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Bulletproof Monk

AKA: Bullet-Proof Monk

Year of release: 2003

Genre: action/comedy

Director: Paul Hunter

Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, Jamie King, Karel Roden, Victoria Smurfit, Marcus J. Pirae, Mako, Roger Yuan

Rated PG-13 for violence and language

Version reviewed: US theatrical release


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From the trailers for this movie, I thought it was going to be stupid. Not Kangaroo Jack level stupid, but Chow Yun-Fat and Stifler? I certainly had my doubts, but Bulletproof Monk is actually a pretty entertaining picture -- it's better than the much-ballyhooed Rush Hour movies, at least.

The film has Chow as a Tibetan monk who is in charge of protecting a mystical scroll that contains the secret to eternal life. Each monk who keeps the scroll must hold on to it for sixty years, but in return they do not age and are nearly invincible. The movie kicks off in the late 1930's, when a group of Nazis led by Karel Roden come to Chow's temple looking for the scroll. Chow gets away, and then we fast-forward to modern-day New York (once again, it's actually Toronto) where a decrepid Roden is still after the scroll and it's time for Chow to hand it to the next protector, who turns out to be a pickpocket played by Seann William Scott.

Okay, I'm sure that Bulletproof Monk still sounds stupid -- Chow Yun-Fat versus Nazis while he's training Stifler doesn't exactly sound like Casablanca. But for some reason it works. I guess it boils down to the work put in by the two leads. Unlike some recent buddy movies with martial artists (or just Asians, because, as we all know, every Asian guy knows kung fu) paired with comedians or rappers, the performances don't seem forced. It looks like Scott and Chow had a good time working together, and that feeling transfers on to the viewer. The comedy here is nothing side-splitting, but it's not anything that will be making you grab for the Excedrin either.

I do have a few complaints, though. As is the case with too many other so-called "action" films nowadays, the script tries too hard and ends up clogging the proceedings in the process. In particular, Jamie King's character seems superflous. Even when a backstory is given for her character, it's so unbelievable that it doesn't even matter. The action is pretty good for the most part, but it's not really all that original (the final fight is very "inspired" by the one from China Strike Force) and some of the computer effects look too obvious.

I also have a couple of other quibbles. There are a few things in here that so many action movies are doing nowadays, and I'm just tired of them. The first is the "flip off the wall" move. It looked cool in The Matrix, now let's move on already. And why does EVERYONE in these movies have to know kung fu? Even some of the Nazis here use it. It's damn ridiculous.

At any rate, despite its flaws, Bulletproof Monk is a surprisingly fast and funny movie that might slip under a lot of people's radars, but is worth a viewing for the action junkies out there.

RATING: 7


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