Beyond the charisma of Keanu Reeves as its lead, much of why the “John Wick” franchise is such a thrill to watch is because of all the highly skilled martial arts performers that fill the casts of each film. By “John Wick: Chapter 4,” the franchise had the clout to bring in some major figures in that regard — including icon Donnie Yen. In an exclusive interview with Looper, Yen gushed about making the film, telling us, “This so far has been the best experience in the very few American movies I have ever been [in].”
Though he’s a full-fledged martial arts movie legend and has led many classics of the genre, any list of the best Donnie Yen movies sees his “Ip Man” films looming large. Yen plays Ip Man, a real-life martial artist who trained many future masters — including Bruce Lee. The “Ip Man” movies follow a fictionalized version of his life, from his early struggles with poverty during the Second Sino-Japanese War to eventually becoming a famous martial artist and training Lee and others. On October 5th, Yen’s first four “Ip Man” movies were added to Netflix, which fans of the genre should marathon as soon as possible.
Ip Man has become Donnie Yen’s signature franchise
These days, particularly in terms of a global audience, Donnie Yen is most closely associated with the “Ip Man” series. All four of his “Ip Man” films — “Ip Man” (2008), “Ip Man 2” (2010), “Ip Man 3” (2015), and “Ip Man 4: The Finale” (2019) — have been met with both critical acclaim as well as love from fans of the genre. A 2018 spin-off, “Master Z: Ip Man Legacy,” doesn’t star Yen but was produced by him. That one isn’t currently on Netflix, however.
The real Ip Man being such a huge figure also means that other films have been based on him and his life that aren’t directly connected to Yen’s “Ip Man” franchise. Some of them are decent enough, but when ranking all of the Ip Man movies, Yen’s four entries — plus the spin-off he produced — dominate the pack. And now that his four starring entries are all on Netflix, subscribers can partake in some of the best martial arts films of the last decade, Ip Man related or otherwise.