Monkey Man

Love that Dev wrote into the screenplay: "And then I'll take my shirt off, and the women nearby will all clap and cheer," art imitates life, life imitates art, and so on

Monkey Man is an action storm that must be experienced in the theater. It has lots of blood, a high dose of violence, interesting mythological roots, and a deep and realistic political stance. Also, you are not ready for the emotional intensity of the movie. Dev Patel has done a terrific job for his debut feature, combining neon aesthetics and good pacing.

I think the final third is what ultimately pushed this back into 85 territory for me, after the middle did admittedly dip a bit. Dev Patel shows tremendous chops in front of and behind the camera. An intense, highly violent portrayal of one man's quest for revenge, being simultaneously thrust into the role of combating the systemic abuses that surround him. Whoever had transgender Indian warrior monks on their 2024 bingo card, give yourself a pat on the back. Unique and well-executed by Patel.

Obviously inspired by the John Wick franchise, this film features good action scenes, but a script that takes too long in the slower parts, resulting in a film that could be shorter and more effective.

Poorly conceived action film that is made worse by it's air of self-importance and dated visuals. Thought Patel would have a bit more art in him.

A Masterpiece. I loved every second of this movie. A MUSE-SEE for fans of the action genre. Lots of spirituality, mythology, religion, faith and exceptionality

I liked the first half of the story. Patel found it interesting in Indian mythology, even though you compare the main set up to John Wick. There wasn't much character building. He walked most of the time to his chosen destination.

Dev Patel certainly has a certain level of talent that is very eye popping in many directions. His cinematography and direction while feeling borrowed in some aspects, feels personal and gravitating in the essence of a personal story. There is certainly an intensity of a message being made that goes above the sociopolitical scope, and blended with the brutal action set pieces, it’s quite fun, even with some pacing issues and cliche story beats. Patel is someone to keep an eye on going forward.

There's nothing to hate here, but this doesn't really stand among the great action movies. The action is completely solid, and much more inspired than the trash in the genre, but there's also a middle portion that sucks some of the life out of the movie. I get that it was trying to build and explore political tensions/corruption, but I checked out a little as we watched the guy become more than he was.

(JOHN WICKANZEE)

Hero Dev Patel really said that trans folx deserve to exert bloody violence against their oppressors. The first half is a little too long and a lot too shaky, but everything after the filthy river beats to a pulp those little gripes. I don't know if I blinked during the climax, as breathless tears dripped down. Exhilarating, inspiring, beautiful.

The John-Wick-like fight choreography by Frenchman Brahim Achabbakhe is all this movie has to offer. The script is mass-produced excrement and stinks to high heaven.

Kinda like Only God Forgives by way of John Wick (which gets referenced by name), and more than once evoked Jet Li's Fearless. Just an all-around good time.

John Wick meets Bollywood

Cool set pieces but a bit of a slog to get through at times.

Patel's debut as director is gritty and violent. The story does grip you even if parts of the film drag out during the middle. While this action film does not reinvent the wheel it does provide solid enough acting and brutal fight sequences that make you want to stay the course.

A great action film. It makes you wait for the action but the pay off is worth it. It earns its runtime.

John Wick but what if they killed your mom instead of your dog and the movie was a social commentary about class and still packed a punch.

john wick really stepped up the action genre... and i can't believe he pulled the pineapple express handbrake move

Indian John Wick can get it.

pretty good debut

It changes tones, abruptly, every thirty minutes or so. The result is a movie unsure of what it wants to be, tho at its core it's a revenge flick. The fight scenes, when they do happen, are well choreographed and shot.

The apt choreography of the fight scenes deserved a better theatre to shine in. Unfortunately it’s pretty tasteless. Nauseating close ups, cliche characters, uninteresting villain motivations, a lackluster and not very intelligent effort to say something about Indian class system. But what really kills this movie is the music and needle drops. It stupidly overrules whatever is on screen and provides absolutely nothing positive during what could have been pretty cool scenes

Cool premise turned into shit because directing is a collection of misfires. Don't get me wrong, some of the action is solid, specially in the climax, although relying too much on wide angles and subjective shots. But what leads up to it is a pulpy revenge story being taken way too seriously and handled with absolutely no subtlety -- like Gaspar Noé helming a John Wick entry lol -- all the way. Come on, every scene is like "look at how many brutal, gruesome, hideous people we've got here!".

1/10 he is only a monkey man, like, 1/10th of the time

When they circled back to do yet another like fight escape set piece I basically checked out/ had to take a pee but excited for what Patel can do. Funny to make a movie that’s just like yaaaa I’m jacked handsome and the king of the working class

John wick for film bros

A gritty actioner written, directed and starring Patel. Wonderful work really. Has that distinct Wick/Raid style of action sequences. It all works pretty well. Strong 7.8 for me.

