Ip Man 4: The Finale

The final chapter

Ip Man 4: The Finale closed the series in 2019, again with Wilson Yip directing and Donnie Yen in the title role. The wing chun master travels to the United States, where his former student Bruce Lee teaches kung fu to non-Chinese students, much to the anger of San Francisco's Chinese community. Like the earlier films, it takes wide liberties with the real master's life.

Tai chi, karate and wing chun

The fights are by Yuen Woo-ping, who won the 2020 Hong Kong Film Award for best action choreography for this film. Wu Yue plays Wan Zonghua, president of the Chinese association and a tai chi master; tai chi players will recognise the pushing and rooting in their duel, set against wing chun's short strikes. Vanness Wu plays a Marine sergeant and student of Bruce Lee who wants kung fu added to military training.

Scott Adkins as the villain

The villain is Barton Geddes, a racist gunnery sergeant and karate expert, played by British actor Scott Adkins, known for the Undisputed sequels and trained in taekwondo and kickboxing. His final fight with Yen is the longest in the film. Danny Chan Kwok-kwan returns as Bruce Lee and gets a fight of his own.

Reception

Shot from April to July 2018 in China and in the UK, where streets in Preston stand in for San Francisco, it cost about $52 million and grossed more than $190 million, almost all in mainland China. It holds 85% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and also won editing and sound awards at the 2020 Hong Kong Film Awards. It opened in limited release in the US on 25 December 2019.