Le Gardien du manuscrit sacré

Bulletproof Monk has a plot like it is the Indiana Jones of martial art flicks. You have a monk that is chosen every 60 years to protect a scroll that will give anyone who reads it invincible. The film revolves around The Monk with No Name (Chow) trying to find a new chosen one (Scott) while avoiding a nazi super-villain that he incountered 60 years ago.

The film is more of a comedy than an action film and Sean William Scott and Chow Yun Fat play off each other well in a world where they are chased by nazis and run into characters like a British guy named Mr. Funktastic. Sean plays a goofy pickpocket well and Chow is excellent as a calm, smug, nameless monk...then again Chow has always been good at acting smug. Of course there has to be a leading lady and Jamie King is as good looking as they come and plays her character well.

The action all involves wire-fu, like that as seen in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", but not as dynamic. Since most of the characters are new to martial arts the fights are a little slow but entertaining and lighthearted none the less.

Bulletproof Monk could have been a lot better than it is, with a little more time spent on it, but as it is it is a silly amusing film, which kept me entertained for an hour and a half. I recommend it to martial art flick junkies.

I must, first of all, point out that this movie is very good fun and must not, in any way be taken at all seriously. I loved the concept of the story but felt that things were very much spoilt by the overblown, overcontrived action scenes. This was the case from the very first minute. As for the acting......well this turned out to be very much a case of goodies v baddies. Seann William Scott, Chow Yun-Fat and Jaime King (the good guys) all turn in sterling performances. In fact, it looks as if Seann William Scott & Chow Yun-Fat had immense fun making this film and their chemistry is there to see. As for the bad guys.......Karel Rodin, Victoria Smurfit and Marcus Jean Pirae. Well, what can I say? I felt that they were all terrible and all over the top. I was particularly disappointed with Victoria Smurfit, who I had seen many times before and knew her to be a very talented actress. I think that the problem with her character was basically because she had a very over emphasised British accent. Smurfit is Irish, so why the hell didn't they just maintain her natural accent. Worse though, was Marcus Jean Pirae as the underground gang boss. He has no excuse though. His too was an over emphasised British accent.......but actually IS English I believe. As I say, the film was great fun and it was made watchable by the fact that the good (acting) outweighed the bad (acting). It was, by no means, a complete turn off.

In 1943, in Tibet, a monk (Yun-Fat Chow) renounces his name and becomes the new guardian of a powerful scroll. Meanwhile, a troop of Nazis leaded by a sick commander invades the monastery and kills the other monks, trying to steal the scroll. The monk without name spends the next sixty years protecting the scroll and looking for his successor, who shall be a person who fulfills three prophecies. In USA, he meets the lonely pickpocket Kar (Seann William Scott), and he believes that Kar may be the next protector of the scroll. Kar stays with the monk and falls in love with the beautiful Jade (Jaime King), while the monk is chased by a gang leaded by the former nazi commander and his daughter Nina. I found this film a good entertainment. There are lots of action, funny moments and in the end, it is a good action movie. The beauty of the unknown Jaime King is very impressive. I really did not understand why the scroll is not simply destroyed, since neither the guardians nor the monks use its power except for keeping the youth of the protector for sixty years. Further, the motives for the parallel life of Jade are simply ridiculous. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): 'O Monge à Prova de Balas' ('The Bulletproof Monk')

I thought it was charming. I thought it was fun. I enjoyed it a great deal. I liked the characters a lot too (especially the Monk). Now I'm looking for other movies starring Yun-Fat Chow.

I must admit that I did find the underground cavern and the mysterious mind-reading device to be rather over-the-top, but that was the only part of the movie I didn't like.

Please keep in mind that this movie _is_ based on a comic book. It's not meant to be Important, World-changing theatre. It's meant to be a fast-paced (it is), interesting (I thought so), fun-to-watch (yes) story.

It was hard to watch this film and not compare some of the wild action/fight scenes with those in the Matrix or its over-hyped sequel. Whilst the scenes in BPM are not as polished or well done as those in the Matrix, they are entertaining enough and the choreography and use of props showed much more promise and imagination than those in the Wachowski Bros. productions (at least in regard to the Matrix Reloaded, anyhow).

But this film did not receive the hype that TMR did and, consequently, my expectations of it were lower. As a result, I was not disappointed in BPM as I was with TMR. Sure, its all silliness, but at least it has the humour to go along with that silliness. In short, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and neiither should the audience.

Chow-Yun Fat shows he can play non-serious roles and get away with it, and Sean William Scott shows he can do other parts away from American Pie and its teen comedy clones. But a particular joy to see in this film is the appearance of Mako, whom I haven't seen much of in recent years. He only has a small role in this film, but he steals the show whenever he's on screen.

The kung-fu isn't quite as wild as Crouching Tiger's flying escapades nor is the wire-work quite so obvious. All in all a fun movie that should be watched as it was intended, as sheer escapism.

There are a few bad points. Watch out for the villain at the end. He should get the "worst villain's hairstyle" award for his mullet. That, and the ludicrous torture machine are the lighter negative aspects in an otherwise entertaining movie, and even they somehow just add to the fun. The only really dire moment is "Mr Funktastic's" atrocious British accent/choice of language. There are some things Hollywood will NEVER get right!