Ip Man 2 (2010)

Ip Man 2 starts off with a quick recap of the first film’s climax before dropping you right into the story. It begins shortly after the first film left off; Ip Man has recovered from his injuries and relocated to British controlled Hong Kong with his family. The transition proves to be difficult however, as Hong Kong is suffering economically and starting a new Wing Chun martial arts school turns out not to be as commercially viable as he originally thought. After some time passes, his school does manage to take on some new students, starting with the brash young Wong Leung (Huang Xiaoming). Just as things seem to be getting better for him and his family, he discovers that all martial arts dojos in Hong Kong need to pay tribute to Master Hung (played by Sammo Hung), who is in turn forced to work for his corrupt British superiors. 

As with the previous film, Ip Man 2 is all about the theme of nationalism and pride in Chinese martial arts. The secondary goal would be to further emphasize Ip Man the person as an important figure to both Chinese and martial arts history. There’s even a line of dialogue ranking his name alongside another legendary martial arts icon, Wong Fei-hung. The heavy-handed nationalism also makes for some serious melodrama. By the end, when everything (ranging from the pride of the nation to a traumatized man’s memories) hinges on the outcome of a duel, it tends to get pretty cheesy. 

Speaking of which, I need to talk about the villains in this movie. First, we get Master Hung. He’s sort of the local collector for the British, though he’s by no means a sinister character. In fact, he turns out to be complex and developed. For years he’s been forced to swallow his pride and serve the invaders out of necessity. His school has too many members and he sees his position as a sacrifice necessary in order to preserve his, and the other masters’, way of life. His true honor is revealed when the vicious British boxing champ “Twister” (aptly named after a terrible movie) insults Chinese martial arts in general. It’s a serious mistake to insult martial arts in a martial arts film, and here it’s tantamount to burning the flag and defecating on the ashes. The British characters are the true villains of the movie and man are they evil. I’ve always found the acting and delivery from non Chinese speaking actors in martial arts films to be stilted and awkward, but never before have I seen it so over-the-top. Everything they say and do is done with such dramatically sinister undertones; they might as well be smoking cigars and twirling their mustaches. Twister (Darren Shahlavi) and his sadistic boss Wallace (Charles Mayer) scream and taunt all their lines as if they’re trying to act over the subtitles. It’s both baffling and hilarious to watch and I can’t decide if it’s the worst acting I’ve ever seen in a martial arts film or the best. Either way it certainly gets your attention. 

Ip Man vs. Twister

Of course the action scenes deserve some serious praise as they showcase the limitless physical talents of Donnie Yen. It’s mostly because of his human portrayal of Ip Man that the character has gained such recognition in Hong Kong. He plays him so naturally and it contrasts greatly with the almost inhuman speed and efficiency of his combat skills. Every fight is meticulously choreographed and edited display each attack and utilize every aspect of the environment. If you examine the impressive sets closely before a fight breaks out, you can almost imagine every piece being used in some form during the action (and it will be). One of the most elaborate fight sequences comes with Ip Man and Master Hung fighting on an unstable wooden table, surrounded by a series of overturned stools. They both strike out at each other while trying to maintain their balance on the contantly shifting table. While that’s the most elaborate, one of the more technically interesting duels is actually the final bout between Ip Man and Twister. It’s carefully choreographed so that a brutal western boxer could trades blows evenly against a martial arts style. It hardly seems fair when Ip Man can kick and grab his opponent, but Twister is like a brick wall. 

Ip Man 2 is a fantastic sequel and another great introduction to a real life martial artist. It has amazing fight choreography and doesn’t feel like a simple re-hash of the first film. With Donnie Yen’s depiction, I think it’s safe to include Ip Man among the greatest of historical martial arts characters.

Iron Man: Extremis - Part 1 (2010)

Around 2008, there was an minor outburst of comics being converted into a type of animation known as “Motion Comics”. One of the earlier and more commercialized of these was the 12 episode adaptation of Watchmen, which was soon followed by other DC and several Marvel Comics properties being transitioned into this particular style of animation. Essentially how it works is that the comic panels are voice acted and animated in a way that they flow from panel to panel. This is usually done through slight animations or manipulating the mouths for the characters to speak. It’s not unlike the style of animation used for the Marvel cartoons of the 1960s, which were so cheaply made they were produced from the actual comic art using xerography.

One of the Marvel characters to get a story arc adapted into a motion comic was Iron Man. The story arc was Extremis, the six issue story that reintroduced Iron Man in the new millennium. It was written by Warren Ellis and featured art from digital painter Adi Granov, whose realistic designs of the Iron Man armor is one of the key reasons that the live action film was eventually made.  

Part One of the story begins with a man injecting something in his neck which in turn transforms his body from the inside out. While this is happening, we are introduced to Tony Stark. The bulk of the plot in this part of the story is introducing the audience to the character and lightly touching on his history as a superhero, inventor, and businessman. This is cleverly done through the plot point of having Tony being interviewed by a documentary filmmaker à la Michael Moore. Throughout their interview, we get an insight into who Tony Stark is and where he stands in the world around him. Best of all, we get a sense of how he sees himself and what he did for a living, which was design weapons. 

The highlight of this first part is the sharp dialogue and strong voice acting. Warren Ellis keeps Tony Stark reasonably snarky, but with more of a weight on his shoulders. His past is one of violence and destruction, and one of the best questions to arise is what purpose the Iron Man armor has. It’s something that’s the focus of the story and allows for a great introduction to the complexity of the character; how he justifies his creations and purpose to himself and the world. I’m speaking specifically about the story here, and that’s the strongest point. The voice acting is good from the main cast, with Jason Griffith as Tony Stark being a particular highlight. Other performances, like Therese Spurrier as Maya Hansen seem a bit stiff at times, though that may be attributed to the often awkward character animations. 

Tony Stark in his interview

Where Part One shows its most obvious problems is almost exclusively to the format of the animation. The “motion comic” style doesn’t do the art much justice. Because of Adi Granov’s style being digital, the movement of the characters and is less choppy than it could be and the Iron Man suit, which is often separately animated, blends in well. The Iron Man armor is clearly animated using CG so that it stands out and moves more convincingly. This should have been done with the rest of the characters as well. In fact, they should have just animated the story. Where the animation is at its weakest is in the movement of the character’s mouths when they speak. They don’t move in a way that exactly matches what the characters are saying. It looks like their default position is being stretched and manipulated when they talk and it’s downright distracting to look at. 

Overall, the first part of Iron Man: Extremis is a mixed bag. The writing and art is still as interesting and impressive as it was in the comic, and the voice acting gives it new life. Despite how much I like this particular story, I’m not sold on the motion comic style of animation. It feels unnecessary and lazy. There are some scenes were it works really well, such as a scene where a scientist writes his surprisingly touching confession in an email, but most of the time the distracting and downright bizarre way that characters move ruins the mood of the scene. It only draws attention to how it was once a static panel in a comic and it doesn’t work well in a cinematic format.