Movie Time: Monkey Man

Recently we got the opportunity to screen Monkey Man in the theater before its actual date. Monkey Man is the new movie directed and starring Dev Patel(star of Slumdog Millionaire) and produced by Monkeypaw Productions(Us, Get Out and Nope)along with Bron Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures. Now that all the credits is out of the way, let's talk about the movie itself. In a nutshell Monkey Man is basically John Wick in India or Mumbai but with a political theme. Dev Patel is Kid, a anonymous man who earns a living by getting beat up in underground fights. He suppress his rage and finds himself in the circle of the city's elite. As he makes his way upwards in the circle, his trauma takes over and realizes the men that is at the top are the ones who murdered his mother. Inspired by the Hanuman legend that embodies strength and courage, Monkey Man is a hero that the voiceless and powerless that look up to and inspire to be.

Monkey Man is a intense, gritty and visually beautiful film. Dev Patel did a magnificient job as Kid and his mannerisms as he moves from being bloodied to working in a kitchen. The plot is not to hard to follow as we said earlier it is basically a Indian version of John Wick. There were great fight scenes and choreography in the film especially leading up the final scene of the movie. The supporting cast was great especially Pitobash as Alphonso who helps Kid get into the inner circle after picking on him because of his hands being scarred. Ashwini Kalsekar as Queenie who hires Kid is a cunning, straightforward about what she needs and she plays the role brilliantly. As Kid moves around she realizes he can be a asset yet not trustworthy. The screenplay co written by Patel with John Collee (Happy Feet, Master & Commander) and Paul Angunwela has great moments as when Kid is rescued by a local temple and realizes he have a purpose to those who are suffering due to their looks and are targets for the government. This is where the writers added the politicial element into the characters. The story turns into a tug of war between the elite and voiceless or powerless. Action thrillers are supposed to be fast paced, heavy on action and light with dialogue but Monkey Man is probably a blueprint or template of action thrillers of the modern time will be like. We love this film, it is a little refreshing albeit not that original but nowadays what's original in Hollywood these days.

We highly recommend seeing Monkey Man in theaters and on Netflix (whichever comes first) A fantastic, intense and stylistic film to get 2024 going especially now that we are into blockbuster season. Hopefully Dev and his team will do more action films(no sequels) because the other side of the world needs heroes and Monkey Man is a great start.