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DVD Bulletproof Monk
The tremendous charisma of Chow Yun-fat anchors this entertaining comic-book romp. Bulletproof Monk centers around a monk with no name (Chow) dedicated to protecting a sacred scroll that can give world-manipulating power to anyone who reads it. A hidden Nazi has been pursuing the scroll for 60 years and has finally caught up with the monk in present-day New York City; meanwhile, the monk suspects he may have found a disciple in a petty thief (Seann William Scott, Dude, Where's My Car?, American Pie) who's learned kung fu from watching double-feature chopsocky flicks. Don't let the presence of Chow Yun-fat lead you to expect much substance--this doesn't have the emotional scope of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or the visual panache of Hard-Boiled. But Bulletproof Monk is a cheerful, tightly edited, unpretentious action flick with flashes of humor, good for a mindless evening's entertainment. Also featuring Jaime (a.k.a. James) King (Blow). --Bret Fetzer
Ok, I knew this movie would be terrible. Do you know why? Because its premise involved American Pie's "Stiffler" as a chosen fighting monk.
Seriously.
Who is casting this stuff?
I'd like to say a friend rented it and I accidentally watched it- or that it came on TV. But no. No, my friends, I bought this little nugget of crap. (In all fairness it was in the $5.99 bin at Walmart, was the Special Edition, and had Chow Yun-Fat in it. I couldn't resist.)
I don't even know where to begin with the terribleness that was this movie.
I know, I'll start out with all the things they left out.
See, this flick is rated PG-13, so I knew they'd take out excessive violence, offensive profanity, and major sex scenes. What I didn't know was that they would also remove any plausibility of plot, any sense of timing to the edits or rhythm to the story, and any good acting. All of these things were apparently too mature for a PG-13 audience to handle.
If you watch carefully, you will realize that Thomas' character "Kar" (yeah- his name is Kar) is never shown for more than 30 seconds at a time. I'm not sure if that was because he only has one expression so they had to break it up with flashes of other people, or if he was so bad at stunts that they had to fake it all by cutting away each time he did anything at all.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and vote for both.
The obligatory and now stereotypical hard-ass female with a heart of gold character was played by Jaimie King- who was awful. Really awful.
What really tore me up was the writing. The script was ridiculously poor- even for an action movie- it makes Van Damme movies look like Kauffman. Nearly everything is straight up told to the audience. I mean, the characters actually stop, stare at each other, and fill everyone in on any backstory or pertinent information. Usually this method is used to get a bothersome plot out of the way so we can get down to blowing stuff up. But even the action sequences were few and weak (you can actually see the rubber knife wiggle in the must-have girl on girl fight).
The entire movie felt rushed and slow all at one time.
There is a villian who lives in the sewer, is British, and goes by the name: Mr. Funktastic.
And guess who's the bad guys?
Nazis.
Seriously.
Its always Nazis.
So whats my verdict?
Do not rent, do not buy, do not watch, do not pass Go, do not Collect $200.
Loved Victoria Smurfit's Nina Character
By the end of "Bulletproof Monk", the ancient Tibetan secrets that are supposed to be its focus are less interesting than an acting-for-the-camera mystery.
How can an unknown Irish television actress (Victoria Smurfit), who looks like a pre-implant Patsy Kensit and whose supporting part is relatively small, flat-out steal the movie from the the actors with the four bigger parts?
A related question would be how Smurfit, wearing loose fitting pantsuits, can come across about seven times sexier than former spokesmodel Jaime King? Actually King's character is pretty sexy, but when Smurfit appears midway into the film you forget all about King.
Impressive performance Victoria, you elevate an ordinary formula movie-your scenes alone make it worth watching.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Excellent Film: Good Concepts, Superb Execution
The film owes much to the intervention of the producers with a first time director, and the DVD shows just how the film came together, as well as how it potentially have derailed itself.
This film, as an end product, works superbly; it has a conceptual flow, great humour, and some masterful contributors.
The source material is in fact Three comics, with a couple of follow ups... all of which I have never seen( Except in one of the Featurettes), and based on the DVD extras and comments from various sources, I have no wish to see ... mainly because Deepak Chopras son is one of the authors of the text of the original comic which was helmed specifically with a film in mind.
I am not a John Woo fan, but the director does seem to be, and the film succeeds in spite of this handicap.
Bottom line is that this film is a popcorn flic, and any attempts at analysis is going to fall flat. Chow Yun-Fat's humourous delivery, as well as Sean William Scott's skill at humour save this film on many levels.
