is the first student Ip recruits, he is rash at times but his determination is everything needed to learn. Master Hung runs the city, he sees Ip as a threat to his power but over the course of the film the two learn to put aside their difference to face a common enemy.

Performance – Donnie Yen once again shines in this leading role showing us once again that he is ready to be the biggest name in martial arts films. Xiaoming Huang is also good in this supporting role showing us a student role needed for the movie. Sammo Hung is great in his role as the rival master that grows respect through the film, it plays it all straight throughout. The performance throughout are good though the Brits do feel out of place in the film with their performances that do feel over the top.

Story – The story does follow Ip Man as he must overcome a foreign enemy as well as one from home. Yes, the enemy isn’t as deadly to the whole country this time but it does show how he will stand up for his martial art form against anyone who is willing to get in his way and gain respect from the people that doubted him. It does feel like the previous formula once more with less of a threat but a deadlier final showdown.

Action/Biography/Sports – The action here is fantastic with the combat sequences looking and feeling like the punches and kicks are real, this is also a look at another chapter of Ip Man’s life and what his belief and martial arts style bought to the world.

Settings – The settings have changed but they still look like we are part of the movie for each of the experience Ip Man goes through.

Scene of the Movie – The massive fish market battle early on, because of the scale of the battle.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Brits are made to be complete assholes.

Final Thoughts – A sequel worthy of standing tall next to the first and one that can be enjoyed picking up in the middle too.

 

Overall: Must watch again for martial arts fans.

Rating

 

 

Director: Nick Lyon

Writer: Ashley O’Neil (Screenplay)

Starring: Andrew J Katers, Alexa Mansour, Tonya Kay, Evan Sloan, Detra Hicks, Kelcey Watson

 

Plot: In a white hot flash of light, and with no warning, one minute our moon is there, the next it’s gone. Then, a second flash. And that’s the last thing anyone on Earth can remember. 11 months later, it’s not post- apocalyptic; it’s apocalyptic as Earth has been sucked through a wormhole, literally ripping our planet from the inside out. With bizarre disasters and civilization collapsing, our heroes must find a way to survive and get to “safe ground” before it’s too late.

Runtime: 1 Hour 22 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Enjoyable Over the Top Disaster Flick

 

Story: Earthtastrophe starts as Colin (Katers) is about to secure a deal of a lifetime, his party is underway, but an unexpected disaster hits destroying the Moon and sucking Earth through a wormhole to a new galaxy. 11 months later Colin has still not gained his memory having just photos to help fill in the blanks, the world itself is a death zone with weather conditions that are beyond deadly. Colin must try to get around this world to find his family with the help of fellow survivors Zoey (Mansour) and Nadia (Kay).

 

Thoughts on Earthtastrophe

 

Characters – Colin is our main character in this story, he is a high-profile CEO whose world gets sucked into a wormhole along with the Earth and other survivors, he has lost his memory and is trying to put the pieces together on his life before the event as he looks for answers. Zoey and Nadia are two fellow survivors that help Colin find the answers as they survive in the wasteland.

Performances – This is low budget so I am not expecting the best of the best performances, Andrew J Katers is good in the leading role while the rest of the cast are good even if they can look out of place when not delivering lines.

Story – The story plays into the big disaster movie types and mixes it with science, time travel and multiple dimensions. This is a movie that has way too much going on to give any of it too much sense, but this also plays into how fun this is to watch. If a genius scientist saw this story they would probably have a break down, but since when did we need a story to make sense, we do have a warning in the final outcome of the story too.

Action/Sci-Fi – The action is CGI like explosions which work for the film and they have moments of sci-fi to make the unusual weather condition people don’t see.

Settings – The settings are generic apocalyptic locations where we see destroyed buildings after the event.

Special Effects – The effects are low budget, this is fine for us because we don’t need anything overly impressive as we know this is a sci-fi channel movie.

Scene of the Movie – The mist clouds of doom.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does have too much going on.

Final Thoughts – This is an extremely watchable sci-fi action movie, if you don’t take it too seriously you will find yourself enjoying this one.

 

Overall: ABC Sci-fi Action movie.

Rating