Awesome movie but out of all the characters in the film, the one that grasped my tiny little eyes the most was the niqqa square head. He's such a valuable visual addition to the production and I can't wait to see what other non-speaking roles his talented head will takes him to. God Bless square head and God bless China. IpIP

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

There has been a heap of movies about legendary Kung Fu master Ip Man in recent years, and each does portray a slightly different character.

With that said, then this 2010 version portrays the early years of Ip Man. And while being a newcomer to a lead role, then Yu-Huang To did manage to put on a persuasive and good performance of a young Ip Man. And his performance was good in martial arts and acting alike.

The story was good and captivating, and it does offer a good variety of drama, action, intrigue and romance, all mixed together in a manner that worked out quite well.

Being a martial arts movie, then the martial arts is crucial, and it needs to be impressive, well-choreographed and most importantly well-executed. The martial arts in this movie was good and varied; from street fights, playful sparring and deadly brawls. It was well-performed and looked impressive. And the movie was relatively free of 'Wire Fu'. There were some disappointing transitions into 'Wire Fu' though, which was a shame.

"The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" (aka "Yip Man chin chyun") has some good names on the cast list, including Yu-Huang To, Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen, to name but a few. Most impressive, though, is the fact that they got Ip Chun to be in the movie.

If you like Hong Kong martial arts movies, then "The Legend Is Born: Ip Man" is definitely well-worth watching.