Master Z: Ip Man Legacy is a 2018 Hong Kong/Chinese martial arts movie directed by Yuen Woo-Ping. It is a Spin-Off of the Ip Man film series, and focuses on Cheung Tin-chi (played by Zhang Jin aka Max Zhang), who first appeared in Ip Man 3. The cast also includes the likes of Michelle Yeoh, Dave Bautista and Tony Jaa.
Cheung Tin-chi is now trying to live a normal life after swearing off Wing Chun following his defeat against Ip Man. Unfortunately, he cannot find peace so easily, and must put his fighting skills back into use after he accidentally saves people from a drug-dealing gang.
The film was followed by a return to the main series with Ip Man 4.
A sequel was confirmed in April 2019, with Max Zhang set to reprise his role.
Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Nana's friend Julia has little problems defending herself against Kit's men.
- Also Kwan, The Don of Chung Lok.
- Action Hero: Cheung, who uses his fists to solve problems.
- The Aggressive Drug Dealer: Kit is a murderous sadist who forces Nana to overdose on drugs, killing her.
- Ambition Is Evil: Very true for Kit, who wants to be the boss of Chung Lok and doesn't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his way.
- An Arm and a Leg: Kit's hand is cut off by his own sister, who has finally had enough of his drug-dealing and other criminality.
- Anachronism Stew: An odd variation. The fictional character Black Bat is clearly meant to be an Expy of Batman who, of course, existed in the 50s. But the appearance for Black Bat's character is based off Batman's design in Batman: The Animated Series, which wouldn't have taken form until the 1990s.
- Anti-Villain: Kwan's only an enemy to Tin-Chi because she's the older sister (and The Don) of the man that's harassing him and his son. She herself is as nice as she's able to be and actually wants to make a change.
- Arrested for Heroism: Tin-chi is arrested for fighting the drug dealer.
- Ascended Extra: Cheung Tin-chi graduated from Final Boss in Ip Man 3 to main character of his own film.
- Anyone Can Die: Surprisingly, many main characters die, such as Nana and Fu.
- Badass Normal: Fu, who can fight, but is beaten to death by Davidson for interfering with his plans.
- Bald of Evil: Davidson, by virtue of being played by Dave Bautista.
- Bar Brawl: After averting this trope most of the film thanks to Fu interrupting any circumstance, the final fight between Davidson and Cheung fittingly takes place in a bar.
- Beneath the Mask: In public, Davidson is a Reasonable Authority Figure who only wants to improve the community. In private, he's a drug kingpin who looks down on the Chinese and kills whoever gets in his way.
- Benevolent Boss: Kwan is a genuinely caring boss who doesn't want her subordinates to get arrested, and even genuinely listens to those who have differing views, though she does not tolerate greed and embezzlement.
- Berserk Button: For Tin-chi it is when his son gets hurt in the process.
- Big Bad: Owen Davidson, who seems like an affable bar owner but is actually a heroin dealer.
- Byronic Hero: Cheung has none of Ip's people skills and acts on impulse when he's mad enough. His prideful nature and Pay Evil unto Evil mentality almost get him into a fight on his very first day of work at the Gold Bar and later endangers his alliance with Kwan after he and Fu invade the Chung Lok headquarters.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Tin-chi hoped to find peace after leaving Wing Chun behind. Destiny decided otherwise.
- Chekhov's Gun: Cheung Fong being a fan of Black Bat and enthusiastically pointing out that Owen is wearing a Black Bat bracelet actually becomes a plot point when Fu is murdered and Tin-Chi finds out who his killer is by finding the bracelet in his hand.
- Coattail-Riding Relative: Kit's Freudian Excuse. He thinks the rest of the gang sees him as this to his sister and wants to strike out on his own.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Subverted. After his defeat Tin-chi learns some humility and learns to use his Wing Chun for good. Though Tin-chi's style is still more attack-based in contrast with Ip Man's defensive techniques.
- Covers Always Lie: The cover for Master Z appears to depict Cheung fighting alongside Kwan and Davidson. Kwan and Cheung try to team up only to end up enemies when the former threatens her brother while Davidson is the film's Big Bad.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Fu is brought before Davidson in handcuffs. While he is killed and whatever blows he landed on the Big Bad seemed to have little effect, Fu at least managed to free his hands to a more frontal position, fight back and gets in several good hits of his own, and had he been uncuffed, he might have done better or possibly escaped. Despite being killed by Davidson, Fu certainly didn't make it easy for him and didn't give him the satisfaction of going quietly into the night.
- Dies Wide Open: Nana after being force-fed drugs by Kit and his thugs.
- Dirty Cop: The British police chief, who agrees to work with Davidson for profit.
- The Don: Kwan, who wants to legitimize her business much to the chagrin of her brother.
- Drugs Are Bad: The main theme, actually, as the whole plot revolves around heroin dealers.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Davidson seems very surprised that Kit would kill his henchman just to get a job working for him.
- Evil Brit: Both Davidson and the police chief are examples, the former being a drug dealer masquerading as a friendly restaurant owner while the latter is a corrupt cop.
- Evil Virtues: Downplayed given Kwan actually wants to reform her gang, though her Virtue is Responsibility. Kwan absolutely dotes on her little brother despite him being an amoral Jerkass who thinks It's All About Me and escalates his feud with Cheung Tin-Chi. She defends Kit from Cheung despite the two of them trying to work together and takes him with her later when she flees the city...though she'd cut his shooting-arm off to humble him beforehand.
- Faux Affably Evil: Owen Davidson is a drug dealer who regards the Chinese people as scum while pretending to be a friendly restaurant owner.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Kwan is the Responsible sister reigning in her Foolish brother Kit's petty tendencies.
