Monkey Man

A good revenge film that takes its time to develop the protagonist. Dev Patel gives a gut-wrenching portrait of man that lost everything. Enhanced by some creative photography, the violence is brutal and visceral. Taking its time, the film asks the audience to be patient for the hero to fully come into his "powers," but the payoff is well worth it. There is some "shaky cam," but not too much to ruin the experience. The spirituality, as well as the legends told in the movie, really add to the overall story, giving the film more substance than a lot of action films. The villains could of been developed a bit more, especially the Lion, but that's nitpicking.

Revenge movies being incredible or forgettable boils down to two factors. The quality of the action choreography and original fight scenes, and the ratio of backstory/reason for revenge to actually getting revenge. What made John Wick the pinnacle of revenge movies is how they masterfully build a world during action sequences, spending only the first 1% of the movie establishing his reason for revenge and then taking you for a thrill ride of artfully choreographed violence. Monkey Man sadly is not the Indian John Wick because where John wick does more with very little, Monkey Man conversely takes the opposite approach essentially dividing the film into two acts. The first half of the movie, roughly accounting for 65% of the duration of the 2 hour film consists of backstory, reason for revenge, and without spoiling anything, setbacks.

A successful revenge movie understands that pacing is the sharpest blade. There may be setbacks. But they don't set back the pace as the movie always inches forward towards revenge.

While it is true that it is possible to enhance the satisfaction of revenge by focusing more on the reason for that revenge, this is extremely difficult to do and in almost all cases ends up causing the movie to drag. This was very much the case with Monkey Man, or as my title refers to it - Monkey Marathon.

Monkey Man has elements of what it needs to be to achieve a John Wick level of action film, but it goes in the completely wrong direction. Long form story telling. Drags. The whole first act drags and doesn't need to.

78%

Huge Dev Patel fan. Monkey Man is the first movie I've gone to see in the theaters in a very long time. I just don't get interested enough to not wait for it to be streaming.

Monkey Man compelled me to go. It's probably the best movie trailer I've ever seen, or at least one of the best.

The problem with the trailer that I foresee is many are going to walk out of the theater feeling misled.

If you're an action movie fan, DO NOT GO SEE THIS IN THEATERS. Wait for streaming. This is a drama with elements of action and crime thriller. Anyone going in who thinks this is like John Wick will be sorely disappointed. The problem is, that's the impression the trailer gives.

I'm actually not even a John Wick fan. I like action movies, but I don't seek them out often. What I thought could make Monkey Man special was the added substance of Indian mythology, culture, and a more fleshed out character drama that was hinted at in the trailer.

Some of that was present, but it didn't come together nearly as well as I had hoped. I don't agree with the severe criticism of the action scenes and how they were filmed. I thought they were good and the shaky cam didn't bother me. Could it have been better? Probably. But I think the criticism there is overblown.

Where the film missed its mark for me was the story itself. The first act was good, but in the second act it ground to a halt for 40 minutes or so of more of what we already learned in act 1, at the expense of pacing. Some parts were fleshed out way too much while other parts weren't fleshed out enough, making it feel off almost the whole movie. The supporting characters didn't get enough of this, which didn't help us care about them and also care about them joining the fight with our protagonist.

I'm genuinely surprised at some of Dev's choices in Act 2. I actually admire him for trying to make a movie with more substance that could be called action to some degree, but I just think he didn't nail the blend of these things with Monkey Man. You could argue that he tried to do too much. There was a significant amount of extended flashback used throughout even up to the very end. This ended up taking us out of the present and hurting the flow of the story.

I think Monkey Man as Dev Patel envisioned it might have been much better as a limited series. So that he could take his time and flesh everything out the way he wanted. Because again, there were some great elements in this movie. Good acting, good cinematography, good music (although it sounds as if it was more stereotypical Indian music and other cultural elements used), some great fight scene moments, and some fun bits. It just doesn't add up to a great movie.

Someone else mentioned they felt detached a bit, and I agree. Despite the protagonist's story having the right emotional elements to draw us in, it didn't do it as much I had hoped for me.

What I envision is a lot of people going into this expecting a pure action thrill ride, and they're going to be bored. Again, this is a drama, and one that I wanted to like more than I did.

This doesn't sour me on Dev at all. He may have just bit off more than he could chew with this one, but he had the balls to go for it, and I respect that.

Got to see an early screening of Monkey Man. I had good expectations going off the trailer and they were met and beyond.

The film starts off well and builds momentum for a decent revenge arc although it is hard to follow sometimes. The shakey camera work contributes to this as well as the dialogue not being particularly clear.

However what takes this film from good to great is the final third. The music, the action, the violence, it was just so incredibly well done especially for first time director. I couldn't take my eyes off it and didn't know what to expect next.

Thank you Jordan peele for saving this from streaming as this deserves to be seen on the big screen!

"Only God can forgive you now"

Man. What a wild ride. Violent, fast paced yet beautifully shot. Great effort by Dev Patel on his directorial debut. He has managed to create a worthwhile action film with some great set pieces, neck, breaking stunts and an overall good looking film.

I think what triumphs the most is the fast pace, headache inducing editing (this is a positive) with some great colour schemes and set pieces. It's fast paced editing matched the chaotic streets of India, mixed with its rich culture and history.

The soundtrack was reminiscent of John Wick, with it's party scenes and colour palette. There was some great cinematography, especially through its use of silhouettes towards the final act.

You can see the directors, aim to portray the monkey man, as a legendary figure who supports the powerless, and the impoverished of India's lower class. He makes a stand against those who are in control, which is a great pairing for an action/revenge film.

I will say that the second act does falter a bit in its speed and does drag down in some places however, it quickly picks up pace again in the last act where monkey man turns into a proper beast.

You can see the message the director portrayed as he highlights the inequality surrounding the poor in India and uses this medium to show that there is hope and people willing to make a stand against those who are in control.

All in all a decent action film with great choreography, stunts, soundtrack and editing. This is an enjoyable watch, but doesn't elevate much further than your standard action flick.

All praise for Indian John Wick!