Bulletproof Monk (2003)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It is pretty hard to take a film seriously when it starts with two monks sparing on a bridge and flying around. That whole karate/flying/Chinese wire trick...really...why? But "Bulletproof monk" pulls it off well. For starters, it is the first movie with an explanation of how to walk on air. But mainly the two lead roles are likable and drive the story forward all the time.The old guy from Tibet is neither Jackie Chan, nor some martial arts guru. More like a regular guy you might want as a neighbour. The young guy is a New York pick pocket, smart kid but not falling into any easy pidgeon holes either. None of those overdone slow motion stylistic shows action movies on a budget often fall for. If our hero needs to take out ten bad guys, OK, he does some fancy stuff, but he gets on with it.Plot is the normal thing. We all have to protect some ancient scroll with the secret to ultimate power. Twist is that some Nazi has been chasing it since the second World War. Yeah, we have heard that before too. But it really doesn't matter, the take is fresh. My kids watched it straight after the Spiderwick Chronicles, same story, protecting a book from evil, but they didn't mind at all.The girl in the film is interesting too. While Star Wars fans pine and groan about Rey not getting her own doll, the female lead in this film is cool, sexy, sweet, tough, able and with a nice twist at the end does real equality sort of stuff. In all, a great cast guided by an obviously good team, makes a great job of a mediocre idea.

A monk at a Tibetan monastery has been protecting a mythical scroll for the last sixty years and now, in 1943, it is time for him to hand over the task to the one who has fulfilled the three prophecies. No sooner has he done this than Nazis attack and kill the old monk. His successor gets away and we next see him sixty years later as he prepares to find his successor. He bumps into a pickpocket named Kar, who takes the scroll from his bag; he sees something in the young crook though and wonders if this unlikely character will be the next guardian of the scroll. The monk has other problems too; the Nazi, now an old man, is still after the scroll which has the power to change the world into a paradise or a hell depending on the person who reads it. As the film progresses Kar shows more signs that he may be 'the one' and they have more run-ins with the Nazi and his henchmen before the inevitable final confrontation.This is definitely not a film to be taken seriously; it has plenty of flaws but is still kind of fun. There is plenty of action but much of it looks rather fake; and not in the beautifully choreographed way of films like 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon'. Nazis have been a popular choice for villains ever since the war but they have been a cliché for much of that time and here it feels as though somebody watched 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and decided they wanted those villains! Chow Yun Fat does a good job as the monk; he is genuinely funny and is great in the action sequences. Seann William Scott is okay as Kar but doesn't really have the presence for the role. Jaime King, who plays Kar's love interest Jade, had more of a presence and I'd have preferred it if her character had a greater role rather than Kar. Overall this is okay if you want some mild action and don't mind all the clichés; not necessarily a film to seek out but it passes the time well enough.

This was coming off streaming in a couple of days and some of the reviews intrigued me, so I decided to give it a try. A short and sweet review would be that this is basically very well- done good-natured dumb fun. At this point the whole "chosen one" thing has been done to death by it seems every major religion and countless works of fiction--it seems to appeal to some sort simplistic desire deeply embedded in the minds of a great number of people, so it just keeps on rolling along.This one at least does the bit with an optimistic spirit and a little twist at the end. Still, enough is enough. While this particular plot device often produces a warm emotional feeling (as it does here), it's pretty immature and drains complexity and subtlety out of stories. Also, on an unrelated tack, why are the Nazis always the bad guys?

Chow Yun-Fat and Sean William Scott buddy up to retrieve an ancient scroll from baddies, chop sockery does follow.That's pretty much it really, the two characters obviously poles apart, but coming together as one in a series of action scenes that are both laughable and enjoyable because of the former. The script is poor, with much of the dialogue of the tripe delivery kind, and in truth Yun-Fat is wasted in a thankless role. Story throws in a Nazi baddie, a girl on girl scrap and Sean William Scott casting off his petty crime ways to become the way of the samurai – or something like that.Brainless but fun, but also instantly forgettable into the bargain. 5/10