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Chow's 'Bulletproof Monk' has few comedic holes

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, April 16, 2003
  • - Photo: HANDOUT
    - Photo: HANDOUT


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POLITE APPLAUSE Bulletproof Monk: Action. Starring Chow Yun-Fat and Seann William Scott. Directed by Paul Hunter. (PG-13. 103 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)

"Bulletproof Monk" has more going for it than a promising title. It has a life and style that other buddy action movies lack -- plus moldy subterranean locations straight out of a video or cartoon fantasy. It also has a first-time director, Paul Hunter, who didn't approach the material cynically but actually tried to make a good picture -- and succeeded.

Most importantly, "Bulletproof Monk" has Chow Yun-Fat as the title character, a Tibetan monk who was entrusted 60 years ago to protect an ancient scroll. The scroll is a little like Tolkien's ring in that it can grant unlimited power and guarantees eternal youth to whoever possesses it. As the Monk With No Name, Chow gives the movie an appealing center. He's more robust than the average monk, and he has a nice face to look at for almost two hours.

What makes Chow's face nice is the vast quantity of private amusement he brings to his performance. His inner twinkle, a familiar aspect of his charm as an actor, is put to good use here, suggesting that, despite all the goons shooting at him throughout the movie, the job of a semi-eternal bulletproof monk is an all-right gig.

The monk is especially amused by a young pickpocket who robs him. He takes in young Kar (Seann William Scott) with a Buddha-like interior hilarity, recognizing him for a thief and a scoundrel but also seeing spunk, and monks like spunk. The monk starts going everywhere Kar goes, sizing him up, talking to him, measuring him as a possible successor. He does this in between fighting off waves of attackers, as an ancient Nazi (Karel Roden) and his sexy granddaughter (Victoria Smurfit) keep sending assault squads to steal the scroll.

"Bulletproof Monk" is on solid ground early on, when the monk turns up inside Kar's apartment and Kar tries to throw him out. Without dropping a bowl of cereal, the monk is able to duck Kar's blows, falling all the way back on his heels and then rocking back to an upright position, like a child's punching bag. It's a tasteful use of computer graphics -- to enhance a moment rather than be a moment's entire reason for being.

Kar is the biggest role yet for Scott ("American Pie"), and he responds with a commitment and wholehearted earnestness that's uncommon in the action genre. Put simply, Scott treats this role as if somebody just handed him Hamlet. Nothing is phoned in or sloughed off. He is present in every moment, as alert as a small animal and equally bright-eyed and cute in a scruffy sort of way. He's the terrier to Chow's Great Dane, and the two make a good team. Jaime King (formerly known as James King) rounds out the crew, in contol as a kind of damaged ice princess.

"Bulletproof Monk" is based on a three-comic series published in the late '90s. Perhaps because there was only three of them, the movie doesn't feel overburdened by story. It also wasn't tremendously famous, so it's not fettered by the necessity of pleasing millions of fans. But the comic inspiration helps in the movie's look and feel, with much of the action set in dark warehouses, murky subways and cavelike hideaways.

Hunter has a background in music video, and he lets that be his glory, not his ruin. He doesn't film "Bulletproof Monk" as a succession of four-minute movies, and he doesn't try to jazz up scenes with excessive cutting. Rather, he shows an eye for bringing together images in a way that a music video brings together music and pictures.

A noteworthy example is the shot in which we see Kar, in the Asian movie theater where he works, watching a martial arts picture and doubling the fight moves he sees onscreen. We see a screen in the background, and a man in the foreground, in a moment that's not necessary to the story but dreamlike, lyric and cool, a pleasant little extra. -- Advisory: This movie contains graphic violence, including scenes of torture.