Donnie Yen is, as predicted, having a solid start to 2016. The ‘Crouching Tiger…’ sequel may have got mixed reviews, but ‘Ip Man 3‘ is powering ahead…
Donnie Yen is having a great time at the Chinese box-office. In recent weeks, he’s seen the release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny and now Ip Man 3 has entered the arena.
The Crouching Tiger… sequel has had a distinctly mixed reception. Some of its reviews have applauded the project which co-stars Yen, original star Michelle Yeoh and the likes of Jason Scott Lee, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Chris Pang and Harry Shum Jnr., in a tale that revisits some of the story elements of the Du Lu Wang penned saga. However while performances themselves have been generally applauded, there have been at least an equal amount of coverage saying that while it’s perfectly acceptable as a martial-arts film it has suffered in the shadow of the original’s 2000 release – perhaps not being helped by some overt CGI elements and the choice to shoot in English with wildly varying accents.
While Ip Man 3 might have less of a brand-name within mainstream western cinema, the Ip Man story has been a formidable one within eastern cinema and the martial-arts genre and there’s no denying Yen’s commitment to the role and its appeal. So much so that Ip Man 3 has managed to assail the top-spot in the Chinese box-office, passing the Crouching Tiger… sequel and felling the formidable The Mermaid which has been on top form recently and accumulated $500m. Ip Man 3‘s debut was even higher than expected, reaching a $71.5 million in its three day opening weekend and apparently accounting for over 50 per cent of the entire week’s box-office numbers.
To be fair, there have been some questions about the exact box-office figures that Ip Man 3 has reported – and it’s true that the market has always been known for being able to manipulate statistics and tallies to raise interest and business stocks – however even if the figures turned out to be less, there’s little doubt that the film, which also features heavyweight Mike Tyson, has been very well-reviewed internationally.
You can read our own review of Ip Man 3 here… and our Donnie Yen exclusive interview here…
