There are reasons I decided to do this challenge and it was to see epic films and there was an ultimate goal that I wanted to achieve besides hitting number 366. That goal was to be at this very point where I am reviewing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for today’s film. The film takes place some twenty somewhat odd years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III. The Imperial Empire has taken over the galaxy with Emperor Palpatine firm in control. The Rebel Alliance with their backs against the wall discover that an Imperial pilot has defected from the empire with information on a weapon that the empire is creating from the lead engineer himself in Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen). After learning this herself, Galen’s daughter Jyn (Felicity Jones) will risk it all along with a group of rebels to retrieve the info to help the Rebel Alliance. The film also stars Diego Luna (Milk) as Cassian Andor, Alan Tudyk (Zootopia) as K-2SO, Donnie Yen (IP Man) as Chirrut Îmwe, Wen Jiang (Chinese Zodiac) as Baze Malbus, Ben Mendelsohn (Australia) as Orson Krennic, Forest Whitaker (Arrival) as Saw Gerrera, Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler) as Bodhi Rook, Genevieve O’Reilly (Glitch) as Mon Mothma, James Earl Jones (Star Wars: A New Hope) as Darth Vader, and the film was directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla).
Spoiler Alert: There is going to be some information leaked in this paragraph that could give away some details or all the details in the film. So either proceed with caution or do not read any further, but you were warned. First off, I am going to star this by saying that I really and truly enjoyed the film from beginning to end. I thought it was a great stand alone film that was made to explain some details leading up to episode IV that many of you may have wondered about. Now was it better than Star Wars: A Force Awakens? While it may be a valid question, I find it a little unfair because they are two different films. I loved a lot of the individual performances in this film from people like Donnie Yen who was funny and awesome all at once. Felicity Jones was terrific in the film as Jyn and while Diego Luna may not be Han Solo, he was still very cool as well. This film had Darth Vader and even though his appearance was brief, it gives this an edge over F.A. I have to admit that his entrance was pretty bad ass. This film may have had too many quick hard cuts during a lot of the scenes which would be my only criticism. The story was great and the acting was great and it injected humor right in the perfect spots. The battle scenes were pretty amazing as well and it reminded you why you loved Star Wars. I did think it was very awesome to see the late Peter Cushing in the film once again even though he is not listed because it was a CGI version of him. Wait till you get to the end for the surprise visit that comes then. I think there is very little to criticize about the film, but I’m sure others will find the flaws. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
For this week’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday, I wanted to finish something that i had started some months ago when I began watching a series about the famous Grandmaster Ip Man. Now I present to you what seems like the final film in the Wilson Yip (IP Man) directed series in IP Man 3. The film once again follows IP Man (Donnie Yen) as he is a lot older (because Bruce Lee is now a teenager), but not a lot has changed in Hong Kong since we last seen him. The city is now being run by a notorious boxing gangster named Frank (Mike Tyson) and he is trying to buy up all the schools in Hong Kong to try and close them down, but IP Man will not stand for it. IP Man also has to answer the challenge of a jealous Wing Chun master by the name of Cheung Tin-chi (Max Zhang) while also trying to take care of his sick wife (Lynn Hung). The film also stars Patrick Tam (Port Of Call) as Ma King-Sang, Karena Ng (Magic To Win) as Miss Hong, Kai-Chung Cheung (Keeper Of Darkness) as Chui Lek, Kent Cheng (IP Man 2) as Fatso, Ka-Yan Leung (The Man With The Iron Fists) as Master Tin, and Kwok-Kwan Chan (Kung Fu Hustle) as Bruce Lee. To see the rest of the review, please click 
For this week’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, I wanted to continue with the Ip Man series which follows the teacher of Bruce Lee, Yip Man. This time around in IP Man 2, Ip Man (Donnie Yen) is now in Hong Kong where he hopes to teach more Chinese about the beautiful art of Wing Chun by opening a martial arts school. Unfortunately, IP Man’s wishes are being sabotaged because the rules in Hong Kong are very different and all of the masters including Master Hung (Sammo Hung). Master Ip will have to endure some tough tests which includes gaining Master Hung’s respect. Soon though, the two will have to band together as a brute Brit name Twister (Darren Shahlavi) looks to disrespect the art of Chinese Boxing. The film also stars Xiaoming Huang (American Dreams In China) as Wong Shun-Leung, Lynn Hung (IP Man) as Cheung Wing-Sing, Kent Cheng (Once Upon A Time In China) as Fatso, Yu-Hang To (1911) as Cheng Wai-Kei, Charles Mayer (Ghosts Of Old Shanghai) as Superintendent Wallace, Ka-nin Ngo (Turning Point) as Leung Kan, Siu-Wong Fan (IP Man) as Jin Shan Zhao, Jiang Dai-Yan as a young Bruce Lee, and the film was directed by Wilson Yip (IP Man). If you want to continue reading the rest of the article, please follow this 
For today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, we turn to a true legend of Martial Arts and the Kung Fu community in the film IP Man. IP Man is a semi-biographical look at the life of the man known as Yip Man, a true master of Wing Chun and the legendary teacher of Bruce Lee. In the town of Foshan, China, Martial Arts runs rampant with many schools and masters. There is one master of them all that chooses not to teach his brand of Wing Chun known as IP Man (Donnie Yen). He is modest and knows that he is the best, but he doesn’t flaunt it until things go bad in Foshan. The Japanese have taken over China and have made times desperate for the people of China. To protect a mill of workers and his family, he will finally teach his brand of Wing Chun, but will he battle the Japanese General? The film also stars Simon Yam (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life) as Chow Ching-Chuen, Siu-Wong Fan (Kung Fu Killer) as Jin Shan Zhao, Lynn Hung (IP Man 2) as Cheung Wing-Sing, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (Blues Harp) as Miura, Tenma Shibuya as Colonel Sato, Zhi-Hui Chen (Fearless) as Master Liu, Xing Yu (Kung Fu Hustle) as Master Zealot Lam, and the film was directed by Wilson Yip. To see all of the stats for the film and the rest of the review, please click 
365moviesin365dayschallenge 