Bulletproof Monk [2003]

Fantasy, Martial Arts

Director

Paul Hunter

The tremendous charisma of Chow Yun-Fat anchors this entertaining comic-book romp. Bulletproof Monk centres around a monk with no name (Chow) dedicated to protecting a sacred scroll that can give world-manipulating power to anyone who reads it. A hidden Nazi has been pursuing the scroll for 60 years and has finally caught up with the monk in present-day New York City; meanwhile, the monk suspects he may have found a disciple in a petty thief (Seann William Scott) who's learned kung fu from watching double-feature chopsocky flicks. Don't let the presence of Chow Yun-Fat lead you to expect much substance--this doesn't have the emotional scope of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or the visual panache of Hard-Boiled. But Bulletproof Monk is a cheerful, tightly edited, unpretentious action flick with flashes of humour, good for a mindless evening's entertainment. --Bret Fetzer