Bulletproof Monk
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: April 16, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
15
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It has a life and style that other buddy action movies lack Read full review
70
VarietyRobert Koehler
Not surprisingly based on a comic book series by Brett Lewis and R.A. Jones (whom pic fails to credit), pic hurtles along at a pace designed by vet music vid and ad helmer Paul Hunter to engage short attention spans. Read full review
70
SalonCharles Taylor
Lightweight but delightful martial-arts romp. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Too much seriousness can be fatal to a picture like this one, since it impedes the efficient delivery of dumb laughter and easy thrills. Read full review
60
Film ThreatClint Morris
It’s a film that walks a fine-line between serious superhero flick and slapstick, giving the audience a conglomerate of great martial arts moments intertwined with some very funny dialogue and impetus. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Action star Chow Yun-Fat's latest is as thin as the buzz cut he sports in Bulletproof Monk. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The fight scenes in Bulletproof Monk are not as inventive as some I've seen (although the opening fight on a rope bridge is so well done that it raises expectations it cannot fulfill). Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
The worst sin is the way the film borrows and corrupts the gravity-defying action style of Yun-Fat's international hit, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Began life as a comic book, and screenwriters Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, ever respectful of that lineage, have not allowed the film's dialogue or plot points to rise above their cartoonish origins. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEd Park
Some reliably vertiginous fight sequences (rope bridge, rooftop signage) and modest flight experiments liven up the mix, but for all the leads' individual appeal, they seem to occupy slightly different films. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The story's entire foundation is based upon a plot hole so gargantuan that anyone not suffering a brain cramp will identify it at once. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
It’s a testament to Chow's star power that, even with an accent more than casually reminiscent of Elmer Fudd's, he comes off charming, handsome and cool in a movie as ridiculous as Bulletproof Monk. Read full review
50
Washington PostMark Jenkins
One of those motley movies that borrows from just about everywhere. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
It's pretty good fun, once it gets going, but still makes some of the same mistakes that have plagued other Hollywood films that interpolate the concepts of Hong Kong action. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
First-time director Paul Hunter delivers a quick-cut, loud movie that betrays his MTV roots -- but then again, the script never demands that he do much more than exactly that. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
As ungainly in its jammed-together East-meets-West-ness as Steven Seagal in a yoga pose. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderBill Stamets
A fair amount of visual panache, but the fight scenes are routine, the humor juvenile, and the Toronto locales rendered drab through muddy cinematography. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
So formulaic it starts to fade from memory before the last punch is thrown. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
A plot so preposterous it could only have emerged from the underground comic world. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
No visual style, amateur effects. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The picture's a dud... Instead of Chow's gravitas rubbing off on the kid, Scott's dude-ness dilutes Chow's authority. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Indeed a rip-off - a rehash of Hong Kong superstar Chow's greatest celluloid moments with an overlay of Hollywood action cliches, youth-flick silliness, and ah-so stereotypes. Read full review
38
PremiereAaron Hillis
Flashy, forgettable fluff. Read full review
33
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaul Lewis
Most surprising (and disappointing) is the film's lack of humor. Scott, who has a huge following and has developed a lively comic persona, never seems in on the joke. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Monk would probably make a nice rental on a dull evening, with some kind of salty snack and a drinking-game accompaniment. (Drink whenever Scott cries, "Oh, shit!") Read full review
30
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It never makes much sense. Read full review
25
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Relentlessly stupid. Read full review
20
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Sadly, it's yet another intercultural mishmash that hopes for its iconic star's charisma to overcome a dire script, cardboard characters, indifferently directed action scenes, and an atrocious villain buried under layers of unconvincing old-man makeup. Read full review
20
SlateDavid Edelstein
Yeah, 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. It makes them look like monkeys, and not bulletproof ones. Read full review
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