The commentarys, and both are definitely worth a listen, detail the production as well as the many "cooks" who went in to make this cook to perfection. The writers track show just how far this story could have been derailed, and the featurettes coupled together with the deleted scene, and the alternate ending show what we were saved from.
In my opinion, this is one of the few films that justify the studio intervention process, and the constant flow of test screenings.
Bundles of Trivia abound in the commentaries and the featurettes to make this a rich DVD package, and certainly do make it obvious, that the studio helped guide a talented director from committing to film some major mistakes.
Worth every penny for the film ... and the DVD extras show the behind the scenes changes that help a film gestate and eventually become a very workable and watchable film.
Professional wrestling star the Rock, who was such a lump of flesh in The Scorpion King, proves surprisingly light on his feet in The Rundown, demonstrating charm and humor as well as the requisite toughness. Beck (the Rock), a repo-man for deadbeats, is sent to South America to find a treasure hunter (Seann William Scott) who's seeking a priceless golden idol--which the local head honcho (Christopher Walken) would like to get his hands on as well. Add in the lovely but dangerous barmaid with a secret (Rosario Dawson), and Beck has some obstacles to overcome. The plot of The Rundown isn't anything special, but the script is enjoyably clever and reasonably coherent; the capable cast keeps things lively; and the movie's relaxed but sinewy pace sets it apart from the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): The Rock - Seann William Scott - Rosario Dawson - Christopher Walken Director(s): Peter Berg DVD Release Date: Released the 23 March 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The director of Chow Yun-fat's first Hollywood outing, music-video veteran Antoine Fuqua, seems to be trying to squeeze the charismatic Asian superstar into a conventional American action-hero mold, and the results are dispiriting. Fuqua never lets this high-spirited actor smile, fetishizing him as a gunslinging clotheshorse in a series of garish, scenery-smashing battle scenes. As a paid assassin whose former employers turn against him, Chow enlists the help of an illegal documents specialist played, with surprising grit, by Mira Sorvino, and then spends most of the time fending off squads of killers in mirror shades. The movie is art-directed and photographed fit to kill (even the most routine incidents are eye-gougingly colorful) and edited to a hip-hop beat. It's garishly superficial.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Yun-Fat Chow - Mira Sorvino Director(s): Antoine Fuqua DVD Release Date: Released the 06 March 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The intriguing cross-pollination of rap and kung-fu continues with Cradle 2 the Grave, co-starring high-profile rapper DMX and Hong Kong superstar Jet Li. Master thief Fait (DMX) hits a diamond exhange but comes away with a bag of black gems of mysterious origin. When a crime kingpin steals the gems from Fait, an international arms dealer kidnaps Fait's beloved daughter--and Fait can only get her back with the help of Su (Li), a Taiwanese intelligence agent tracking the gems himself. A summary of the plot doesn't do Cradle 2 the Grave justice; while the basic story elements suggest a dozen generic action flicks, the cast (including Anthony Anderson, Gabrielle Union, and Kelly Hu) has genuine charisma and the movie layers action on top of action to strong effect. ... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jet Li - DMX - Mark Dacascos Director(s): Andrzej Bartkowiak DVD Release Date: Released the 01 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Nick Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) is not your average New York cop. Working in Chinatown has its multifarious cultural nuances and its fair share of ubiquitous enticement, both of which are reflected in detective Chen's weary face. He had to get into bed with the highest echleons of the Chinese Mafia as a way of augmenting his own career, while maintaining a semblance of control over the dime-a-dozen hoods who proliferate on this turf. To make matters worse, he now has to break in rookie detective Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg), who has asked to be assigned to the Chinatown division. Apparently Wallace is infatuated with all things Chinese, or is suffering from "Yellow Fever," as his fellow colleagues would have us believe. Chen, not one to suffer fools gladly, takes young Wallace under his... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Yun-Fat Chow - Mark Wahlberg Director(s): James Foley DVD Release Date: Released the 04 September 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Bigger isn't always better, but for anyone who enjoyed Pitch Black, a nominal sequel like The Chronicles of Riddick should prove adequately entertaining. Writer-director David Twohy returns with expansive sets, detailed costumes, an army of CGI effects artists, and the star he helped launch--Vin Diesel--bearing his franchise burden quite nicely as he reprises his title role. The Furian renegade Riddick has another bounty on his head, but when he escapes from his mercenary captors, he's plunged into an epic-scale war waged by the Necromongers. A fascist master race led by Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), they're determined to conquer all enemies in their quest for the Underverse, the appeal of which is largely unexplained (since Twohy is presumably reserving details for subsequent... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vin Diesel - Colm Feore - Judi Dench Director(s): David Twohy DVD Release Date: Released the 16 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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