 Chow Yun-Fat is receiving fine reviews for Bulletproof Monk. The movie itself is not. "Chow Yun-Fat deserves so much better than Bulletproof Monk, there ought to be a law. Rarely has so charismatic a performer been wasted on such mindlessly inept drivel," writes Chris Kaltenbach in the Baltimore Sun. Jami Bernard's review in the New York Daily News is headed "Latest Monk Quest Is Just Kung Phooey." She observes that martial-arts movie director John Woo is the producer of this film and speculates that if he "had been at the helm instead of behind the scenes, this never would have happened." Stephen Hunter's review in the Washington Post is headed "Kung Fu Hooey." He observes: "The fighting sequences are all computer-assisted. They're not young Jackie Chan exhibitions of blinding speed, grace, courage and stamina; rather, they're some kid sitting at a computer terminal, hitting keys that cause gravity and physics and logic to take a nap while Chow corkscrews through the air 17 times, does a double back flip and kicks somebody's teeth out. Hey, Jackie Chan could do that for real." But Bruce Westbrook in the Houston Chronicle finds much to like about the movie and concludes: "Just as you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, you can't make a modern action flick without cracking some bones. Monk may be imperfect, but that's the way the fortune cookie crumbles." |
