The Grandmaster

When Wong Kar Wai announced he will start to make a movie about Ip Man, a few followed, all made and shown with success before Wong complete his. Knowing that a WKW movie is never straightforward story-telling, I know his will be different from all others but wonder how different will it be compared to his "Ashes of Time". I will not write anything about the story or the script as I believe it will take some joy away from anyone who is going to watch it. I watched the original first released version. I am dumbfounded, especially with Zhang Ziyi(Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of a Geisha, 2046)and Tony Leung's action. They are not Jet Li or Michelle Yeoh but in this movie, they fought so convincingly well that you will think they really know Wing Chun(a type of Chinese Kung-fu). For those who find Wong Kar Wai's past movies too stylish, artistic or difficult to understand, this one is different and most suitable for the general audience but without lacking in style or arts. If there is any complaint, it will be from fans of Tony Leung who may feel that he is overshadowed by Zhang, especially in the action scenes. Just like her Crouching Tiger movie, I believe she acted so well, so much so that the director kept more of her scenes for the final movie.(She is nominated for best actress in the coming China-equivalent of the Oscar). Never have I seen any movie in the past where an actress did so well in both action and drama scenes in the same film. Another actor deserved a mention is Taiwanese Zhang Chen; he is equally as compelling as Zhang in both action and drama here although his screen time is short. Tony Leung did not give me any surprise aside from the action scenes. As for the cinematography, editing and the rest, I think others have already raved enough. Go watch it before reading too much. This is what I call a real movie. It's meant to be seen, not read.