Poor old Chow Yun Fat—lured to the U.S. with the promise of an international career and big pay checks only to wind up playing second fiddle to Stifler in a trite adventure dependent on sub-par CGI and lousy wire-work. No wonder that, with the exception of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, he has worked exclusively in his homeland ever since. Hollywood really sucks sometimes!
Yun-Fat plays a Tibetan monk who, during WWII, is tasked with looking after an ancient scroll able to endow the person who reads it with the power to rule the world. Because the screenwriters haven't got a single original bone in their bodies, this ancient artifact is sought after by the Nazis; sixty years later but not a day older, Yun Fat is still protecting the scroll from now aged Nazi Strucker (Karel Roden). Seann William Scott plays Kar, a pickpocket who unwittingly fulfils three ancient prophecies that mark him as the next protector of the scroll...
Predictable, unimaginative nonsense from start to finish, with decidedly mediocre action scenes, Bulletproof Monk will annoy the hell out of anyone with a half decent knowledge of martial arts/Asian action cinema; Kar learning his martial arts skills by watching old kung fu movies is hard enough to accept, but I simply will not forgive director Paul Hunter for completely wasting the talents of the legendary Yun Fat.
Yun-Fat plays a Tibetan monk who, during WWII, is tasked with looking after an ancient scroll able to endow the person who reads it with the power to rule the world. Because the screenwriters haven't got a single original bone in their bodies, this ancient artifact is sought after by the Nazis; sixty years later but not a day older, Yun Fat is still protecting the scroll from now aged Nazi Strucker (Karel Roden). Seann William Scott plays Kar, a pickpocket who unwittingly fulfils three ancient prophecies that mark him as the next protector of the scroll...
Predictable, unimaginative nonsense from start to finish, with decidedly mediocre action scenes, Bulletproof Monk will annoy the hell out of anyone with a half decent knowledge of martial arts/Asian action cinema; Kar learning his martial arts skills by watching old kung fu movies is hard enough to accept, but I simply will not forgive director Paul Hunter for completely wasting the talents of the legendary Yun Fat.