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Reviews
The Penguin (2024)
Fantastic Start
Absolutely nailed the tone and atmosphere. Gritty and grimy and dark, but Farrell is able to capture that glimmer of charm Gandolfini's Tony Soprano did.
There are similarities to the sopranos especially in tone. A lot of dark stuff goes down in this opening episode, but there's still comedic moments that match the tone and don't undermine it.
Where to start with Farrell. Amazing is the right word. Love to see talented star actors go all in on roles like this, and the makeup/cgi or whatever exactly they did with transforming him into the penguin physically not only passes the eye test, it looks incredible realistic. There is always the risk that if the make up job isn't good enough or is just a little off, it can completely distract. In the penguin, it adds to his performance and the overall quality of the show because it's such a damn good job. And Farrell as an actor is completely immersed in this role. I'm maybe a little biased because he is one of my favorite actors prior to this show, but I think this is going to get him well-deserved accolades.
I never really tune into new shows right away because I like to watch the episodes all at once, but I wanted to see how this one actually came out.
Didn't disappoint, in fact blew me away. Kudos to everyone involved with this project.
Monkey Man (2024)
Some Great Elements, But Not A Great Movie
Huge Dev Patel fan. Monkey Man is the first movie I've gone to see in the theaters in a very long time. I just don't get interested enough to not wait for it to be streaming.
Monkey Man compelled me to go. It's probably the best movie trailer I've ever seen, or at least one of the best.
The problem with the trailer that I foresee is many are going to walk out of the theater feeling misled.
If you're an action movie fan, DO NOT GO SEE THIS IN THEATERS. Wait for streaming. This is a drama with elements of action and crime thriller. Anyone going in who thinks this is like John Wick will be sorely disappointed. The problem is, that's the impression the trailer gives.
I'm actually not even a John Wick fan. I like action movies, but I don't seek them out often. What I thought could make Monkey Man special was the added substance of Indian mythology, culture, and a more fleshed out character drama that was hinted at in the trailer.
Some of that was present, but it didn't come together nearly as well as I had hoped. I don't agree with the severe criticism of the action scenes and how they were filmed. I thought they were good and the shaky cam didn't bother me. Could it have been better? Probably. But I think the criticism there is overblown.
Where the film missed its mark for me was the story itself. The first act was good, but in the second act it ground to a halt for 40 minutes or so of more of what we already learned in act 1, at the expense of pacing. Some parts were fleshed out way too much while other parts weren't fleshed out enough, making it feel off almost the whole movie. The supporting characters didn't get enough of this, which didn't help us care about them and also care about them joining the fight with our protagonist.
I'm genuinely surprised at some of Dev's choices in Act 2. I actually admire him for trying to make a movie with more substance that could be called action to some degree, but I just think he didn't nail the blend of these things with Monkey Man. You could argue that he tried to do too much. There was a significant amount of extended flashback used throughout even up to the very end. This ended up taking us out of the present and hurting the flow of the story.
I think Monkey Man as Dev Patel envisioned it might have been much better as a limited series. So that he could take his time and flesh everything out the way he wanted. Because again, there were some great elements in this movie. Good acting, good cinematography, good music (although it sounds as if it was more stereotypical Indian music and other cultural elements used), some great fight scene moments, and some fun bits. It just doesn't add up to a great movie.
Someone else mentioned they felt detached a bit, and I agree. Despite the protagonist's story having the right emotional elements to draw us in, it didn't do it as much I had hoped for me.
What I envision is a lot of people going into this expecting a pure action thrill ride, and they're going to be bored. Again, this is a drama, and one that I wanted to like more than I did.
This doesn't sour me on Dev at all. He may have just bit off more than he could chew with this one, but he had the balls to go for it, and I respect that.