Bulletproof Monk

Bulletproof Monk is a 2003 American superhero comedy film directed by Paul Hunter in his directorial debut, and starring Chow Yun-fat, Seann William Scott, and Jaime King. The film is loosely based on the comic book written by Brett Lewis with art by Michael Avon Oeming. The film was shot in Toronto and Hamilton, Canada, and other locations that resemble New York City.[3]

Bulletproof Monk
Theatrical poster
Directed byPaul Hunter
Written byEthan Reiff
Cyrus Voris
Based on
Bulletproof Monk
by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyStefan Czapsky
Edited byRobert K. Lambert
Music byÉric Serra
Production
companies
Distributed byMGM Distribution Co.
Release date
  • April 16, 2003 (2003-04-16)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$52 million[2]
Box office$37.7 million[2]

Plot

In Tibet, 1943, a Tibetan monk is informed by his master that he has fulfilled a series of prophecies that mark him as his successor. The monk, forgoing his name, is entrusted with guarding a scroll that contains knowledge that will make its reader powerful, young, and immune to injury. Granted its powers, the monk learns he must one day find his own successor to pass scroll onto. The monk is forced to flee when Nazi German soldiers, led by Strucker, attack his temple and murder his master. Strucker, who sought the scroll for his own desires, vows to track the monk down.

Sixty years later, the nameless monk witnesses a young pickpocket named Kar fleeing from police, along with members of a local gang who do not like him pickpocketing on their turf. When the pair collide with a young girl and put her into the path of an oncoming train, Kar and the monk rescue her. After the pair introduce themselves, Kar steals the scroll from the monk and runs away. The monk gives chase, suspecting Kar may make for a suitable successor based on him fulfilling the first prophecy. When Kar finds himself fighting the local gang's leader, he meets a young woman named Jade, whom he falls in love with.

The following day, Jade attends a museum exhibit opening presided over by Nina, Strucker's young granddaughter, who secretly spearheads his hunt for the scroll. Jade later finds Kar being confronted by the monk and asks him to return her necklace, which he had stolen to earn her esteem. The meeting is interrupted when the monk is forced to run from Strucker's mercenaries, taking Kar with him. The monk reveals to Kar that a local laundromat secretly houses a group of fellow monks who aid him.

While training at an abandoned warehouse, Kar and the monk are attacked once again. In the ensuing chase, Kar accidentally drops the scroll from the rooftop, where it is taken by Nina. However, she and Strucker later discover the scroll is a fake; Kar learns that the scroll's true text is tattooed onto the monk's body. Angered, Nina visits Kar's home to track the pair down, murdering his employer. The monk abandons Kar out of shame, but Kar, filled with newfound purpose, reunites with him at the laundromat. One ambitious monk then betrays their location to Nina, forcing them to flee. While they escape, Nina's mercenaries take the monks to Strucker's secret facility beneath the museum, where they are all tortured; the monk who betrayed them is killed.

Seeking help, Kar and the monk visit Jade at her home, learning that she is the daughter of an imprisoned crime lord. The monk realizes that this fact, coupled with a small scuffle between Kar and Jade inside the house, has fulfilled the second prophecy. At that moment, the group are interrupted by Nina and her mercenaries, who capture the monk and take him back to their base. Jade recognizes Nina from the exhibit opening and decides to help Kar infiltrate their headquarters. The pair take out Strucker's guards and make their way inside through an underground water main, where they become separated. Jade is intercepted in the sewers by Nina, dressed for combat in a military-style jumpsuit. In the ensuing fight, Nina pulls a hidden sai from her boot in an underhanded attempt to kill Jade, only to be disarmed and crippled by a kick to the leg. Jade snaps the enfeebled Nina's neck, killing her.

Strucker begins reading the scroll's content, which had been scanned from the monk's body by Nina, and regains his youth. However, he finds that the scroll's last verse, which the monk reveals he memorised, is missing. Before Strucker can scan the monk's brain for it, Kar arrives and distracts him, allowing the monk to break free. While Jade works to free the other monks, the nameless monk fights Strucker alongside Kar, knocking him off of the roof and onto live electrical wires.

Believing that Strucker has been dealt with, the pair reunite with Jade. The contents of the scroll transfer to Kar, as he has fulfilled the third prophecy. Strucker, still alive, attempts to kill Kar, but is killed himself by a falling statue. Kar is surprised to find Jade alive after seemingly being shot by Strucker - like Kar, she also fulfilled the three prophecies, and the scroll's power tranferred to her as well. The monk, now aged, meets with Kar and Jade the next day, giving each one half of the final verse, deeming them inseparable. The pair wish him a good vacation from his duties before departing to fulfill their new roles.

Cast

Production

In May 2000, it was announced MGM had paid high six figures against a potential seven-figure deal to turn the cult comic “Bulletproof Monk” into a live-action film that would star Chow Yun-fat as the title character with John Woo and Terence Chang’s Lion Rock Productions producing.[4] Seann William Scott was cast in November 2001.[5]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed approximately $23 million in the United States, with a worldwide total of $37 million, less than the production budget of $52 million.[2]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 132 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Venerable action star Chow Yun-Fat is the only saving grace in this silly action flick that more often than not resembles a commercial in style."[6] On Metacritic it has a score of 40% based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.[8]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 2 out of 4, and wrote: "The fight scenes in Bulletproof Monk are not as inventive as some I've seen (although the opening fight on a rope bridge is so well done that it raises expectations it cannot fulfill)."[9] Robert Koehler of Variety wrote: "adults will likely object to the innumerable plot question marks coming off the screen like so many kung-fu kicks to the head." Koehler compares the film to Hong Kong action movies, noting that the fights are relatively tame, but the visual effects are generally excellent.[3] Jamie Russell at the BBC gave it 3/5 and called it "Truly naff, but endearingly silly."[10]

David Edelstein of Slate contended that Bulletproof Monk was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the American Pie audience"; panning its poor special effects and cinematography (the former he compared to an "afternoon Japanese kiddie series"), and concluded that "they made a ton of junky movies in Hong Kong, but those were dazzlingly fluid and high-flying junky movies. This American retread has the same sort of hack plot but none of the bravura. It makes them look like monkeys, and not bulletproof ones."[11] Bill Stamets of the Chicago Reader panned Bulletproof Monk for having "routine" fight scenes and juvenile humor, and that "the film plays off Chow's imperturbable persona, but the Tibetan philosophy boils down to the paradox of hot dogs coming ten to a package while buns are sold in sets of eight."[12]

References
  1. "Bulletproof Monk". American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  2. "Bulletproof Monk (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  3. Koehler, Robert (14 April 2003). "Bulletproof Monk". Variety.
  4. "Chow, Woo putting Zen in Lion's den". Variety. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  5. "Scott will don 'Monk' robe For MGM". Variety. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  6. "Bulletproof Monk (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  7. "Bulletproof Monk". Metacritic. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  8. "BULLETPROOF MONK (2003) B". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  9. Ebert, Roger. "Bulletproof Monk movie review (2003)". Chicago Sun-Times.
  10. "BBC - Films - review - Bulletproof Monk". BBC.co.uk.
  11. "Slouching tiger: Bulletproof Monk is American Pie for the kung-fu set". Slate. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  12. "Bulletproof Monk". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
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