dark_adjudication Posted April 19, 2003 Posted April 19, 2003 Is Chow Yun Fat trying to be a Jacke Chan knock-off, teaming up with an American goofball? It may be funny but I'm not going to risk paying $7 for it at the theater without some reviews. If anyone sees it let me know how it is... By the way, what style does he do? It looks cool, what ever it is... "There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change; it is, 'To use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wounds, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time.' " Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
monkeygirl Posted April 21, 2003 Posted April 21, 2003 I thought so at first too, that he's doing the whole Rush Hour/Shanghai Noon thing. I saw it over the weekend with some friends. The storyline begins pretty corny, and before long you see Chow Yun Fat's extensive use of wires, i.e. breaking the laws of physics. Later, they do explain that he can do this because of mystical powers, whatever...so at least they try to explain it, rather than pass it off as real like in some other movies Kar (Seann William Scott) is arguably the best darned character in the whole movie (I say arguably because the monkey was pretty cool). His character develops nicely, and his action scenes were pretty good...he looked like he knew what he was doing, for the most part. Plus, he's a good actor, which is always nice. My major complaint was of the character Jade, a.k.a. "Bad Girl". I'm not sure how much MA training/experience she has, but in almost all of her fight scenes, the camera was really close-up so you couldn't actually see the technique. There were a few times when you could see her doing moves, but they were fairly simple ones On to Chow Yun Fat himself (his character had no name): everything was ok, fight scenes were cool, blah blah blah. I'm not a big fan of wires, so I had to steel myself every time he would do something outrageous...like the Cocoa Puffs scene where he does an impossibly low backbend, then WHILE HE'S DOWN THERE, steers himself around before standing up. Hard to explain, but maybe that's because it's not possible!! Although I will admit there were some scenes when the wires were used as they should be: to make awesome fight scenes! My Worst Character award goes to: "Mista Funktastic". What was up with that guy? I just wanted to punch him in the face and laugh as he cried his funktastic tears. So while I did have some complaints about "Bad Girl" and her fight scenes, the overall story was pretty good. The action was pretty good, there wasn't too much and not too little either. The ending was definitely the best of any MA movie I've ever seen. So would I recommend this movie? Yes, but with a warning: beware of wires. They may tick you off 1st dan & Asst. Instructor TKD 2000-2003No matter the tune...if you can rock it, rock it hard.
jake Posted April 21, 2003 Posted April 21, 2003 and monkeygirl do you think the baby will have tatoos? haha but she practicly said everything i was thinking. i thought the movie was pretty cool. you would understand my question if you saw the movie.
aes Posted April 22, 2003 Posted April 22, 2003 I saw it on the weekend. I enjoyed it. Nothing super about this movie but the effects/stunts were cool. 43 Years oldBlue Belt (7th Kyu) Shorin-ryuRoberts Karate
dark_adjudication Posted April 24, 2003 Author Posted April 24, 2003 How many stars would you give it? "There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change; it is, 'To use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wounds, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time.' " Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
monkeygirl Posted April 24, 2003 Posted April 24, 2003 From the standpoint of just being a movie, I'd give it 4 out of 5. If Bad Girl's action had been better, it would be 5. I just really liked the story...it was a very fun movie to watch just as a movie. Looking at it critically from a martial artists' view, I'd probably give it 2.5 out of 5, because of the extensive use of wires and "fantasy" martial arts. I do think that the story really made up for it. To summarize: this movie is kind of like Spaghetti-O's. If you eat a can and expect them to taste like spaghetti, you'll be greatly disappointed. Eat with an open mind and no expectation of flavor, and you might like it. If you watch this movie and expect it to be realistic you'll be greatly disappointed. However, if you just watch it like you would any other movie, with the willingness to have a good time...you just might like it. 1st dan & Asst. Instructor TKD 2000-2003No matter the tune...if you can rock it, rock it hard.
aes Posted April 24, 2003 Posted April 24, 2003 Yes I would give it a 3.5 or 4 out of 5. I was entertained, but glad I paid matinee prices. 43 Years oldBlue Belt (7th Kyu) Shorin-ryuRoberts Karate
jmy77 Posted April 24, 2003 Posted April 24, 2003 you seem to be giving it a near perfect rating of 4 out of 5 then saying you need an open mind or are glad you didn't pay full price.... Which is it? If I am giving a movie 4 out of 5 I would have more good things to say about it then bad. I think they do a good job of showing that the movie is not based on realistic MAs in the trailers on TV. "Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft." - Pres. Theodore Roosevelt "You don't have to like it, you just have to do it." - Captain Richard Marcinko, USN, Ret."Do more than what is required of you." - General George S. Patton"If you have to step on someone else to stand tall, then you truely are a small person." - ?
Kung Fu Hamster Posted April 24, 2003 Posted April 24, 2003 I haven't seen it but it doesn't look too bad. I saw the advert and I thought it looked WICKED, then I saw the name... I know you're not meant to judge it like that but what kinda name is "Bullet Proof Monk?" no offense to the makers of course Everybodies Going Kung Fu Fighting! Yah Hoocha! LMAO
monkeygirl Posted April 25, 2003 Posted April 25, 2003 Well, the monk isn't really "bulletproof" per se, but bullets won't kill him, because he heals really fast. I can understand being happy about matinee prices. My family doesn't go to the movies very much, basically because we don't want to pay $30 to see a movie we could see for $3 in a few months by renting the video. We do make exceptions for special occasions like birthdays, celebrations, or really cool special effects like a Star Wars/Star Trek/Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter (I know I know)/Matrix-type movie. Action movies are pretty rare. Going to see Bulletproof Monk was one of those "birthday" theater visits. 1st dan & Asst. Instructor TKD 2000-2003No matter the tune...if you can rock it, rock it hard.
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