1. ZergaZ

   Oct 11, 2013

   10

   This movie is funny becuse you know some people in the cinema going to like it. That's why i love this film. it made me so happy that other liked this!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
2. figgle20

   Aug 30, 2013

   10

   Definitely the best one among numerous martial arts films! This movie is more than Kung Fu. It is a sound story introducing a fundamental spirit of Chinese culture. Stronger on Kung Fu does not necessarily mean a stronger image. It is vision and breadth of mind.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
3. Thegodfatherson

   Aug 23, 2013

   9

   Unlike martial arts film in the wuxia style, such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," that are typically set in a fantasy pre-modern era, "The Grandmaster" is set against the specific backdrop of the political upheaval in China from the 1930s to the 1950s, including the Japanese invasion and civil war. And though Wong said he does not know what his next film will be, he feels satisfied the years of work have come to fruition with "The Grandmaster." "I know I'm not going to make many kung fu films," Wong said. "This may be the only kung fu film I make, I don't know. I want to put everything I know about kung fu films into this film." Wong Kar Wai is known as an international master of moody romance, making films filled with a yearning melancholy. His "In the Mood for Love" was the only film from this century to make the Top 25 of a recent Sight & Sound poll of the greatest films of all time. So news that he was making a kung fu film tracing the life of Ip Man, who would famously go on to train Bruce Lee, caught many of his fans off-guard. Playing now in Los Angeles, the long-awaited film has already been the biggest commercial hit of Wong's career in China, even with its unlikely combination of a rousing martial arts story and a moving tale of romantic longing.… Expand

   • 2 of 4 users found this helpful
4. lasttimeisaw

   Sep 12, 2013

   7

   As film buffs are all acclimatized with the fact that every Kar Wai Wong’s project has to endure an excruciatingly procrastinated process of f filming and editing since IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000, 9/10), an almost six-year gap between THE GRANDMASTER and his first misfired Hollywood foray MY BLUEBERRY NIGHT (2007, 8/10) does manifest Wong’s perverse assiduity and forbearance on his own artifact, apart from the sporadic but stretching-out shooting spells, Wong is also universally distinguished for other idiosyncrasies such as script-less improvisations for his cast, the stylish oriental aesthetics dramatized by the over-sentimental score, larger-than-life characters uttering aphorisms with philosophic undertones and last but not the least, the cinematography brimful of vim and vigor (on this occasion, Philippe Le Sourd is the new DP).
   
   I’ve been consistently vouching for Wong simply because he is my favorite Hong Kong director, albeit his perceptible slump of his career orbit in the noughties, even his less-successful esoteric saga-tale 2046 (2004, 9/10) has won me over without a hitch. THE GRANDMASTER reunites Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang as rivals-cum-mutual-attracted-contemporaries Kung Fu masters Ip Man and Gong Er, spanning over 50 years in the tumultuous southern China from the beginning of 20th Century, despite of its 130 minutes length (I watched the Chinese theatrical version), the film somewhat stymies its audiences from getting a comprehensive grip on Ip Man, the nominal protagonist, instead, it leans heavily on the plot of Gong Er’s obstinate revenge for her father’s demise, maybe Chinese viewers have already fed up with a plethora of Ip Man on screen (notably Donnie Yen’s Ip Man series), so this approach lends Ziyi Zhang a rare platform to outshine Tony Leung in rendering a meatier portraiture of a woman’s fortitude and pluck in the male-dominant Kung Fu métier.
   
   The dazzling action sequences are scattered wantonly among Wong’s slow-paced, micro-distant frames zero in his players’ amber countenances, the opening fight manages to achieve an ultra clarity of splashing raindrops in the Stygian night, and the subsequent ones are all meticulously shot with slow-motion interactions and two thumbs up for all the actors, name-checking Tong Leung, Ziyi Zhang, Max Zhang and Chen Chang for their strenuous endeavor in their martial arts training.
   
   While Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi continues his collaboration with Wong,
   Stefano Lentini’s adaption of soprano piece “Stabat Mater” imprints on one’s mind profoundly in this otherwise over-scored Kung Fu spectacle. My first viewing may fall short below my much-hyped anticipation, the disjointed narrative (most obtrusively is the largely-subtracted subplot of Chen Chang’s Yi Xian Tian) and underdevelopment of Ip Man’s own storyline cast a shadow in Wong’s latest offering, one might compulsively wonder who is the real grandmaster here, the taciturnly suave Ip Man or the intrepidly determined Gong Er?… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
5. netflic

   Sep 17, 2013

   5

   It is a movie about Yip Man, Chineese martial arts master who trained Bruce Lee.
   
   If I had to characterize the movie in one word, I would pick "eclectic".
   
   It is a movie about a real person but not docu-drama.
   It is an action movie but quite slow most of time.
   It is very artsy but not consistently and sometimes lacking taste.
   
   Some episodes are just weird.
   
   Overall, it did not appeal to me.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
6. JoshEyre

   Sep 3, 2013

   4

   I was expecting a lot more with, both, the critic and user reviews, but people are obviously still drawing some smokey parallels between the artistry, of both film and story, of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to "movies" like "The Grandmaster". Let's just say that "The Grandmaster" is stuffed full of slow motion kung fu choreography and long glances between Ip Man and Lady Gong, but it's less of a film than empty kung fu porn interspersed with a vignette of family revenge. Ip Man isn't really a character in this movie, but an avatar to join the kung fu porn from scene to scene. Then he disappears for nearly half of the movie so Lady Gong can do her thing. So, calling this movie "The Grandmaster" is problematic, because the only coherent story in this film isn't really about Ip Man, or even the Old Grand Master, but his daughter rescuing the honor of her family from the punk who her father, the old Grand Master, gave his fighting legacy to. Ip Man's story in the movie is so lightweight, that it feels secondary, if even a story at all. In the end, you leave wondering what the point of the movie was at all. Now, movies don't always have to have some super precise and epic story, but we are supposed to care about the path that Ip Man took to Grandmaster, at least that's what I thought was the point, and the writers spent barely any part of the movie telling that story in anywhere near an effective manner. Ip Man was underdeveloped. The love story was underdeveloped. The history was not woven into the story effectively. I love artistically executed films, but Wong Kar Wai has become a master of style over substance. This movie tries to do 2 things that could have their own story, one of Ip Man's path to Hong Kong, and the other of Lady Gong's quest to recover her father's legacy. It only tells one of these stories decently (Gong's) and the other it completely fails. So, we basically have a 2 hour movie with about 30 minutes that really grabs you. This is not a good movie. Don't let the decent score fool you. Everyone who I went to see the movie with agreed... If you want to see a movie about Ip Man, see "Ip Man". If you want to see a beautiful kung fu movie, see "Crouching Tiger". "The Grandmaster" is chaff.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
7. raporgi

   Aug 31, 2013

   1

   stupid ass movie that doesnt really deliver any story. if you took out the long glazing film school shots and just watched the boring fight scenes you' d probably be done in 30 min. who the is "the razor". this guy gets some screen that time doesnt mesh into the main story. GOng er doesnt even get a rematch with IP man who's got to be most boring protagonist I've ever watched. There's a reason Bruce Lee made the kinds of films that he did, this romanticized crap is something he was against.… Expand

   • 0 of 4 users found this helpful

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