Many actors from the Ip Man sequels starring Donnie Yen are cast in this Yip Man film. That is everything they have in common. Acting : the main actor is no Donnie Yen. His fighting was OK, but he was inexpressive. His face and body language were that of an inexperienced actor. The other actors did a better job and were more believable.Storyline : two useless love stories are included, but they bring nothing to the table. They don't help build up Yip Man's character at all. The child actors were probably the worst I've seen. Literally reciting line after line. Action scenes : the fighting was very unequal. Some scenes packed a punch, while others felt very unreal. For a movie on Yip Man's Wing Chun, seeing roundhouse kicks and acrobatics was very out of place. Even on the characters voiced his concerns about high kicks not being appropriate!3/10, Donnie Yen's movies were MUCH better

The Legend is Born: Ip Man is a lame, uninspired, cheap knockoff of the Wilson Yip Ip Man movies. It has absolutely no heart, soul, or emotion whatsoever. Why is it so bad? Let's take a look and rip it apart!Firstly, let's take a look at our protagonist, Ip Man played by Dennis To. In the first two films, Donnie Yen played Ip Man with a charm and sincerity with him that makes us like him and root for him throughout the film. In contrast, Dennis To's Ip Man is awkward, stiff, and stoic throughout. He lacks charisma and only seems to have one expression on his face the entire time. It's obvious they only picked him just because he resembled Donnie Yen a lot. He's pretty much the Brandon Routh of Ip Man. I'll give him credit for doing some decent kung-fu here but throughout the film, I just wanted Donnie Yen back.Secondly, the story is GOD-AWFUL in this film. The first half of this film is pretty much just a summary of Ip Man's early life where he learns Wing Chun, meets Leung Bik, falls in love etc. The second half has a lame evil Japanese plot again. The first half features WAY too many unnecessary fight scenes. Every character Ip Man meets, is a violent douchebag who wants to fight him for no good reason! The second half is just racist and boring! I'm honestly quite sick of this " evil Japanese " trope in kung-fu movies. It comes off a lot of the times as overly patriotic and racist. All in all, the story of this movie was terrible and it's obvious the writers did not give a sh!t while writing this film.Are there any good things about this movie? Sure. The fight choreography is a refreshing change of pace from the Wilson Yip films. In those movies, Ip Man is nearly superhuman in his speed and reflexes but here, the fights are a little more grounded in reality. And Yuen Biao does a good job here. That's it for the positive, I think.Overall, The Legend is Born: Ip Man is just a product meant to make a sh!t ton of money and nothing more. I'm gonna give it a 3/10.

Like some critics are saying I have to agree this isn't as entertaining as the previous Ip Man movies that feature Donnie Yen so far. But this isn't a bad movie, in fact it turned out to be much better than I expected. Maybe it's because I had such low expectations after finding out the person that will be playing Ip Man won't be Donnie Yen. This movie isn't really a prequel to the previous Ip Man movie although it shows the beginning of Ip Man's legend. But a alternative telling of the Ip Man story or a origin story. What I also found funny is how some of the cast from the previous Ip Man movies is in this but are entirely different characters. The plot isn't entirely believable but the fight sequences are at least compared to the previous two Ip Man movies. The story for a origin movie isn't all that interesting and not that entertaining and a bit slow paced for this style and type of movie. But the twist near the end makes it slightly bit better than it would have been. Not that the twist is all that great but it's still not that predictable and makes sense although a bit far-fetched. It's a worthy installment in the Ip Man franchise but it's not better than the previous two that has Donnie Yen. Although Dennis To does a great job playing Ip Man as Donnie Yen, in fact I find them both to be almost equals.6.1

With the huge successes of "Ip Man" and the latest sequel, it's no surprise that the producers are cashing-in on their success, and therefore making a prequel. However, despite some solid moments, the film never really comes together, save for the action.Now Dennis To is no Donnie Yen. He can fight, but that's about it. Yen can fight AND act with ease, while To, playing the lead instead of minor roles in the previous two, is as bland as a doorknob. One can never feel that he is in danger, or feel with his character as he delivers a boring and uninspired performance as pre-Grandmaster Ip Man. I wish I can't say the same for the other new actors, but....man, they really screwed up with the young cast. Many actors from the previous two movies return, including Sammo Hung and Louis Fan - but they both play different characters. Yuen Biao is a new addition to the franchise, but what stands out is a very nice special appearance by Ip Chun, the eldest son of the real Ip Man. Together these supporting actors make the best of what they are given.But where they mostly fail with the actors, they make up for it in the fight sequences. The fights are fast-paced and well-choreographed, but they seem to make up the bulk of the movie; in fact this movie is basically all fight, little substance. Granted, they are well handled but basically you've seen it all before and the sequences look quite bland until the final act where it really heats up. But story wise, it's basically nothing, it serves as an excuse to see more fights and I think has practically nothing to do with the real Ip Man's history. And the music score is bland and uninspired as well - the songs on the other hand is atrociously arranged. Production design and cinematography however are great.In short, it's an-OK time waster, it's not bad to kill an hour and a half, but it's something one wouldn't want to see again. See this as a temporary action/Wing Chin rush.Entertainment value: 7/10Overall: 5.5/10