Monkey Man

A really enjoyable and at times moving actioner, with a good heart and enough social commentary to elevate it above the ordinary.

First time director (and kudos to him, this is a brilliant debut film) and star Dev Patel shows here that he is a director to watch and a bonified movies star. The boy has chops. Here he plays Monkey Man, an underground street fighter just striving to make a living in the slums of India but with a burning desire for vengeance. As the film progresses we are slowly introduced to both the target(s) of his vengeance and the reasons he is crippled by it.

You've seen this all before in a hundred films of its type but this has enough style and substance to it to stand out from the rest. The fights scenes (especially as the film progresses and our protagonist improves) are dynamic and kinetic, the camera never stops moving. But there are enough quiet, still, thoughtful moments here to raise this film above the usual chaff. The flashback scenes are filled with warmth and beauty and show a real eye as a director. The film uses music exceptionally well to add both gravitas and levity to scenes where needed.

With influences from western cinema, Indian cinema and especially 90s East Asian action flicks this film has enough pace and action for the fight movie fans but also enough of a story and heart for the general movie goer. You'll be rooting for our eponymous Monkey Man to get his vengeance. As I said a really excellent directorial debut from an already established young, proper movie star. The future really looks bright for Mr Patel.

Just Got out of an Early Screening of Monkey Man.

It was a High Intensity Watch at Times. It has an Effective Display of Energy up on the Screen. I didn't know Dev Patel Directed this. I must say, it's a Very Good Execution.

A Mix of Indian Mythology, Hand to Hand Combat and Great Sound Design and Score.

Things I Liked -

1a. 💪 Dev Patel is very good in this, he's brutal, both in giving and receiving Pain.

1b. 💪 Staying on the Fighting, Some of the Fight Sequences and Fight Choreography were very Good.

2. 🎵 ⚡ The Thumping Score and Sound Design Vastly Elevates What's Happening on Screen, it sounds very Good on the Ear 👂. It's very Effective Stuff.

3. 📜 The Plotline is Interesting Enough, as I said it's a Mix of Indian Mythology, Some Real World Indian Political History, Brutal Hand to Hand Combat (Some Gun Play too) and a Revenge Story.

4. Loved the Ending.

Overall, a very High Intensity Watch at Times.

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%

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.

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.