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| BulletProof Monk |
| Genre |
Action/Comedy |
| Starring |
Chow Yun-Fat |
| Director |
Paul Hunter |
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“Bulletproof Monk” is a slightly below average action film. It’s got Nazi’s, fighting, computer effects, the guy from “Crouching Tiger” and Stifler. It’s a poor man’s “Shanghai Noon” filmed in modern day Toronto.
Based on the "graphic novel" published by Flypaper Press, "Bulletproof Monk" mixes a "Matrix"-like disregard for physics with a “Shanghai Noon” -style witty banter.
What's really “strange”, is the casting: An international star such as Chow Yun-Fat, matched up in buddy-movie fashion with Seann William Scott, veteran of the teen comedy genre. I can’t take all these wacky pairings. What’s next, will Metallica record an album with a symphony?
We first meet the mysterious “Monk” (he has no name) in Tibet in 1943 as he is put in charge of protecting an ancient scroll that grants keys to immortality, wisdom, and the powers to control the Universe. Immediately the Nazis arrive to kill the peaceful Buddhists and steal the scroll. But the scroll protects those who protect it, so The Monk is bulletproof, and escapes.
For 60 years the maniacal head of the Nazis has been hunting him. He’s wildly rich and his chief henchman is his granddaughter. The Monk-With-No-Name ends up in the city and has chosen, for no apparent good reason, to pass on his powers to a smalltime pickpocket living above a movie theater who taught himself all the right martial-arts moves by watching Bruce Lee films. Together they must protect the scroll from the Nazis and their band of evil henchmen.
Unlike a recent release, "The Transporter", we don’t fully suffer through the dialogue while we wait for the action scenes. Some of the comic interplay between Chow's all-powerful Monk and Scott's slack-jawed doofus is fairly amusing. The only thing is Yun Fat can't speak English very well. That’s where Scott comes in.
The underrated Scott is kind of like Owen Wilson in “Shanghai Noon”. He adds an easy comic charm, and he got in shape for the role. Yes, he has been a victim of type casting, but I would argue that he’s very good at playing this part. Re-watch “American Pie 2”: no one in the history of cinema could have ever played the part of Stifler any better.
Boiled down to its bare bones, this is the same kind of special effects-enhanced martial arts combat that has become routine in the wake of “The Matrix”. Once, a couple of years ago, it was fun and inventive. Now, not only is it in “Charlie's Angels” and “Scary Movie II”, it’s in car commercials. Something hasn’t been commercially bastardized this much since Smashmouth’s “All Star”.
I wasn’t let down by the film. I expected it to be awful. Come on, the name of the film is "Bulletproof Monk". Complaining this movie is bad would be like going to a Whitesnake concert and leaving because it was loud and you saw people with mullets.
BUT CAN I DANCE TO IT? “Monk” has it’s moments, and you probably won’t kill yourself after seeing it. None-the-less, perhaps your time would be better spent reading a book, flexing in the mirror or discussing world politics. C+ |
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| "We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it." |
- Jack Nicholson
A Few Good Men
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Distributed Beers
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| 5 |
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot |
| 4 |
Guinness Draught |
| 3 |
Newcastle Brown Ale |
| 2 |
Bass Pale Ale |
| 1 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
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