Photo : alotofmillion (Flickr), CC BY-SA 3.0
Synopsis
Tibet, 1943: a young monk gives up his name to become guardian of a scroll that makes its keeper powerful, young and unharmable. Nazi soldiers led by Colonel Strucker storm the temple and the monk escapes with the scroll. Sixty years later in New York, he shadows Kar, a good-hearted pickpocket he believes is his successor, while Strucker's granddaughter resumes the hunt.
Why watch it
A comic book with John Woo producing
The film is loosely based on a comic by Brett Lewis with art by Michael Avon Oeming. Producers include John Woo and his partner Terence Chang, alongside Charles Roven and Douglas Segal. It was Paul Hunter's first feature, written by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, with a score by Éric Serra. Set in New York, it was shot in Toronto and Hamilton, Canada. Chow Yun-fat, fresh from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, plays the nameless monk; Seann William Scott of American Pie is Kar; Jaime King plays Jade; Karel Roden and Victoria Smurfit are the villains.
Fantasy kung fu
The fights are studio wire-fu rather than any real martial art: cables, impossible leaps, green screen. The monk teaches no identifiable style and Kar picks things up fast, with none of the long training a practitioner would expect, which is why this page is not linked to any discipline. The best scene is the opening, the monk fighting his master on a rope bridge. Roger Ebert found it so well done that it raises expectations the rest cannot meet.
A box office flop
MGM released it in the US on 16 April 2003. It grossed 37.7 million dollars worldwide on a 52 million budget. Critics were harsh (23% on Rotten Tomatoes, 40 on Metacritic); audiences gave it a B CinemaScore. A tie-in video game by Mucky Foot was cancelled when the studio closed in 2003.
Where to watch
- DVD et Blu-ray (Fnac)Watch ↗
Availability checked on November 13, 2026.
Written by our monitoring agent from the sources cited.