Monkey Man (2024)

I went into this movie blind last night (only knowing Jordan Peele produced it and it was Devl Patel’s first time directing) and… WOW. This one blew me away.

Now usually I’m not one for just any old assembly-line action movie, with the typical properly exposed look, the hollow character that must fight to save his child or whatever, or he’s some superhero that must learn his power to defeat the big bad, those just aren’t for me and always feel like the same movie… over and over and over.

This one, however, this one was something different.

Off the jump, the cinematography was beautiful, filled with extreme close-ups that will be prevalent for the rest of the film. We’re taught the story of Hanuman through a flashback of Dev Patel’s character (known as Kid) sitting with his mom as she tells him the legend, we’re shown close-ups of both of them along with comic-like photos of Hanuman in this beautiful dream-like sequence, then boom we’re in the ring with Kid in a monkey mask. After that… I couldn’t wait to see where this movie went.

Ok is the script anything groundbreaking? No, it’s not. We have our hero with a sad backstory out for revenge for his Mother. he reaches his goal but fails and has to train from nothing once again. Hell, there’s even a scene where he feeds a stray dog, I learned that one in my Intro to Scriptwriting class! But that’s the thing, it doesn’t have to be a groundbreaking script that changes the beat ‘em up genre into something completely new, because the Actors, the cinematography, and the editing morph this into a unique project.

The fast sequences filled with close-up shots, like when we follow a stolen wallet switch from hand to hand until it makes it back to Kid, or his escape after he fails to complete his mission the first time make this such an interesting watch. The movie grabs you and doesn’t let you breathe. It demands your attention even through the most boring parts by not really allowing you to see the full scope of the scene, forcing you to figure out what’s going on, and as soon as you understand where you are we cut to somewhere new.

Of course the fight sequences are amazing as well, beautifully choreographed, gorey, and loud. Enough to have me sitting up straight pogging during all of it.

me in the theater watching a man die from hitting his head on a toilet

The camera also played a lot with the environment, showing us shots of fights through mirrors, over tables, and in POV shots of Kid which made the action even more immersive and added to the nonstop momentum of this film.

Overall I loved this movie. The story was simple and didn’t feel too focused on trying to be deep or being something it wasn’t. A ton of shit is going on around Patel’s character but he’s focused on what happened in his past and becoming his Mother’s Monkey Man. His goal is simple throughout and he never wavers from it. It’s a simple A to B become strong and kill bad guy movie but through beautiful and thought-out cinematography and editing, feels like so much more than that. It’s very reminiscent of Drive and that’s more than ok with me.

Dev Patel please direct more movies… but also act in them because you’re dope.

Literally me for the rest of the week