It’s hard for action films to be memorable in this day and age, but Monkey Man does just that with its unique style and storytelling.
Monkey Man (2024) is a movie that flew under many people’s radar. But the film is gaining more and more traction and doing well for us with as little budget as it had. The budget ran out, so some scenes had to be filmed with a GoPro camera or an iPhone camera. Dev Patel directs, writes, and stars in this film. So it’s kind of a passion project for him, it seems. I think he has a promising future ahead of him because he did all of those tasks very well.
A lot of times, when a film is directed by its leading star, the film becomes all about the leading star. The film is all about showcasing their talents and abilities instead of what’s best for the film. We see this a lot come Oscar season. A good example of this is Maestro. Bradley Cooper directed and starred in the film. While that film is good, it was more of a showcase for his acting abilities than a good story.
Monkey Man (2024) isn’t that, though. Our main character “kid” played by Dev Patel, barely talks. For most of the film, we are listening to someone else talk. This is also good because a lot of the acting comes from his expressions rather than what he’s saying. Monkey Man (2024) has a very visual story-telling aspect, which I adore. I love it when films shut up and do the thing they’re supposed to do: visual storytelling. Especially in action, you go to see action, not two people talking in a room.
While Monkey Man (2024) is not action-packed the whole time, it gets pretty intense at the end. The ending action sequence is incredible. I was on the edge of my seat. It reminded me of all the John Wick films I’ve seen, which is the highest compliment, as John Wick is my favorite action film series. It seems that John Wick is the gold standard for action films in this age as well. Many people have been comparing it to John Wick as well because it is a one-man army-type action film.
I think it can be compared, but our main character isn’t as unstoppable as John Wick. He struggles for most of Monkey Man (2024) until he’s properly motivated and trained near the end. It’s a great rise-to-the-occasion film, and he also starts at the bottom and rises to the top as far as his jobs and how he lives.
Monkey Man (2024) is set in India and has a very well-grounded, realistic approach. They do speak English in the film, though. We don’t see a ton of films in theaters here in America based in India, but it was nice to see them. It might turn some people off as it isn’t an American action flick, but it’s just as good as any other American action flick, if not better.
Monkey Man (2024) is a revenge story. “Kid,” who is our main character’s mother, was killed by a corrupt leader. This corrupt leader is part of a political group that has power over the place he lives. But this political group is very corrupt, with blood on their hands. So Kid goes to put an end to all this and avenge his mother’s death. Beyond that, we see some great flashbacks of his trauma as a child watching his mother die in front of them. The way these scenes are filmed well in the cinematography and editing shines through.
I think the editing might be one of the best parts of Monkey Man (2024). They do a great job of juxtaposing scenes. There will be a scene where there’s loud music in a club, then a door slams, and we’re in a silent room with no sound at all. This does a great job with pacing, as the movie is almost 2 hours long.
Speaking of the music, since the budget was low, they obviously couldn’t get a ton of well-known songs. What they did instead was a smart move that some low-budget movies do. They would get a remix or cover of a song that is well-known.
In Monkey Man (2024), during a club scene, we have a remix of The Police song “Roxanne.” Of course, using the original song costs a ton of money. Instead, they use a remix of the song, which costs less. You can still hear the song’s hook and recognize what it is. It’s just a dance remix. So that does a good job of clicking off a few recognizable songs in Monkey Man (2024). The remixes of these classic songs in the film are pretty cool as well. They are mixed into the soundscape, and the look of the film is awesome.
We have great world-building that also helps with the design of the film. Another great music drop was when they added heavy metal to a great fight sequence at the end of the film. I have to bring this up because I am a massive heavy metal fan, and it always frustrates me in these fight films that they don’t use more intense music. When you have people fighting, you’re assuming that it’s going to be intense music, but sometimes it isn’t. The more intense metal was pretty awesome and made it even more knuckle-cracking and intense.
It might sound like I am puffing up Monkey Man (2024), but it has flaws. It is a little longer than it should be. But I think the biggest flaw for me is that the first half of the film shoots its action scenes with an extremely shaky camera. This goes back to a very disliked trend that happened in the mid-2000s. With this technique, you can barely see what’s going on, and it’s very nauseating.
It’s frustrating because you don’t get to see all the work that was put into the choreography of the fight. I was very frustrated, but then something clicked in the later half of Monkey Man (2024), as the final fight sequence didn’t have this style at all.
It’s a very strange contrast, and I don’t know if it was intentional or not. I would say it was, but it’s hard to say if it looks a lot better than the second half. The second half is filmed regularly, and you can see all the movements happening. Making that final fight scene phenomenal. Monkey Man (2024) is saved by those final 20 minutes or so of the film. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing because if you can end the film on a high note, it can make you feel better about the movie in general.
I left with a smile on my face and felt fulfilled. It’s a great revenge film that has a lot of heart to it. If this is your kind of movie, you’ll love it. It has enough slick editing, music, and world-building to keep you entertained when it’s not in action 24/7.
This film was awesome to see in theaters, but it’ll be fun to watch on streaming. As of now, it looks like it’s going to hop on Max. The film was almost originally for Netflix, but it got picked up by Universal and got a theatrical run. Be sure to keep your eye out for this one-action fan.
