InformationRap
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Derrick Gibbons
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Raymond Sierra
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
bowmanblue
There's absolutely nothing special about the (not so subtly-titled) 'Bulletproof Monk.' In fact, the title should tell you everything you need to know about the film. However, just because it's nothing out of the ordinary, doesn't make it a bad film. In fact... it's rather good fun (if you're not expecting too much).Sean William Scott - better known as 'Who?' unless you're watching an 'American Pie' movie, where he is - of course - 'Stiffler.' He is playing, er, 'Stiffler' basically, only he's really good at martial arts and pickpocketing people. He ends up getting caught up in a plot by Nazis seeking immortality and has to help the titular 'Bulletproof Monk' (Chow Yun Fat) save the world from these out of time creeps.This film was made back in 2003 and I'd love to say that, because of the time it was made, there was less CGI and more 'practical' effects. Yes, there are some practical effects (or should I say well-choreographed fight scenes), however a lot of the more 'fantastical' martial arts moves are all - very blatantly - filmed up against a blue screen. You may just have to forgive them for that.So, you have plucky, wise-cracking hero, wise mentor, evil baddies and obligatory love interest (Jamie King). So, like I say, nothing you haven't seen a hundred times before. It's so run-of-the-mill that there's not an awful lot else I can say about it. However, just because it doesn't set the film-world alight in terms of originality, doesn't mean that it isn't enormous fun. But, if you like your modern martial arts films, or just need a relaxing little action flick to rest your brain to after a hard day's work, then this should fit the bill.
Leofwine_draca
For a clichéd piece of fluff, because that's clearly what BULLETPROOF MONK is, it's a far better film than you might imagine. Much of that likability rests on whether you like or loathe Seann William Scott, the actor best known for his goofy roles like Stifler in the American PIE films. I have to say, I love his acting and I find him a very funny person, probably the only person in Hollywood today who can bring a smile to my face. So much of my entertainment in this film came from his appearance, playing a thief turned hero.Elsewhere, this is the kind of bogus mystical flick that gets churned out regularly by studios. It's very similar to THE MEDALLION, with Jackie Chan, which came out in the same year, and I enjoyed it equally as much as that movie. One thing you have to remember is that these are lightly plotted bits of nonsense, heavily clichéd throughout and displaying the kind of wirework I usually loathe. BULLETPROOF MONK is a silly film, sometimes completely stupid – like the villain's lair, for instance – but it's hard to dislike as a buddy-buddy type comedy.Chow Yun-Fat is the straight man, used to doing this kind of noble hero stuff in his sleep, and the film just kind of takes place around him. Scott supplies the comedy, I'm not sure what Jaime King is around for other than to look very pretty, and Karel Roden is a Nazi villain who seems to have come straight out of HELLBOY. There are some other amusing bit parts, like the appearance of Mako in one of his last roles, plus British television actress Victoria Smurfit playing another villain with a stiff-upper-lip accent.The action isn't great, but it has a nicely violent edge for what is essentially a kid's film. I didn't care for the wirework, but the straightforward fighting scenes are good. They rip off Jackie Chan films pretty heavily for the style, choreography and reliance on props, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Special effects are decent and the film has a good pace. While the dialogue isn't entirely credible and some of the minor characters/situations completely laughable, and not in a good way, for the most part BULLETPROOF MONK is amiable tosh and a film I got a lot of enjoyment from.
BA_Harrison
Poor old Chow Yun Fat—lured to the U.S. with the promise of an international career and big pay checks only to wind up playing second fiddle to Stifler in a trite adventure dependent on sub-par CGI and lousy wire-work. No wonder that, with the exception of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, he has worked exclusively in his homeland ever since. Hollywood really sucks sometimes!Yun-Fat plays a Tibetan monk who, during WWII, is tasked with looking after an ancient scroll able to endow the person who reads it with the power to rule the world. Because the screenwriters haven't got a single original bone in their bodies, this ancient artifact is sought after by the Nazis; sixty years later but not a day older, Yun Fat is still protecting the scroll from now aged Nazi Strucker (Karel Roden). Seann William Scott plays Kar, a pickpocket who unwittingly fulfils three ancient prophecies that mark him as the next protector of the scroll...Predictable, unimaginative nonsense from start to finish, with decidedly mediocre action scenes, Bulletproof Monk will annoy the hell out of anyone with a half decent knowledge of martial arts/Asian action cinema; Kar learning his martial arts skills by watching old kung fu movies is hard enough to accept, but I simply will not forgive director Paul Hunter for completely wasting the talents of the legendary Yun Fat.
Neil Welch
There is a market for escapist nonsense, and this movie fits right into it. The story doesn't really matter, other than to note that it serves as a satisfactory vehicle around which to drape a series of fantasy based action sequences.More importantly this is a "buddy" movie where Chow Yun Fat's venerable monk mentors the rough-edged Seann William Scott.Chow is a class actor - one of those reliable performers who always brings an element of dignity to roles which don't always deserve it. Scott, on the other hand, seems to have only ever played one character and, yes, it's Stifler again, only with the obnoxiousness and crudeness dialled right down.But there is good chemistry between the two of them, and the development of the relationship between them is a happy thing to watch.And that's it, really. A martial arts buddy movie, laced with humour and, as such, a couple of hours of undemanding fun.
