6 Fantastic Close-Quarter Fights On Film

4. Ip Man 2 Both IpMan movies toe a thin line between respectable historical drama and zippy wuxia glee. The look and feel of both movies is classical, almost awards-movie-ish. But then Donnie Yen's Ip Man starts feeding enemies his foot and the films take off with that special kind of exhilaration you can only really get from a great martial arts set-piece. The feel is sort of like what would happen if The Departed randomly morphed into Hard Boiled every fifteen minutes and oh my God now that I've said that I demand to see that movie. Nowhere is that balance between realistic and cinematic more evident than in Ip Man 2's show-stopping "audition" scene. Ip Man, the single nicest human being to also be capable of feeding a man their own spine, wants to open a school for his particular strain of kung fu in Hong Kong, but must first prove his worth against the local masters. To do so he must duel any challenger while both men stand on a circular table, with neither man allowed to step off. As he battles his way through three different masters of three different styles, the table teeters, totters, tilts and finally splits with the sheer weight of kung fu excellence. The secret strength of the scene is the way it functions as both a great fight scene and as a necessary moment for both story and character. Not only is Ip Man earning the title of "Master" from his peers, but he's doing so in a manner which allows the audience to directly contrast his style with the oppositions. We see Yen's speed, his grace, the way he never exerts a single unnecessary movement. The scene encompasses narrative, character and action, all on one tiny table top.