Bulletproof Monk

Plot synopsis:
In 1943 Tibet, a Tibetan monk is informed that he has fulfilled the prophecies made of him (fighting for justice while cranes circled overhead, fighting for love under a palace of jade, and rescuing friends he never met with family he never knew he had) which include forgoing his name. He is then entrusted by his master with the protection of a Scroll which contains knowledge by which the reader becomes the most powerful of living things, a protection that will keep him youthful and immunize him to injury until, at the close of 60 years, he must pass the knowledge to an heir. The master, who has formerly been the guardian of this Scroll, is killed by German soldiers shortly after the transfer. His pupil, the now nameless Monk, escapes the Nazis.
Sixty years later, a young pickpocket named Kar robs a police officer. He is arrested, frees himself, and flees reinforcements. Above, the Nameless Monk notices several men attempt to capture him, and he escapes into the subway. He and Kar collide and cause a young girl to fall into the path of an oncoming train. Kar and the Nameless Monk rescue the girl, and the three escape; Kar leaves his bag of stolen goods in the station. The Nameless Monk and Kar introduce themselves and Kar steals the Scroll from the Nameless Monk and runs away. The Nameless Monk chases after Kar, whom he suspects may be a suitable successor, as cranes were visible far above their fight.
When fighting underground against a minor crime lord called Mister Funktastic, Kar meets a young woman named Jade, with whom he falls in love. The Nameless Monk follows Kar home and watches him practice Kung-fu by mimicking Chinese martial arts films. The next day, Jade meets with Nina at the opening of a human rights exhibit. Later, the Monk and Kar meet again and are talking when Jade walks up to them and asks Kar to return her necklace, which he had stolen to earn her esteem. A group of mercenaries sent to kill the Nameless Monk interrupt them, and he flees with Kar.
The Nameless Monk and Kar hide beneath an Asian laundromat that houses several fellow monks, and the Nameless Monk shows Kar advanced combat techniques. They are attacked and the Scroll is taken to the employer of the mercenary forces, a crime lord named Strucker, who is revealed to be the Nazi commander. Upon reading the Scroll, Strucker realizes it is a fake; the true secret is tattooed on the Nameless Monk's torso. The Nameless Monk and Kar return home to find that Kar's employer has been murdered by Strucker's granddaughter, Nina. They return to the Asian laundromat but are betrayed by an ambitious monk. All parties are taken to Strucker's base of operations and tortured.
The Nameless Monk and Kar seek the help of Jade, whom they learn is the daughter of a currently imprisoned Russian crime lord. The Nameless Monk realizes that by fighting Jade in her "palace" (as she is a Mafia "princess"), Kar has fulfilled the second prophecy. Nina interrupts their meeting, captures the Nameless Monk, and has Jade and Kar beaten. Later, Jade and Kar infiltrate Strucker's headquarters, where they are separated. Jade fights Nina and defeats her, and Kar finds the Nameless Monk. By now, Strucker has regained his youth, but he is unable to obtain the content of the last line of the Scroll, which is present only in the Nameless Monk's memory. Strucker attempts to scan the Nameless Monk's brain, but Kar prevents him. A fight ensues, and Strucker is thrown from the roof onto electric cables; however, the power of the Scroll preserves Strucker from death.
While Jade frees the other monks, the Nameless Monk transfers the Scroll's content, and the task of protecting it for 60 years, to Kar. Strucker then attempts to kill Kar, but is killed himself – Jade is revealed to have taken some of the Scroll's power, as it was she who fulfilled the final prophecy by rescuing the monks. The Nameless Monk tells them that they both passed the three prophecies and the final test. The next day, the now aged Nameless Monk meets Kar and Jade, to whom he reveals the final line of the Scroll and whom he now deems inseparable. He then departs, lighthearted.

Tags: suspenseful, violence

Review:
The film revolves around The Monk with No Name (Chow) trying to find a new chosen one (Scott) while avoiding a nazi super-villain that he incountered 60 years ago.The film is more of a comedy than an action film and Sean William Scott and Chow Yun Fat play off each other well in a world where they are chased by nazis and run into characters like a British guy named Mr. Funktastic.
