MOVIE REVIEW
Too bad it's not 'Critic-proof Monk'
By Marshall Fine
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News
Rated PG-13 One star (Poor) Incoherent script and inept direction sink this comic-book kung-fu film, about a martial-arts master who finds his successor in an American pickpocket. Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, Jaime King. Directed by Paul Hunter. MGM. 104 minutes.
It's hard to recall a film possessing the flamboyant awfulness of "Bulletproof Monk," but a couple come to mind: "The Phantom," "The Shadow," "Ghostbusters II" and several other titles I've probably repressed.
Directed by music-video veteran Paul Hunter, "Monk" references so many other movies that it barely has time to do anything new. Though based on a comic-book series, this is really the mutant-hybrid spawn of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," filtered through the consciousness of a soft-drink commercial.
The humor-impaired script centers on a Tibetan Buddhist monk (Chow Yun-Fat) who is given supernatural powers to guard a special scroll. This particular scroll contains an incantation that if spoken aloud grants power over the entire world to whomever speaks it. Needless to say, since this is 1943, the Nazis are after it and now it's up to the monk to keep it from falling into the wrong hands (i.e., any hands but his).
He escapes from Struker, a greedy Nazi officer who has come to Tibet in search of the scroll. The monk (he gave up his name when he became the chosen one) next pops up in modern-day New York, looking nary a day older but still being chased by henchmen and grandchildren of Struker, who is still alive and in pursuit of the scroll.
The monk is also seeking his successor, watching for signs that fulfill an elaborate prophecy. They lead him to a small-time pickpocket named Kar (Seann William Scott), who has taught himself martial arts by emulating the kung-fu movies at a theater where he's the projectionist. Even as the monk trains Kar to replace him, they must fend off the endless attacks by Struker's overdressed commandos.
The producers undoubtedly viewed Scott ("American Pie," "Road Trip") as a stand-in for Owen Wilson, another blonde with unusual timing and a mischievous look. But Wilson is a writer, capable of rescuing a scene by improving the script. Scott is only as good as his material, which, in this case, is pitifully insubstantial. It's not as thin, however, as the acting skills of former model and co-star Jaime King, who looks like she stepped out of a Steve Madden ad.
Yun-Fat has a warm presence, but still struggles with his accent, a problem exacerbated by complex dialogue. His fight sequences are so fragmented that they're incomprehensible; you never actually see what he's doing because Hunter's camera always seems to be looking elsewhere.
I'm usually a sucker for Hong Kong action. But between an incoherent script and the inept direction, it's hard to cut "Bulletproof Monk" much slack.
Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content.
