Synopsis:
In 1930s China, unrest rules the nation. Chen, the last Wing Chun master, arrives in Tianjin to expand his kung fu – but his ambition gets him entangled in a power struggle between Tianjin’s martial arts Grandmaster, a dominant underworld Madam, and the town’s military leaders. Can he protect his family from the dangers of the martial arts world, or will it consume everything he loves?
What We Thought:
The Final Master was a little disappointing. It is written and directed by Haofeng Xu, the screenwriter of The Grandmaster which was a great flick.
My biggest issue is that I wasn’t really sure what was going on. I understand that Chen moved to Tianjin to open a Wing Chun academy and that a number of masters had to be beaten to open the academy, but I had a hard time following along to the different characters and different overlapping storylines.
There are a lot of double crosses and characters doing things for themselves and I guess I got lost a little following along. It’s been a while since I couldn’t follow a film like this.
The action sequences are pretty cool. They are nowhere near as good as The Grandmaster or films like Ip Man, but still pretty good. The final fight is great though. Once Chen gets to use his knives and take on everybody it gets pretty crazy and a lot of fun.
The set design and costuming are fantastic though. The coloring and production are very high quality and look fantastic in HD. The Blu-ray looks great and has top-notch audio. Bonus features include 2 featurettes.
The Final Master is a bit disappointing, but still worth watching if you like Asian martial arts films. The action, especially the end, is really good. I just wish I understood the story and characters better.
Bonus Content Includes:
- “The Weapons” Featurette
- Director Featurette
Recommended If You Like:
- The Grandmaster
- Asian Martial Arts Films
The Nerds Templar 