Review: Bulletproof Monk

A Review By Contributor Daniel Leonhard:

First of all, let me just say that I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie.  I know that one and a half buckets may not seem like that great of a score, but considering what I was expecting, and how this film was able to recover from an atrocious first half, it’s actually quite a feat.  I began watching Bulletproof Monk with very, very low expectations, and for the first hour, it seemed like I was right in thinking that it would be a terrible move.  The plot was overused, the dialogue was unfunny, and it was just plain boring, as a movie.  There was hardly any action, and only a few fight scenes. There was no butt-kicking action. Luckily for the film, and my sanity, it improved, tremendously, during the last forty-five minutes 

Sean William Scott plays Karr, a young and talented pickpocket, who has become an expert in martial arts, from watching dozens of kung-fu movies that play the movie theater where he works and lives.  I’ve enjoyed Sean William Scott in some of his other, stupid guy roles in the movies Dude, Where’s My Car? and American Pie 1 & 2, but this time he’s really bad. This time, we feel as if he tries to play his part seriously, but still comes off like a childlike goofball.  His character has a couple of funny line, but most of the time, Scott is painful to watch.

Later on in the film, Karr becomes acquainted with a strange monk (Chow Yun-Fat), who is looking for someone to take his place as the protector of a sacred scroll that can unleash immense evil. This monk believes that Karr may be the one destined to become his replacement, but first, he must fulfill 3 prophecies, to make sure of this.  The monk tells him he can do anything he wants, even walk on air, all he has to do is believe.

One of the few things in Bulletproof Monk that are great, are the special effects and camera angles.  The sporadic fight scenes, that I actually found to be worthwhile, had visual effects that looked like they could have been taken straight from The Matrix. While the fights themselves were not that good, at least the crazy jumps, flips, and filming techniques made them seem a little more exciting.  Unfortunately, they’re not enough to save this film from all the bad acting and stupid dialogue that drag it down.

Bulletproof Monk is never really painful to watch, it’s just incredibly boring and stupid.  We never really get anything out of viewing it.  The thing that immensely helped it, at the end, was adding more fight scenes, and getting rid of the retarded story.

Many pieces of the film just don’t make sense. Example: If this strange monk can do triple back flips and dodge bullets and kick pretty much anyone’s ass, why does he always run for his life when two guys chase after him with guns? Why doesn’t he just beat them up?  Little inconsistencies like this really make the movie hard to enjoy, even if it’s just about a crazy story and nutty action.

There is no doubt in my mind that many little kids will enjoy this movie, simply because they don’t know any better.  If your child is so hell-bent on watching this movie, do yourself a favor and get the cheapest VHS rental you can find, but don’t even think about buying it. Had this whole movie played out as well as the last forty-five minutes (or so) did, it might’ve have been a two and a half, or even three bucket movie.  Try to avoid putting yourself through the agony of watching this final product, though. In short, blatant terms—it sucks.

-Daniel, Bucket Reviews