Of course there has to be a leading lady and Jamie King is as good looking as they come and plays her character well.The action all involves wire-fu, like that as seen in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", but not as dynamic.
Since most of the characters are new to martial arts the fights are a little slow but entertaining and lighthearted none the less.Bulletproof Monk could have been a lot better than it is, with a little more time spent on it, but as it is it is a silly amusing film, which kept me entertained for an hour and a half.
Now I'm looking for other movies starring Yun-Fat Chow.I must admit that I did find the underground cavern and the mysterious mind-reading device to be rather over-the-top, but that was the only part of the movie I didn't like.Please keep in mind that this movie _is_ based on a comic book.
I expected not to like Seann William Scott, but I ended up feeling he did a great job (and no, I didn't see the ridiculous American Pie movies, what're you, nuts!?).
In short, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and neiither should the audience.Chow-Yun Fat shows he can play non-serious roles and get away with it, and Sean William Scott shows he can do other parts away from American Pie and its teen comedy clones.
The Monk has been on the run from would be rulers of the universe for 60 years when he finally runs into a potential new scroll-keeper as promised by prophecies.Bulletproof Monk is a "light" comic book/fantasy/action/martial arts/comedy film in the vein of The Golden Child (1986) and The Medallion (2003).
It leans most strongly towards the fantasy genre, but it's frequently funny (perhaps more subtly than one would expect) and loaded with visually poetic, wire-heavy martial arts.Seann William Scott is Kar, a street kid who has a flair for kung fu, which he picked up by endlessly watching and emulating Asian films at the theater where he both lives and works as the projectionist.
It's an interesting approach that isn't used often enough in martial arts films.The principle flaw with Bulletproof Monk is that too many plot elements and characters seem to flow by too quickly.
I'm a fan of Yun-Fat's work, including this film, and I enjoyed both Scott and Jaime King's performances quite a bit.
I knew the movie was going to be silly, but I just wanted to see some wire-fu and be entertained.The story is silly, it's about a monk who has to protect a scroll that when read will give the reader ultimate power (of course the protector of the scroll gets the magical power of wife-fu abilities).
And then they cavort around and run into a group of neo-nazis after the scroll (those wacky neo-nazis!) a Russian mafia princess named Jade (played by the smoking hot Jaime King) and a British guy with a mohawk named Mr. Funktastic, who lives in the underground of the New York subway, and keeps making verbal threats to cut men's genitalia off.This movie takes itself lightheartedly, so the main duo of Seann William Scott and Chow Yun-Fat act like they are cast in a buddy cop film.
Both Scott and Chow are funny (especially Chow), the wire-fu is entertaining, Jaime King is hot, and the whole movie works.It's not the best film ever, and I couldn't tell you if it's the best Chow Yun-Fat film ever, since my local Hollywood video lacks his Hong Kong imports.
But Bulletproof Monk may entertain those who like cheesy martial art flicks, or appese the action junkie while he has to wait to see the next summer blockbuster.
I'll be brief.The movie starts with a bang, and ends with a boom, with plenty of pops and kabangs along the way.You want a movie that's fun, with likable actors, good action, a light plot that moves right along, and more than a few genuine chuckles?
This is one of those.Watching Chow Yun Fat work is fun, whether he's giving life to a substantial, full orbed character such as in Crouching Tiger, or to a more stereotypical one as the Monk with No Name.Don't confuse the movies, and you'll have fun.
Chow Yun Fat, who is in NYC for an unknown reason (probably not the best place to protect an ancient scroll of incredible power and importance), playing an unnamed Tibetan monk is pursued by this militia just as he begins to befriend a protégé who he believes might be a prophesied successor in his task of protecting the scroll (Seann William Scott).
Unfortunately, Seann William Scott's uneven performance only reinforced the frigidity of the film.Bulletproof makes for a decent light night's entertainment, but little more.
Chow Yun-Fat plays the protector of the scroll, a job that sounds like it'd suck considering it means living a life on the run.
So now Chow's got to train Kar to be the next protector while also evading capture from a nasty old Nazi (Karel Roden) who wants the rejuvenating powers of the scroll for himself.Watching Bulletproof Monk, there's a clear sense of desperation on hand.
