BULLET PROOF MONK

Starring:
Chow Yun-Fat
Seann William Scott
Jaime King
Karel Roden
and Victoria Smurfit

Director:
Paul Hunter

Running Time:
104 mins

Out to buy on DVD 15th September

One man (Yun-Fat) is destined to protect an ancient Tibetan scroll, a scroll so powerful its words can bring paradise to the world or send it into darkness. After sixty years of service, a prophecy is coming to pass as three signs that will show him his successor, the one who will be the scroll's new protector. He didn't expect it to be an American pickpocket called Kar (William Scott), who learnt material arts from what old Hong Kong movies.

This movie proves that Hollywood can make anyone into an action star because no one could have expected gross-out comedy star Seann William Scott could really kick-ass.

Based on a little known comic book, Bullet Proof Monk is a fun action flick made all the more better by the presence of Chow Yun-Fat. The man brings a certain element of dignity and grace to a role that could have been very cheesy and tongue-in-cheek. Not just excelling in the action scenes, as you'd expect he would, Chow Yun-Fat comes into his own in his interactions with the rest of the cast. His old world philosophy and William Scott's new world attitude plays very well as the two have great chemistry. Seann William Scott finally moves away from his usual gross-out comedic roles and while still injecting his own sense of fun into the character, this is a more toned down and less irritating version of his usual screen persona. He takes to the action very well and could have a future in it, even though it does take you some time to get over the fact that this is American Pie's Stifler kicking ass.

The pair has good support from Karel Roden who makes an excellent villain, one that you can really hate and shows no sign of redemption. The beautiful Jaime King is also good as Bad Girl and she takes to the material arts very well. Victoria Smurfit is OK as Nina but she is slightly over the top and her role is a tad too underwritten.

The movie does lack one key ingredient though, extensive action. While there is quite abit of fighting, the sequences, especially in the middle of the film, are quite short. I would have liked to have seen more of Chow Yun-Fat and Seann William Scott beating up the bad-guys and maybe a car chase or something to put the action quota up a tad.

This is only a small compliant for what is a good popcorn flick. It isn't going to win any prizes for screen writing or even fight choreography but it does really entertain. The screen chemistry between William Scott and Yun-Fat makes it well worth watching as this is pure escapism and this is what movies are all about.

Audio commentary from director Paul Hunter and the film's producer, Deleted scenes and an alternative ending, 'Fist Of Fury' featurette, 'Enter The Monk' featurette, 'Zen Palette' featurette, 'Smoke And Mirrors' featurette, 'The Art Of Score' featurette, 'The Monk Unrobed' featurette, Behind the scenes photo gallery, Theatrical trailer, Interactive menu & Scene access


The Usher Home | Hush, Hush... | The Big Story | The Usher Speaks

Stuck @ Home | Coming Soon | Links | Contact the Usher

2003