- Foreshadowing: Tin-chi warns Fu that flipping around is not a very smart technique during their spar. Sure enough, it's what gets him killed during his fight with Davidson.
- Genre Shift: This is more action-packed than the Ip Man series.
- Gun Nut: Kit takes great pride in his shooting skills. Kwan cuts his arm off as penance for his feud with Cheung.
- Heel–Face Turn: Kwan has been attempting to steer her gang into one for some time, which she makes clear during her scathing speech to the Westerners at the auction.
- Hero Killer: Davidson kills Fu while the latter's hands are tied.
- Hidden Villain: For most of the film, we have no idea that Davidson is behind the drugs that Kit is selling.
- Hypocrite: The westerners at the bar who dismiss and despise Kwan even though they themselves profit from the very same things.
- Interesting Situation Duel: Tin-chi versus five thugs on top of signboards and buildings.
- Ironic Echo: Kit repeats his friend's line about every bullet needing its value before shooting him dead.
- It's All About Me: Kit's so selfish, he's willing to kill a friend to work for Davidson.
- It's Personal: This seems to be the case for Sadi, the killer, whom Tin-chi deals with three times, but they never directly speak to each other so it's downplayed.
- Tin-chi himself regards Kit starting the fire as this and takes revenge by beating up his men. Another to Davidson for killing Fu and beats him for it.
- Karma Houdini: The Professional Killer Sadi never gets a comeuppance of their own. Then again, their target is Davidson, so...
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Davidson tries to flee on foot after the corrupt police chief is arrested. Unknown to him, Sadi awaits him, and kills him with an ice pick to the head.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: If the tide of battle turns against him, Davidson will run to fight another day... not that it does him much good because Sadi is there to make sure he's killed.
- Lady of War: Kwan may be the leader of a gang whose master of the sword knows few equals, but she's also a skilled diplomat who does Calligraphy in her spare time.
- Lightning Bruiser: Cheung Tin-chi is this, making him rather different from Ip Man.
- Master Swordswoman: Kwan tells Cheung that she grew up trained in saber combat. She definitely shows it in their ensuing fight.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Invoked. Cheung and Fu manage to fight their way to Kwan's office, but the former's forced to take cover when Kit starts firing his pistol, taunting Cheung to "block his shots." Kwan loses her patience and ends the fight there.
- Nice Guy: Fu, who is really affable and nice and breaks up fights despite being rather loud.
- No-Sell: Davidson is a massive man whose practically immune to body blows, but he balks when Cheung starts going for his joints.
- The Oner: The camera gives us a good view of what's going on inside Gold Bar.
- One-Man Army: Tin-chi defeats a whole gang single-handedly.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Played for Drama. When Kit burns down Cheung's store (getting his son hurt in the process), the martial artist retaliates hard, causing the two to continuously retaliate against each other. Kwan attempts to broker peace between the two, which would've worked if Kit hadn't killed Nana shortly after, revealing ties to the developing Heroin trade. It takes Kwan cutting her brother's gun arm off to finally get the two to quit feuding.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Wouldn't be an Ip Man movie without one - in this case Davidson.
- Professional Killer: Sadi, played by Tony Jaa, who has been hired to kill Owen Davidson.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Kwan is wise enough not to enter a cycle of revenge and wants to let the fire of the opium den rest. She even gives compensation to Tin-chi. But her brother is a dumbass.
- Davidson seems like one at-first, even hosting Fung's birthday party. Then we find out he's a drug lord...
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Kwan, who's genuinely trying to legitimize her business, chides the westerners for being selfish.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Invoked. Kwan's attempts to legitimize Cheung Lok at the restaurant auction get shot down when the Merchant's Association shames her for her association with organized crime. She calls them out for their hypocrisy before walking off in a huff.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: Cheung may have been humbled by Ip Man, but he's only slightly humbler here than in 3. He's still prone to using his fists instead of his words to solve his problems, which forces him into a fight with Kwan when he and Fu invade the Chung Lok headquarters.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Davidson, once he saw that the commissioner, the only person capable of covering for him is arrested for being involved in his drug business tries to escape and run only that he doesn't get that far as Sadi was waiting for him and kills him.
- Secret Test of Character: Davidson seems to imply this trope is in play after Kit murders his friend to work for him.
- Spoiled Brat: Kit is a cocksure loose cannon who thinks rules shouldn't apply to him and that everyone's keeping him down.
- Spin-Off: The film is a sequel focusing on a character who appeared in Ip Man 3 and it is set after the latter. The film series' main protagonist, Ip Man (Donnie Yen), doesn't appear in it, but is mentioned.
- The Big Guy: Davidson is a burly tank impervious to Fu's flashy acrobatics.
- The Stinger: In a mid-credits scene, Cheung's son, Fung, returns to the same bully that gave him a black eye earlier. The result is a Curb-Stomp Battle that leaves the bully with two black eyes, and Fung with two new friends (Who used to side with the bully) wanting to learn Wing Chun from him.Fung: I told you, my father is a Wing Chun teacher.
- Theme Music Power-Up: When Cheung finally gets the upper hand against Davidson in their last duel, a new rendition of Kenji Kawai's Ip Man theme plays.
- Token Good Teammate: Kwan makes clear her intent to reform Chung Lok, to the disdain of her colleagues.
- Token Evil Teammate: Every member of the Chung Lok meeting council other than Kwan is a greedy Jerkass implicit in shady dealings, yet her little brother Kit is such a murderous backstabbing sleazebag that they come off outright civil in comparison.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Davidson, who deals drugs while pretending to be the owner of a bar.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Kwan chastises Cheung for prematurely retaliating against Kit and his men instead of letting her handle the internals. They come to blows over over it.
