Seriously, if not always elegantly, the film portrays the great Ip Man as someone trying to survive, which is to say just as often a victim as a victor.
– Nicolas Rapold,
New York Times,
19 Sep 2013
rotten:
Soap opera, set-bound and unexceptionally written and directed.
– Soren Anderson,
Seattle Times,
19 Sep 2013
rotten:
The naturalism of Wong's performance is undercut ... by Yau's use of phony-looking sets, sterile CGI and flashy aerial shots.
– Mark Jenkins,
Washington Post,
19 Sep 2013
rotten:
The overall sense is of a rushed, simplistic installment in a well-worn biography franchise.
– Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Sep 2013
rotten:
The Final Fight plays out like a collection of greatest-hits vignettes barely connected to one another.