Movie Review: Bulletproof Monk

Bulletproof Monk (2003) 

Directed by Paul Hunter 

Written by Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris 

Starring Chow Yun Fat, Seann William Scott, Jamie King, Karel Roden 

Release Date April 16th, 2003 

Published April 15th, 2003 

The question has been asked since Chow Yun Fat made his American leading man debut in Replacement Killers: Can the Orient's top gunslinging action star translate his popularity to American audiences? With the $100 million dollar success of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, you might think the question has been answered. But in reality it hasn't. Crouching Tiger was a departure for Chow Yun Fat, a familiar Asian face that made Crouching Tiger's mystical nature more palatable to American audiences who normally shun movies with subtitles. The real test for Chow Yun Fat's star power comes with his return to action leading man in Bulletproof Monk.

In Monk, Chow Yun Fat is the nameless protector of ancient scroll that if read aloud would give ultimate power to the reader to remake the world for good or evil. In 1943 our nameless hero gave up his name to become the protector of the scroll. He is immediately attacked by Nazi soldiers whose leader, Strucker (Karl Roden), is familiar with the scrolls. After fighting off the Nazis and making a daring jump off a tall mountain, it's off on a 60-year journey to protect humanity.

There is, of course, a catch to being the protector of the scroll. After 60 years you must turn the scroll over to a new protector. So now in New York 60 years later, the man with no name must seek out the scroll’s new protector while dodging the Nazis who have been tracking him the whole time. While running through the New York subway system attempting to evade Nazi captors, our hero meets a young pickpocket named Kar (Sean William Scott) who helps him save a little girl who has fallen on the subway tracks. 

Kar happened to be running from the police at the time. The two escape into the subway tunnels before either one can be captured. Our hero is impressed with Kar's selflessness in helping him, while Kar simply finds our hero to be strange and takes the opportunity to lift what he thinks is his wallet before leaving him in the tunnel.

Of course our hero is no dummy, he tracks Kar to a subway tunnel where Kar has accidentally wandered into the lair of a criminal gang lead by a man called Mr. Funktastic. No I didn't make that up though I wish I had. A fight ensues as our hero simply watches as Kar fights the gang including a girl named Jade (Jaime King) who is oddly attracted to him. Kar holds his own and escapes when Jade convinces the gang to let him go. What Kar doesn't yet know is that the fight holds special significance to our nameless hero who is convinced it's part of a prophecy and that Kar may be his replacement.

This sets up the film’s formula action, which is somewhat predictable. However what isn't predictable is the effective chemistry of Chow and Scott and the goofy energy that both bring to their cheesy dialogue. Thankfully, dialogue is kept to a minimum. Bulletproof Monk director Paul Hunter shows a strong control over what he's doing in his first feature, keeping the action pace up and playing to the film’s strength.

The action isn't anything you haven't seen before, there is plenty of Matrix style effects. What makes the action in Bulletproof Monk work is the energy and liveliness the stars bring to it. As they go through the obligatory teacher-student training session, both stars use their charisma and energy to make a very typical scene fun.

Chow Yun Fat has been accused of sleepwalking through his first few American films and he's not exactly ebullient here. Still, there is a little glint in his eye and a sly smile that he employs to great effect. He looks like he's having a lot of fun, especially in scene where he spars with Scott while eating a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. You can see he's very pleased with himself throughout the scene and it's really very funny.

The film has its troubles, such as the lame villains who are something from an 80's action movie. Former model Jaime King needs a little more work, as it is she seems to have a future in roles like this but not much more. The real disappointment comes from the character Mr. Funktastic, who is greatly underused. Why introduce a character with such a memorable moniker and then not use him?

I was really surprised how much I laughed during this film and very surprised that most of the laughs were intentional. By that I mean that's what the film was going for. So many modern action films are out of touch with the ridiculousness of their plots, but Bulletproof Monk knows it's goofy and plays to it.