Bulletproof Monk (2003)
★½ — Bulletproof Monk (2003)
Bulletproof Monk is adapted from the short-run Image Comics series of the same name, written by Michael Avon Oeming and published in 1999 as one of the earlier comic-book properties to attract serious Hollywood attention in the post-Bryan Singer, post-Sam Raimi wave of the early 2000s. The director, Paul Hunter, came from a background in music videos (including high-profile work for Michael Jackson) and this was his feature debut, a career path that was fashionable at the time but rarely translated well to narrative cinema. Chow Yun-Fat had been attempting to establish himself as a mainstream American action star since his Hollywood crossover in The Replacement Killers (1998), and the film arrived during a brief period when kung fu spectacle had genuine box-office credibility, riding the commercial afterglow of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. At a budget of $52 million, it was a considerable studio gamble, and a global gross of under $38 million confirmed it as a notable misfire.
Bulletproof Monk (2003) is the kind of film that makes you wonder how so much potential could be wasted so completely. You’ve got Chow Yun-Fat (a legend of Hong Kong cinema, grace and power in every movement) wasted in a role that turns him into a mystical MacGuffin dispenser. You’ve got Sean William Scott, doing his usual loudmouth shtick as a streetwise thief with zero martial arts skill or gravitas. And Jaime King, underused and stuck playing “mysterious girl with a map.” It’s like someone took three mismatched action figures, smashed them together, and called it a movie. The plot is a centuries-old monk must pass on a powerful scroll to the right successor before evil forces get it. Sounds fine. But instead of wisdom, depth, or real kung fu philosophy, we get slapstick humour, terrible CGI, and fight scenes that look like they were choreographed around what the camera can hide. Chow Yun-Fat deserves better. The whole genre deserves better. Even for a trashy Hollywood kung fu flick (which this clearly aims to be) it fails on basic levels: the tone is all over the place, the action is poorly shot and edited, and the spiritual elements are reduced to cartoonish nonsense. There’s no weight, no style, no soul. Just noise. A cheap, forgettable mess.
Rating: ★½ | Year: 2003 | Watched: 2025-10-09
Where to watch (US)
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon UK
Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.
Related on Movies With Macca
More with Chow Yun-Fat: A Better Tomorrow (1986)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
