Bulletproof Monk (2003)

Regisseur:

Paul Hunter

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Ethan Reiff (written by) &
Cyrus Voris (written by)

Premierendatum:

16. April 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Abenteuer | Komödie

Werbezeile:

A power beyond measure requires a protector without equal.

Plot:

Based on the very underground comic book, a Tibetan monk becomes a mentor to a young street kid whom he can teach to protect a scroll.

Plot Keywords:

Buddy Comedy | English Subtitles In Original | Immortality | Asia | Abbey

Filmpreise:

1 nomination

Nutzerkommentare:

Fun and entertaining. Don't take it too seriously.

Besetzung

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Monk With No Name (as Chow Yun-Fat)
Seann William Scott	...	Kar
Jaime King	...	Jade
Karel Roden	...	Strucker
Victoria Smurfit	...	Nina
Marcus Jean Pirae	...	Mr. Funktastic
Mako	...	Mr. Kojima
Roger Yuan	...	Master Monk
K.C. Collins	...	Sax (as Chris Collins)
Sean Bell	...	Diesel
Kishaya Dudley	...	DV
Rob Archer	...	Buzz
Mauricio Rodas	...	Wicho
Bayo Akinfemi	...	Shade
Russell Yuen	...	Brother Tenzin

Alternativ:

Bulletproof Monk - Der kugelsichere Mönch (Deutschland) [de]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, language and some sexual content.

Länge:

104 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch | Tibetan | Deutsch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

2.35 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Altersfreigabe:

South Korea:15 | Iceland:14 | Netherlands:12 | Malaysia:18SG | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 (cut) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38899)

Drehorte:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Firma:

Cub Five Productions

Dies und das:

The visual effects for this film was handled by "Boy Wonder Visual Effects", a company headed by Burt Ward.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: The amount of blood in Jade's hand after she first opens it to reveal the bullet is different in the next shot.

Dialogzitate:

[Nina shows Jade a picture of a refugee kneeling in front of a man with a rifle]
Nina: Tell me, deep inside, at the bottom of your soul, who would you rather be? The man about to be shot? Or the man about to do the shooting?

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Bezug enthalten in "ER: Try Carter (#11.3)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Ranjahx

Fun and entertaining. Don't take it too seriously.

It was hard to watch this film and not compare some of the wild action/fight scenes with those in the Matrix or its over-hyped sequel. Whilst the scenes in BPM are not as polished or well done as those in the Matrix, they are entertaining enough and the choreography and use of props showed much more promise and imagination than those in the Wachowski Bros. productions (at least in regard to the Matrix Reloaded, anyhow).

But this film did not receive the hype that TMR did and, consequently, my expectations of it were lower. As a result, I was not disappointed in BPM as I was with TMR. Sure, its all silliness, but at least it has the humour to go along with that silliness. In short, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and neiither should the audience.

Chow-Yun Fat shows he can play non-serious roles and get away with it, and Sean William Scott shows he can do other parts away from American Pie and its teen comedy clones. But a particular joy to see in this film is the appearance of Mako, whom I haven't seen much of in recent years. He only has a small role in this film, but he steals the show whenever he's on screen.

The kung-fu isn't quite as wild as Crouching Tiger's flying escapades nor is the wire-work quite so obvious. All in all a fun movie that should be watched as it was intended, as sheer escapism.

There are a few bad points. Watch out for the villain at the end. He should get the "worst villain's hairstyle" award for his mullet. That, and the ludicrous torture machine are the lighter negative aspects in an otherwise entertaining movie, and even they somehow just add to the fun. The only really dire moment is "Mr Funktastic's" atrocious British accent/choice of language. There are some things Hollywood will NEVER get right!