Bulletproof Monk--Review it for me

**Sparq** · 04-26-2003, 02:17 PM

A little bit corny and a little bit predictable, but still worth it IMO...it was pretty funny. 3.5/5 I guess...

**FreshmanBob** · 04-26-2003, 02:46 PM

Well, its pretty cheesy and unrealistic (not just the whole kung fu stuff, parts of the plot and characters). There were a few funny moments, but not really.

Know how some movies the bulk of its good but the ending sucks? The bulk of the movie sucks but the ending is good. I don't recommend it

**MantisMag** · 04-26-2003, 03:09 PM

pretty funny at parts but not often enough. totally unrealistic fighting. the wirework is just silly and i think the people that made the movie realize that. the best part in terms of action is the part that you've seen in the trailer where he jumps on top of the cab. mostly that's because he gets ahold of a pair of pistols in that scene. chow yun fat is THE MAN when it comes to dual pistols. after shooting the guns out of the hands of all his pursuers cowboy stylee, he drops the clips and kicks them at two more guys. chow yun fat just has such a great sense of style with pistols in his hands. he should stick to those movies with john woo and stay out of kung fu. he's better at it than those white actors who go through a couple months of training and think they can bring it (Charlies Angels) but he's still not as good as the real kung fu actors.

**Kai** · 04-26-2003, 10:02 PM

Originally posted by MantisMag
pretty funny at parts but not often enough. totally unrealistic fighting. the wirework is just silly and i think the people that made the movie realize that. the best part in terms of action is the part that you've seen in the trailer where he jumps on top of the cab. mostly that's because he gets ahold of a pair of pistols in that scene. chow yun fat is THE MAN when it comes to dual pistols. after shooting the guns out of the hands of all his pursuers cowboy stylee, he drops the clips and kicks them at two more guys. chow yun fat just has such a great sense of style with pistols in his hands. he should stick to those movies with john woo and stay out of kung fu. he's better at it than those white actors who go through a couple months of training and think they can bring it (Charlies Angels) but he's still not as good as the real kung fu actors.

I wouldn't say Fat should stay away from Kung Fu at all. Look at Crouching Tiger. That movie rivals or bests ANY other Kung Fu movie I have ever seen, in terms of choreography. While I will admit, I enjoy his shoot 'em up movies better, CTHD was one of the better movies he has been in.

I think he mainly just needs to stay away from crappy mainstream films with terrible directors and an even worse supporting cast.

**tsc** · 04-27-2003, 03:02 AM

Welp. We did go see it.

And it was great. :)

Some of the one-liners were hilarious, and CYF's character was wonderful.

I don't see how it's a Matrix rip-off, however. Yes, some of the stunts are visually similar...but the entire plot is different, the premise is different, and so is the setting.

I think it was a great movie, overall. Cheesy enough to be a good sat. night movie. I went into it with low expectations, and it far surpassed them.

Thanks, guys. Comments were indeed appreciated.

**edweird** · 04-27-2003, 03:52 AM

Im kinda a movie snob honestly.....

Personally I was not happy with Bulletproof Monk for several reasons.

1 it was highly predictable, and the final twist was way less than thrilling

2 it banked on small aspects from greater movies and the combination of elements of Kung-Fu the legend continues, Indiana Jones nazis, and some poor urban gang flic left a terrible taste in my mouth. I compare it with drinking OJ after brushing your teeth. YUCK!

3 Seann William Scott ... Dude where's my talent? Oh I left it on the set of american pie where I was typecast as a teenage jock tool.

4 Chow Yun Fat, ive seen most of his library and am sad that he accepted a picture like this.

5 OMG that stupid chick fight, if you saw it you know the one, was the biggest waste of film ever

This movie is bad but its no Hollow Man, Titanic or Titanic 2 (Pearl Harbor). Also its most definatly not on my worst movies ever list, but I would not suggest it to anyone with tastes like my own.

**MantisMag** · 04-27-2003, 11:45 AM

Originally posted by Kai

I wouldn't say Fat should stay away from Kung Fu at all. Look at Crouching Tiger. That movie rivals or bests ANY other Kung Fu movie I have ever seen, in terms of choreography. While I will admit, I enjoy his shoot 'em up movies better, CTHD was one of the better movies he has been in.

I think he mainly just needs to stay away from crappy mainstream films with terrible directors and an even worse supporting cast.

he didn't really do very much kung fu in Crouching Tiger. there's a minimalist approach in that movie that anybody with good hand-eye coordination and a little wrist flexibility can pull off during a choreographed fight. as for the rest of the choreography you need to see more yuen woo ping choreographed movies. pretty much all of his later stuff is just as good or better without quite so much crazy wirework.

out of curiosity what kung fu movies have you seen? only the ones that make it to theaters in the US or have you just somehow missed all the really great ones? i'm not denying crouching tiger is good but it's really not as special as people seem to think it is.

**Gitaroo Man** · 04-27-2003, 01:45 PM

Originally posted by edweird

4 Chow Yun Fat, ive seen most of his library and am sad that he accepted a picture like this.

that's my feeling

**Kai** · 04-27-2003, 06:44 PM

Originally posted by MantisMag

out of curiosity what kung fu movies have you seen? only the ones that make it to theaters in the US or have you just somehow missed all the really great ones? i'm not denying crouching tiger is good but it's really not as special as people seem to think it is.

I am not really a Kung-Fu fan, which may explain it. I have seen alot of Jet-Li's older movies (Once Upon a Time In China, Fist of Legend. That sort of thing) and just about any Bruce Lee movie (who, in my opinion, is overrated)...so pretty much just the mainstream. If you could recommend some truley good ones, I would be grateful.

**MantisMag** · 04-27-2003, 09:43 PM

i liked the "once upon a time in china series." not jet li's best but pretty good. i like the persona he creates as wong fei hung. Bruce Lee is overrated as an actor. as a fighter he truly kicks major butt. as an actor i don't really care. he broke the american audience into kung fu. for that i'm thankful but i don't want to see realism in kung fu movies. i want to see people flying around and doing flips and all kinds of crazy stuff. here's some recommendations for good fighting

"iron monkey" has some really great fights in it. that's choreographed by yuen woo ping. i think it's from the 80's but it was re-released just a few years ago. everybody thought it was a new movie but all they did was redo the sound.

"kung fu cult master" has some amazing fights in it. the end fight is HUGE! also some pretty good laughs. if you like chinese humor that is. it's the first part of a trilogy that never got finished though so the ending is kinda weird. for some reason this movie didn't do well at the box offices. jet li and sammo are in it. as well as some people that are famous amongst kung fu afficionados.

for non stop fighting and general weird humor "blood of the leopard: all men are brothers" is good. "the assasin(fire dragon)" is a good movie with some neat fights in it.

none of the movies i suggested is really big on story. iron monkey kinda is but that's a pretty well known story to the chinese so they don't go into a lot of depth. oh! hehe if you want some really crazy stuff watch "nine tails fox" you'll finish the movie thinking chinese people are insane. it's one of the weirdest movies ever. there's a character called never-die who literally never dies. his hand harasses the characters for most of the movie after getting cut off early on. i don't even remember if the fighting was any good on that one all i remember is the weirdness and the general raunchiness.