
It’s rare that a sequel surpasses the original, but a recent casting announcement concerning the follow-up to Ip Man (see Reed’s review here) seems to indicate that director Wilson Yip is gearing up to do just that. Legendary action star Sammo Hung has signed on as Donnie Yen’s opponent in the film, playing a macho master of Hung Gar who takes exception to Ip Man’s introduction of Wing Chun to the streets of Hong Kong, a style dismissed as being too feminine. I’m a great admirer of Sammo Hung, having spent the past few months going over some of his early work, so this is quite possibly the best movie news I’ve heard so far this year.