This movie has more in common with Mandy and Escape From New York than John Wick. I loved it, the film has a beating heart at the center of all the carnage and mayhem. I wish I had seen it in theaters.

The action crackles but the belabored tease of the backstory leaves it stuck in the mud for most of the middle. Time that could have been better spent with Indian Jefferey Dean Morgan and the dodgy yogi. A promising directorial debut.

A solid action revenge thriller helped by the somewhat unusual setting and some of the content being unusual (for an English language film). Unapologetically an R rated action film for violence, a lot of the neonish lighting reminded me of Mann or Refn and the editing and crosscutting back and forth in time is pretty good. The action cinematography is somewhat unusual, but it sometimes falls slightly on the wrong side of the dizzying/kinetic line. An impressively assured feature debut for Patel.

Clearly inspired by John Wick, it delivers strong action, great sound design, purposeful camerawork and a well-realized tone and setting that draws on culture. The action, while not quite at John Wick levels, is well-performed and shot with some very satisfying concepts. The plot is less engaging, leading to some pacing issues in the overlong 2 hour runtime. But overall it's a fun, fresh take on the genre with great style that overcomes its familiar elements. Score: 6.5 out of 10

I enjoyed it. It does have some oddities - I think the pacing felt a bit off because of the overly slow reveal, and the whole last sequence, as great as it was to watch from a cinematography and choreography standpoint, has a lot of conveniences for the sake of action (whole elevator full of guards, not a single gun). The entire car chase scene made me disoriented and feel almost sick with how it was shot. But, I'd still rate it positively, and probably even more-so for a directorial debut.

The movie does unfortunately drag a little near the middle. But other than that, it is a worthy addition to the John Wick-influenced violent action movies of recent years. But this time with a heavy dosage of social commentary.

I would like to see a non-canon of John Wick vs this guy.

It was not as fresh as I had hoped and not on the level of the films that influenced it. The hyperactive style of the first half is quite exhausting so I welcomed it when it switched to the established action shots. It gets some bonus points for being slightly political though.

I thought this film was okay. I note that most of the reviews praise the action sequence. I think they couldn't be more wrong. Dev Patel succumbs to some really terrible editing ... no shot is held for more than about 15 seconds. It renders the fight scenes choppy and visually incoherent. Patel cites "The Raid" as an influence, but this is really nothing like that, except in completely superficial ways.

Just a bit too shaky and close for my liking. It denies the audience to see the choreography properly. I do want to see what Dev Patel does next.

Started well but slowed down and got very formulaic

Very serious movie about serious topics, so it must be good? It is the action scenes that prosper with their neato choreography, some cool neon cinematography, and brutish sound design and score that amplify the intensity. All the drama that comes before is very pedestrian, which is actually shot and edited worse and with more frenzy it appears than the action scenes -- pointlessly quick edits and glassy close-ups, mostly reduced to a murk. Feels a bit different, but still mediocre.

Dev Patel and his overflowing charisma carry this otherwise convoluted movie to a higher level. I had a good time watching this but I'm not eager to revisit it. I would gladly watch a sequel I still prefer John Wick and the Equalizer to this film

Yeah, alright! Not bad! Not the best but not bad either! When the action picks up too, you have to power through some holes or cliché, but not bad! I had no idea Patel could do fight action but he was fairing well enough. Some of the flashbacks and some of the reliance on blurs and motion sickness camera could start getting old, but at least the pace picked up fast enough to avoid being too intolerable

Okay I have a headache now

The bad guy who killed Monkey Man's mother now serves a Hindutva party to Make India Beautiful Once More by persecuting the hijra people, falsely depicted as an ancient order of transgenders warriors, so don't assume their genders or they'll kill you. Clearly, Patel spent too much time in LA and is now spilling his brain rot into an Indian setting which counts as cultural appropriation, his Hollywood buddies should've explained this to him. Action's a mixed bag, mostly shot in the Bourne style.

I like Patel and more power to him on his journey to action star and director but this is pretty bad. If all you want is overchoreographed fight scenes then have at it, but there's a lot of boring nonsense in between the violence. And I have to say that the violence is often pretty gratuitous. If you cut a good half hour out of this, polished the script A LOT, and dialed everything back a notch or two you might have a decent actioner on your hands, but as it stands it's a bit of a mess.

Topped off with its stylish, gritty atmosphere and high-energy action, this is the type of film that will get you energized about the genre. https://screenzealots.com/2024/03/22/monkey-man/

I liked this movie, but some of it felt like watching a terrorist in action. His quest for justice was well founded, and the story was gritty and felt like it could be real. Recommend, but not for the squeamish, there is lots of violence.

Decent Indian version of John Wick. Too much shaky cam, and too derivative (scenes lifted from Enter the Dragon, Ong Bak, etc) to be better than "ok".