Because her performance and martial arts work are subpar, she won't appeal to the former, and because she doesn't get naked, she'll only marginally appeal to latter.Chow Yun-Fat is still the best thing Monk has going for it; he's charming, likable, and surprisingly quite funny.
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.
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..
"Bulletproof Monk" has an air of reality in it that anyone can be a hero.I enjoyed the movie; I thought that the screenwriters went to great lengths to create a believable story from a sometimes unbelievable comic.
Seann William Scott, Chow Yun-Fat and Jaime King (the good guys) all turn in sterling performances.
In fact, it looks as if Seann William Scott & Chow Yun-Fat had immense fun making this film and their chemistry is there to see.
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.
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.
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..
The fights are great, even if they are not so polished like other movies from then, but it actually adds up to the enjoyment of the film (wich kinda feels like one of those Chinese martial arts flicks).As for the humor and jokes, that's the thing I always enjoyed more of anything in this film.
Watch it if you want to spend some time with light fun and without convoluted themes.I don't deny it has flaws, but after all this is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously, so you shouldn't be disappointed if you wanted to find something more dark and edgy.By the way, to those of you that won't believe the sight of Nazis in Tibet, claiming it's false and bullshit, check your facts: Nazi Germany send some explorers to the área in the hopes of expending their knowledge about the arian race and phisionomy of the locals (others say that the expeditions were made to contact the people of Shammballa or other mythological folk).
Seann William Scott is much better than I thought he'd be, Chow-Yun Fat doesn't take himself too seriously, Jamie King is very pretty, and the story is serviceable..
Veteran of martial arts films Chow Yun Fat not only delivers the expected martial arts skills but is also quite funny in his role as the 'Monk with no name'.
Similarly Seann William Scott supplies comedy value but also manages to look convincing during the fighting scenes.The storyline not complicated and is easy to follow, allowing you to just sit back and enjoy this film for it's good points, it's quirky comedy and the entertaining fight sequences.
it has some little editing problems in few scenes (seems to me Director couldnt decide what he want: to make this movie more funny or to keep it in more serious action course), and watching Chow Yun Fat mumbling in 'chinglish' has some kind of funny side effect, you just cant take him seriously ;-) I know he had English Teacher / Dialogue Coach on set, but apparently he is languages learn-proof.
Since Sean William Scott's character was living in chinatown (and probably growing up there as well) he could have speak Cantonese, and those few English lines Chow Yun Fat had here - they all could have been spoken in this language instead.Anyway most of characters are very flat and stereotypical (as soon as you see German soldiers you know they are movie's villains ;-) except maybe for Russian Drugs Tsar's daughter "Bad Girl - Jade" (Jamie King).
Pretty good fight scene, one of the best catfights in hollywood movies so far.I gave this movie: 7 (Story: 9, Acting: 4, VisualFX: 8,  SoundFX: 7)If you want to see Chow Yun Fat's 'real' acting - rent subtitled version of "The Killer" (dubbed version doesn't have the atmosphere)..
If you're going to see this film, take my advice:  Leave your brain at the door, get into the silly plot, enjoy the endearing chemistry between Chow Yun-fat and Seann William Scott, and just forget about your problems for over an hour and a half.
The monk, assisted by a young pickpocket named Kar and Kar's girlfriend Jade, who turns out to be the daughter of a Russian crime lord, have to thwart the evil plans of the villains.The star of the film is Chow Yun-Fat, the Hong Kong actor who also starred in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" but the two films have little else in common.
By the end of "Bulletproof Monk", the ancient Tibetan secrets that are supposed to be its focus are less interesting than an acting-for-the-camera mystery.How can an unknown Irish television actress (Victoria Smurfit), who looks like a pre-implant Patsy Kensit and whose supporting part is relatively small, flat-out steal the movie from the the actors with the four bigger parts?A related question would be how Smurfit, wearing loose fitting pantsuits, can come across about seven times sexier than former supermodel Jaime King?
