Bulletproof Monk was based off a Japanese comic book(manga) and as such a American funded film vehicle for Chow Yun Fat. This movie, really is not the greatest and comes across as pretty silly overall. Chow Yun Fat is great however and is engaging and fun as the lead here as a monk from Tibet that contains the ultimate power and must protect it from Nazi's that want to utilize the scroll for their own means. Sean William Scott is'nt very good in this action driven role, but he tries and has some charisma and plays well off of Chow Yun Fat. Mako appears as well and is always good, with this being no exception. The fights choreography is not the greatest and in combination with how this story was executed, the poor f/x and otherwise lousy acting make this a pretty bad movie. Even with that said Chow Yun Fat is cool and pulls off playing this incredibly powerful and wise monk that drops many suckas as well as some knowledge and wisdom, Yoda style. The underlying positive Buddhist messages are cool and give an otherwise dumb and corny fantasy action picture a little substance. Criticisms aside, I do enjoy this film, even though overall this movie comes across as pretty idiotic for the most part.

Well, this starts out fairly interesting but winds up being rather silly. A hold-over from the Nazi regime looking every bit of a hundred years old has designs on an ancient Tibetan scroll which when read aloud, will give it's owner power over the world. I think we've pretty much reached the point where there won't be any more former Nazis running around, so might as well take what you can get. I like Chow Yun-Fat, so if you're a fan, it would be better to stick with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Here he teams up with Seann William Scott in a two-fold quest - to protect the scroll from the evil designs of Nazi Strucker (Karel Roden), and pass the mantle of guardianship to his newly discovered heir apparent, Kar (Scott). There's a running gag in the story about hot dogs and buns that doesn't make sense even when it's explained at the finale, so don't even try to understand it. The martial arts on display are pretty good, what you'd expect although the wirework is overdone a bit and looks more exaggerated than in other flicks of this type. Ultimately, 'The Next' keeper of the scroll turns out to be a team effort between Kar and sidekick Jade (Jaime King), but I wouldn't hold out for a sequel. Don't be disillusioned though, because you can always get a hot dog.

The Monk With No Name (Yun-Fat Chow) takes over guarding a sacred scroll that if read out loud will give unlimited powers. He is tasked to protect the scroll from anybody reading for the next 60 years. On the first day, the Nazis under Strucker attack the monastery massacring the monks. The Monk is shot with the scroll falling off a cliff. 60 years later, the Monk is in the modern world still running from the bad guys and petty thief Kar (Seann William Scott) is running from the cops. They both jump in to rescue a kid from the subway train tracks. Kar steals the scroll from the Monk and he runs into a gang of subway thugs. Jade (Jaime King) is the leader's girl and has an eye on the charming Kar.

This comic book concept could work. It just needs to be either less campy or a whole lot more campy. Maybe it needs to be both. The subway gang looks really really really stupid. SWS needs more jokes and he's capable of being funnier. Chow Yun Fat sort of works as the wise monk. The duo has some good chemistry and is probably the best thing about this movie. The camera style isn't the best and looks a lot like 80s Toronto-for-NYC movies. Music video director Paul Hunter just doesn't have the skills. Also Jaime King looks a lot better as a blonde. She could be a great comic book character. It's too silly to be thrilling but not silly enough to be funny.