BULLETPROOF MONK (2003)

BULLETPROOF MONK (2003)

Tagline:  A power beyond measure requires a protector without equal.

(Action, Comedy, Fantasy) [PG-13]

Monk, you may be good, but you are not bulletproof.

Directed by Paul Hunter who mostly directs music videos and not movies is behind this movie which is about a Monk with no name (played by Yun-Fat Chow or Chow Yun-Fat who is most famous for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON), who is being chased by crazy Nazi’s who want an ancient scroll they believe he has, which holds endless power. After 60 years of running, he’s getting pretty tired and it’s time for just some random dude to be the new keeper of the scroll. Mostly because Kar,(played by Seann William Scott who I guess is best known for the AMERICAN PIE series) has “potential”, and accidentally saves the Monk with no name from getting captured. Kar is almost instantly attracted to a girl named Jade (played by Jaime King) who is seemingly dating some underground criminal, but finds out there is far more to her than he imagined. They team up with the Monk with no name to guard the scroll which is now being sought by ….yep… it’s still the damn Nazis. 

First, off let me say, this movie taken too seriously will probably be too physics-defying and break your mind like a rented hedge trimmer. I mean we have dudes flying around doing fifty spins in a single jump, walking on the air, throwing other dudes through walls, and those dudes get up and act like nothing is broken and all kinds of stuff. It’s meant to be a fun tribute to a time when America was getting fascinated with martial arts with nonsense and a side of dangle-itis. 

Seann William Scott is actually fantastic in this role and I like the edgy with a heart personality they gave him. He has fine-tuned his action skills enough to still be doing physically demanding roles and is a pretty versatile actor. The chemistry between him and Chow Yun-Fat on screen is pretty great. I also thought Jaime King crushed this role and played well off both Yun-Fat and William Scott. If you don’t know who Jaime King is, she was in both SIN CITY and MY BLOODY VALENTINE (2009). She does a ton of voice work now. The villains in this are pretty stock, but the performances work in this film. The main female villain in the film is played by Victoria Smurfit who was Cruella De Vil in the TV series ONCE UPON A TIME. 

The pace in this movie is pretty great. I am not going to say the effects blew me away, you can tell this was done on a budget, but Paul Hunter does a pretty decent job with what he had and this movie ends up being pretty freakin fun. I hadn’t watched it all the way through until recently when I got it on DVD. If you are in for just a fun 104 minutes, this is a pretty solid bet. As mentioned earlier try and keep it in mind this is just a movie and not everything the Monk with no name says has to make perfect sense or provide some profound moment in your life. I mean, it might sound like it should, but no.

Overall this is a 4 out of 7 for me and I am glad I bought it.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM)AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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