Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: 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. Read more
Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Soap opera, set-bound and unexceptionally written and directed. Read more
Maggie Lee, Variety: What the pic lacks in stylistic sparks compared with other renditions by Wong Kar Wai and Wilson Yip, it makes up for in sinewy action and traditional values. Read more
Nick Schager, AV Club: The Final Fight plays out like a collection of greatest-hits vignettes barely connected to one another. Read more
Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: Enjoyable enough, this colorfully local, nostalgia-tinged tale focuses on the Hong Kong years of an older, gentlemanly kung fu master. Read more
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: The overall sense is of a rushed, simplistic installment in a well-worn biography franchise. Read more
Rob Staeger, Village Voice: A film that's less a kung-fu movie and more a meditation on kung fu's limitations. Read more
Mark Jenkins, Washington Post: The naturalism of Wong's performance is undercut ... by Yau's use of phony-looking sets, sterile CGI and flashy aerial shots. Read more