The storied, mythic and constantly fictionalized life of the martial artist who taught Bruce Lee his moves earns perhaps his dullest film outing in “Ip Man: Kung Fu Legend.”

It’s not really the fault of star Yu-Hang (Dennis) To, who has appeared in Ip Man (Yip Man) adventures for nearly 20 years and has played Ip Kai-man off and on since 2010. His wirework-assisted, manic-edited fights serve up nothing new. But he’s got a serene, focused presence reminiscent of Donnie Yen, without Yen’s wit or charisma.

The thing that makes this “Ip Man” outing so laborious is the script, a weary collection of tropes, cliches, “foreign devil” villains and production values that set this in a politically murky netherworld — the Hong Kong of the early ’20s, ’30s, late ’40s? — designed to not offend Chinese authorities.

Our hero has moved to Hong Kong from Foshan with his wife (Zhou Xiaofei) and little boy with the hope of setting up a martial arts school. The local guild insists he fight three duels in order to win this right, which he achieves in the film’s opening scenes.

But there’s a big new player in British-ruled Hong Kong, and Pike (Steven Dasz) has his eye on real estate that the martial arts association and its friends own. His plans include setting up a boxing gym on some of that property.

Pike has the henchman and the money to turn locals (Zhao Jinshuyu) into “traitors” and the police into accomplices. One intrepid woman in uniform (Tingei Zhang) might stand in his way, if the frame-up Pike puts into motion doesn’t pan out.

Ip Man seeks “justice that the law can’t give.” His comrades know that it’s “better to fight than suffer in cowardice!”

The narrative bogs down in real estate details and the talkative waits between this duel or that prison brawl seem interminable.

Hoary plot devices abound. You can guess the who will be kidnapped pretty much the moment the character is introduced, for instance.

To wears the black fedora, black Changsan and kung-fu-fighting slip-ons with style. But there isn’t much to work with here. The constant talk is tedium itself, and the real estate intrigues feel low stakes, even when murder enters the picture.

And expecting wires, CGI and slo-mo to make the fights pop isn’t going to get it done in a world saturated in martial arts thrillers and Ip Man adventures.

Rating: unrated, violence, some profanity

Cast: Yu-Hang (Dennis) To, Tingei Zhang, Steven Dasz, Zhao Jingshuyu and Zhou Xiaofei

Credits: Scripted and directed by Li Liming. A Well Go USA release.

Running time: 1:34