Somehow along the way, generations who follow the latter will falter just like the predecessor.Chow Yun-Fat, whom I remember from "The Replacement Killers", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and others has really put on a show in this movie.
Then again, I haven't really seen any other movies with Chow Yun-Fat, so I have no idea how his movies usually are; but I think that given that this movie has so many similarities to a typical Chan movie, it should have been at least a little better; Chan's movies always seem to have good comedy, entertaining martial arts fights, and a story that allows for plenty of both, without keeping the audiences attention at the plot for any minute over the complete run time of the film.
As for the story, it seems to try to learn you something new, make you think, but it ruins any potential it might have by constantly throwing some (often bad-looking) martial arts fight scene in your face, just as you're starting to think more about what Chow just said, which often will sound like something out of a fortune cookie.
I do think that it is good that Seann William Scott and Jaime King performed their martial arts moves themselves, but, this has also been done in The Matrix, and here it seems more like a gimmick(though I think it was the actors' choice themselves).
Bulletproof Monk is a great movie, if you don't mind a lousy script, a disjointed story line, poor acting, and bad directing.
Starring Chow Yun-Fat (`Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon') and Sean William Scott (`American Pie'), `Bulletproof Monk' fails where it had the opportunity to be slightly good.
Naturally, as is always the case, if the scroll should fall into the hands of the wrong people, a Nazi for example, well, as Sean Connery said in `Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade,' `the armies of darkness could walk across the earth.'	Having traveled to modern day New York City, the monk finds himself being helped by a young man, Kar (William Scott).
"Bulletproof Monk" looks better as a comic book, than at the movies.
The problem with the screen treatment, director Paul Hunter has given the material, is that however good the special effects might be, there is no soul to the story.As an action film, "Bulletproof Monk" is not completely unwatchable, quite the contrary, but it appears that perhaps an oriental director might have done something more with the thin plot.The tremendously charismatic Yun-Fat Chow does a lot to enhance the film.
Bulletproof monk is a lot of fun if you like bad movies.
Add some primitive, half-finished CGI and shameful fight choreography and this is nothing more than a wasted opportunity.Maybe you'll enjoy it if you're a big fan of Fat and/or Scott, but whatever you do, don't rent or buy expecting to see a class kung-fu movie..
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.
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..
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.
You get an evil German Nazi (whoever else could illustrate evil so well known and coherent for even the last American movie goer to grasp immediately ...), the old national treasure to gain control over the world with (for good or ill) which needs to be protected against Nazis and even some sort of a Dr. Elsa Schneider ;) Sean William Scott was a certain surprise, to me, since I didn't know he could actually play anything beyond this Stifler-like characters he impersonated thus far.
And there is no doubt that Mr. Yun-Fat, Mr. Scott, and Ms. King all deserve much better material to work with.Overall, this is a film that probably looked great on paper, was executed poorly, and was saved by the combined charisma of it's three leading actors.6 out of 10..
As for the story, its not really anything new but the pairing up of Chow Yun Fat and Sean William Scoot is another love/hate aspect of the movie: either you love the combination or hate it.
Sean William Scott and Chow Yun Fat trade mediocre one-liners in this rip off of truly funny movies like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon.
Seann William Scott and Chow Yun Fat have surprisingly good chemistry, and that's what holds up the film.
I think this film is a Shanghai Knights wannabe, unfortunately though, Sean William Scott is about ten leagues below the 'funniest-guy-in-movies-right-now' Owen Wilson, and Chow Yun Fat is nothing next to Jackie Chan.
Chow Yun-Fat is, as we know from Crouching Tiger, a very talented actor, capable of conveying mood with little or no dialogue.Even Scott Sean William, aka the man with 3 first names, was decent in his role.
If you like Chow Yun-Fat, you must not see this movie.
Chow Yun Fat sure has done some good movies, but this isn't one of them.
Before I saw this movie, I thought "Bulletproof Monk" had a lot going for it, particularly the casting of Chow Yun-Fat and Seann William Scott.
Jackie Chan's best has been mediocre, Jet Li has produced a constant run of stinkers, and Chow Yun Fat looks set to follow the same pattern.Bulletproof Monk is the worst in formula action films.