The Monk (Chow Yun-Fat) is a Buddhist holy man who is sworn to protect an
ancient scroll from the forces of evil, embodied here by a former Nazi (Karel
Roden) who wants to rule the world with the scroll's powers. Finding himself in
New York City, the Monk meets up with Kar (Seann William Scott), a streetwise
pickpocket/film projectionist who doesn't want anything to do with the Monk and
his all-powerful scroll. But the Monk sees potential in Kar to assume his role
as protector and tutors the young fighter as they dodge trouble at every corner.
They soon join up with Jade (Jamie King), a young martial artist whom Kar
fancies greatly, and together they make a stand to stop the evil Aryans for
good.
To understand why "Bulletproof Monk" (IMDb listing) goes so horribly awry, it must be
acknowledged that this material comes from a comic book (ahem, excuse me,
"graphic novel"). Now, with the Marvel gang heating up screens with their
offerings, including "Spider-Man" and "X-Men," "Monk" doesn't have the iconic
pedigree behind it. It also doesn't have a filmmaker guiding it carefully so all
the ridiculousness (there is a character here called simply "Mr. Funktastic")
and awkward behavior of most comic-to-film translations doesn't surface for too
long. The filmmaker chosen for "Monk" is Paul Hunter, another music video helmer
who has fallen ass-backwards into a feature debut that he cannot possibly
handle. Hunter isn't confident with his filmmaking, leaving the film with a
sickly look to it, and keeping the action relegated to cheap looking sets that
bring to mind early-1990 video game cash-ins "Street Fighter" and "Super Mario
Brothers." "Bulletproof Monk" appears to be a story that celebrates action and
adventure, but maintains a calm Buddhist soul. Unfortunately Hunter doesn't
comprehend the balance, and his artificial and clichéd style mucks up a story
that should've been a rip-snortin' good time like all the other comic book
movies seen recently.
"Monk" is also dangerously behind the times, and steals like mad from other,
better films. I'm a little worn down by the "wire-fu" movement, and thought that
we might be seeing the last of it, at least in "Matrix" type quantities. No such
luck, with "Monk" providing unwieldy, and honestly nonsensical returns to this
kind of fight choreography. I'm not going to go into logic too deeply, as this
is fantasy, and should be treated as such, but the laws of physics that the Monk
lives by are so slippery, it's hard to get a grasp on what he can or cannot do
with his powers. The fight scenes themselves are atrocious, choreographed in a
stagy "we spent three months rehearsing in a Beverly Hills gym" way that is
unappealing to the eye. Hunter does these moments no favors with his chaotic and
misdirected editing, which has characters appearing from out of nowhere, and
makes their movements incomprehensible. The worst moment is a girl-on-girl fight
between Jade and the Nazi's granddaughter, which is lifted directly from the
knockdown, drag-out brawl between Cameron Diaz and Kelly Lynch in "Charlie's
Angels."
Chow Yun-Fat is the only reason there's a glimmer of daylight in the murky
"Monk." As the title character, Yun-Fat is at his usual charismatic best,
showing playfulness and expected action stoicism in the role. Yun-Fat, like the
rest of the cast, is stuck with a warmed over script that provides philosophy
101 bon mots for him to spout, and that's depressing. But he's Chow Yun-Fat: an
incredible actor with unlimited range, who's also yet to find an American
production worthy of him. With all the flying and fighting, "Monk" seems like a
slap in the face to his intense, similar work in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon." But once Yun-Fat smiles, or double-fists some handguns, that
icky feeling of disrespect fades away.
In his first real "Anti-Stifler" role, costar Seann William Scott tries awfully
hard to be an action hero, but the fit isn't proper. Maybe he'll have better
luck in a straight drama, as his brawny performance in "Monk" is far too wooden
and doesn't complement Yun-Fat's loose work at all. Scott doesn't generate many sparks with actress Jamie King
either, with the petite former model looking pretty silly making kung-fu poses
and flipping around on cables.
"Bulletproof Monk" gives action a bad name. It gives comic book adaptations a
bad name. It gives large-budgeted,
potential-franchise-movies-directed-by-former-music-video-wizards a bad name.
For film entitled "Bulletproof Monk," this film is shot full of holes.
Filmfodder Grade: D-