The story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.
Flawed but often flooring, The Grandmaster swoons with grace, feeling and elegance. With Leung and Zhang on killer form, Wong has delivered his best film in a decade.
Often poetic, but lacks dramatic punch.
This tough and tender biopic nevertheless makes for an elegant, occasionally exciting tribute to a man and his art-form.
It may not be much more than six of the most imaginatively staged and filmed fight scenes in the cinema, but that’s almost certainly enough to recommend it.
Unfortunately, you’re left wanting more of these successes as the on-the-nose pontification and wuxia cliches pile up, but third-rate Wong is still better than most at the top of their game.
A hard film to love, but one that's easy to be astonished by.
For all its obvious flaws, this is a very special film.
It is all managed very elegantly – but with a fraction of the power in his greatest work.
The spirit of Bruce Lee lives on not in The Grandmaster, but in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films and Gareth Evans’ The Raid movies.
It’s a hit-and-miss affair, often thrilling but equally incoherent, adding to the overall sense that the director hasn’t nailed a singular vision in his sprawling magnum opus.
Wong Kar-Wai interview
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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