Fast-paced, explosive, dramatic, realistic, with a lot of heart and soul! Dev Patel’s directorial debut is everything you need and want from an action movie: tension, high-octane chases, beatdowns, dirty fights, culture and tradition, dark humour, blood, drama, rage… you name it!
Co-writer/director Dev Patel and producer Jordan Peele gave it their all to bring this film to life. Patel especially risked a lot and put a lot into bringing Monkey Man to the big screen. From COVID restrictions to lack of money to injuries, the film faced more obstacles than you can count. But he made it! And Monkey Man, despite its flaws, will one day be up there with films such as Enter the Dragon (1973), Unleashed (2005), Warrior King (2005), The Raid: Redemption (2011), John Wick (2014), and more.
Impressive protracted shots (oners), fast-paced montages, meticulous sound design, realistic hand-to-hand fighting, and a tight script with a solid setup, confrontation and resolution will satisfy your visual and auditory senses and leave you excited until way after the end credits start scrolling down. As said earlier, all the obstacles the film faced surfaced flaws (i.e. balance between the flashbacks and the present), but I, for one, decided to turn a blind eye due to the immense effort Patel put into it.
Monkey Man is a story-driven drama/action/thriller in which, after the inciting incident occurs, unfathomable trauma unfolds, conquers and shatters a man’s soul. On the way to redemption and completing the hero’s journey, the Indian caste system, poverty, minorities, chauvinism, abuse of power, religion, corruption, and individual and societal pain blend in and embrace the plot as much as they provide food for thought.
Making a film is hard work. Making a good film is an achievement. Experience the thrill!
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