Bulletproof Monk: Critic Reviews

As ungainly in its jammed-together East-meets -West-ness as Steven Seagal in a yoga pose.

The lighting is bad, the editing of the action sequences sometimes messy, but these infelicities, curiously enough, increase the fun rather than diminishing it.

Great title, but this martial-arts comedy doesn't quite live up to it.

This is not a movie that sparks questions about the meaning of life. Well, maybe one: Dude, where's my Zen?

One of those motley movies that borrows from just about everywhere.

A movie chockablock with too many elements.

Harmless date-night fodder.

For all the leads' individual appeal, they seem to occupy slightly different films.

[Chow] and Scott spark some fine chemistry, with amusing contrasts between the philosophical monk and punkish hero.

There's a lot of slack in the script, weak directing resulting in awkward scenes and a lot of sloppy editing that sucks the energy out of the action scenes, which can be the kiss of death for a movie like this.

The ads and trailer hope we confuse it with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but this is more like the Young Readers version.

Bulletproof Monk may be the first movie based on a comic book to outshine its source material. Unfortunately, that's not saying much.

The fight scenes are routine, the humor juvenile, and the Toronto locales rendered drab through muddy cinematography.

This isn't really a movie, it's just one chase scene stacked on top of another and stitched together with the thinnest thread of plot.

Bulletproof Monk shoots blanks.

Every bit as awful as it sounds.

Model-turned-actress Jaime King changed her first name (from James) to star in Bulletproof Monk. Given her performance, she might have to enter the witness-protection program.

Adults will likely object to the innumerable plot question marks coming off the screen like so many kung-fu kicks to the head.

A moronic knockoff of Jackie Chan's buddy/action comedies, directed without much imagination or aspiration by music-video veteran Paul Hunter.

If you like your chop-sockey with a healthy serving of cheese, corn and a few giggles, you won't be disappointed.

Bulletproof Monk is such an overcooked and odoriferous turkey, the Butterball people ought to sue for defamation of character.

A plot so preposterous it could only have emerged from the underground comic world.

[A] lightweight but delightful martial-arts romp.

They made a ton of junky movies in Hong Kong, but those were dazzlingly fluid and high-flying junky movies. This American retread has the same sort of hack plot but none of the bravura.

Outside of the moments of kinetic madness that represent the action sequences, this movie is an amalgamation of lame comedy, campy Eastern mysticism, and dumb plotting.