MONKEY MAN – A Review by John Strange
Monkey Man opens with us being shown an Indian woman and her son as she teaches the young man about Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god. Then the bad guys sweep in and burn their village and kill the mother, thus starting the young man down the road to a Bronson-like revenge.
As an adult, he makes a little money wearing a monkey mask and getting beat to a pulp every night. He figures out a way to get into the heart of the bad guys’ enterprise.
And suddenly we are watching an Indian John Wick film made by some gore-loving horror director. This is interesting as the director of this film is Dev Patel. He is an amazing actor/director, so this is not the film I expected.
The film is filled with flashbacks to the happy days with his mother and fight after bloody, extreme fight! The fight scenes are filled with fighters beating the crap out of each other when they aren’t using knives! Like those early fights in the ring, just bloodier.
I wanted to like this film. Dev Patel made this film for a reason that seemed personal. I just didn’t get it. This film will do well with the horror crowd but not the average filmgoer due to the extreme buckets of blood. For me, the run-and-gun cinematography in the fight scenes is just too much. The storyline is pretty good, but it is so overshadowed by the gore that was easy to ignore.
Director: Dev Patel
Cast: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Sobhita Dhulipala, Adithi Kalkunte, Sikandar Kher, Pitobash, Brahim Chab, Vipin Sharma, Jino A. Samuel, Joseph J.U. Taylor, Nagesh Bhonsle, Alona Vykydanets, Reva Marchellin, Anup J. Patel, Andres Levi, Dayangku Zyana, Jeremy Tauziac, Fahad Scale, Pehan Abdul
MPAA Rating: R (for strong bloody violence throughout, language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug use)
Selig Rating: 2.5 Stars
Runtime: 113 Min.
Release Date: 04/05/2024
Language: English
Movie Site: MONKEY MAN Official Site
Trailer: MONKEY MAN Official Trailer
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.
