Monkey Man

Slightly too long, but pretty much every other element of 'Monkey Man' is more than enough to compensate.

I had a very good time watching what is Dev Patel's directorial debut. He himself is outstanding, having portrayed the role of the titular character perfectly. I had only seen the guy in two films ('Slumdog Millionaire' & 'The Last Airbender') prior to this, so very much happy to see him act further. An excellent job from him on and off screen, I'm happy that he managed to get this made in the end.

As noted, I do think the run time could've been trimmed a little. It's not a major issue of mine, at all, but at a few moments I did feel my interest wane a bit. The story itself is a good one though, one that is entwined with a lot of ...

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://talkingfilms.net/monkey-man-review-an-imperfect-yet-compelling-directorial-debut-from-dev-patel/

"Monkey Man shows that Dev Patel still has much to learn when it comes to directing and writing, but his unwavering commitment to a culturally and thematically rich story deserves countless praises.

A revenge arc with some pacing issues narrative-wise, but with action sequences loaded with energy and adrenaline, even when chaotically choreographed and shot. Predictably dedicated performance from Patel that avoids some genre formulas while paying homage to some of the classics that inspired him.

An imperfect yet compelling debut."

Rating: B

Dev Patel has spoken a lot about him not wanting to be "James Bond" but it looks like those stories have inspired quite a bit of this pretty derivative revenge thriller that actually reminded me a bit of his "Hotel Mumbai" (2018) outing too. We know that he ("Kid") routinely dons a monkey mask for some wrestling and he duly gets a pasting - but that this all has purpose. That purpose starts to come together when he manages to organise a subtle sting operation on "Queenie" (Ashwini Kalsekar) who runs an high-end gentleman's club. His reward here is a job. In the kitchens, bleaching the toilets and washing the pots. A means to an end though as he befriends the drug-pusher "Alphonso" (Pitobash) - who has a nifty, turbo-charged, tuk-tuk, and is...

This movie is a boring John Wick wannabe (they literally mention John Wick in the movie). The action sucks, the cinematography is nauseating, the story is boring. There's nothing good about this movie. I'm convinced the high reviews are probably from Indians, as they like to rate shit movies highly. If you're not Indian, don't waste your time on this crap.

There's a recurrent metaphor throughout the film, of Hanuman trying to eat the sun leaping towards it Icarus-like and being stopped by the gods eventually. Maybe Dev Patel was aware of how well this metaphor would encapsulate his brave directorial debut too, all throughout the film he's trying to reach the narrative he wants to tell but he eventually pulls his own punches. Only if he knew his film would eventually not release in Indian theaters at all, howmuchever he restrains himself.

Don't get me wrong, this is a highly enjoyable film. But the commentary on the current Indian society and what is plaguing it and all the classist and casteist divides we have setup within ourselves -- all of that comes out a tad bit feeble and a bit too w...