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In 1986, 'The Golden Child' was a Tibet-meets-West comedy fantasy which exploited the talents of comic du jour Eddie Murphy. Today the similar 'Bulletproof Monk' exploits the comic appeal of Seann William Scott ('American Pie', 'Road Trip', 'Dude, Where's My Car?'), but it also draws on the recent popularity of martial arts epic 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and its star Chow Yun-Fat. In Tibet in 1943 the Monk with No Name (Yun-Fat) protects the 'scroll of the ultimate' from Nazi officer Strucker (Karel Roden), and makes a miraculous escape. Sixty years later, in America, the Monk, whose youth has been magically preserved by the scroll, becomes convinced that Seann William Scott's pickpocket Kar (as in 'Dude, where's my...?') is destined to be the next protector of the scroll. At first Kar seems more interested in courting Bad Girl (Jamie King), until Strucker, now elderly and wheelchair-bound, but still ruthlessly evil, forces Kar to confront his destiny and kick some Nazi ass. Amidst all the impossible stuntwire leaping and bullet dodging, there's one sleight of hand which this film manages to pull off with particular cunning: by skipping from 1943 to 2003, it leaves the impression that Tibet's problems begin and end with World War II German National Socialism - conveniently glossing over half a century of subsequent Chinese occupation and repression. There was a time - 1997 to be precise - when Hollywood was only too happy to criticise China in general ('Red Corner') and its treatment of the Tibetans in particular ('Kundun', 'Seven Years in Tibet'): but now that the US has conferred Most Favoured Nation status on China, apparently the magic of cinema can make the whole sorry tale of Sino-Tibetan relations simply disappear. Still, I found 'Bulletproof Monk' to be surprisingly entertaining. A charming on-screen rapport develops between Yun-Fat, who, with over eighty films to his name, is as much an old master as the character he plays, and Scott, who is the perfect young apprentice, not yet on his teacher's level but full of potential. The film's comic book origins are reflected in its absurdly old-school antagonists, Strucker and his granddaughter Nina (Victoria Smurfit), Nazis who have exchanged the goose-step for the martial arts high-kick. The action set-pieces are impressive, but best of all is the knowing script (by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris), which never takes too seriously the sub-Yoda cryptic mumbo jumbo it gives the Monk to utter. Better than expected. Anton Bitel, 19.04.03 |
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