Monkey Man, a first and foremost very strong directorial debut from Patel. Monkey Man is a engaging and aggressively dynamic action revenge film and doesn't shy from stating it being exactly that. In turn it gives a ton to enjoy with brilliant action scenes, interesting scenery and good acting.
Directing, the action scenes are fantastic, to the level of John Wick, but where John Wick action scenes tended to feel really repetitive after the first 30 minutes, Monkey Man adds so much more creativity to the mix and excellent pacing and music. The fact that guns play less of a role here helps that tremendously. The impact of the punches, the speed, it's incredibly enjoyable. And above all really well choreographed. The scene down the stairs that switched into POV, such a great switch up. The kills are creative and just satisfying overall.
Music is a strong factor because it carries every single action scene, applicably so, and it helps the pacing so much. This movie flies by. Whilst two hours for this type of movie is asking a bit much, it manages to just keep it paced good enough without having that lackluster dip. The movie takes a break, as needed, but gets back to it fast enough, and rewards you for that wait as well.
Acting, good all around, Patel is great, but this is less of a movie about great performances, it's just not that kind of movie but everyone does their thing and nothing failed to land. The dialog writing is alright, being a bit iffy here and there.
The story and editing, I put these together because they influenced each other quite heavily. First off, the editing, it's noticeable that this is a debut. Because a major weak point is the editing at the moment, it's fast paced and snappy, but at the cost of some abrupt moments that take you out of it for a little. The story is rather simple, but stays a bit wishy washy, and the editing doesn't help to try and piece things together, whilst the gist of it is obvious, the way scenes are shown doesn't always make sense. The mother is in two places at once and so are some others, it seemed like one scene, with two alternative scenarios, but both were shown. Also generally, the revenge angle stays somewhat flat. And the side characters are underdeveloped. Some just kind of show up for the scene and peace out. Also Alphonso's motivations are unclear. Why follow him, there's nothing to gain for him. Would make more sense if he had a bit more backstory.
All in all a worthy watch and a great debut. Hope to see more.
Directing, the action scenes are fantastic, to the level of John Wick, but where John Wick action scenes tended to feel really repetitive after the first 30 minutes, Monkey Man adds so much more creativity to the mix and excellent pacing and music. The fact that guns play less of a role here helps that tremendously. The impact of the punches, the speed, it's incredibly enjoyable. And above all really well choreographed. The scene down the stairs that switched into POV, such a great switch up. The kills are creative and just satisfying overall.
Music is a strong factor because it carries every single action scene, applicably so, and it helps the pacing so much. This movie flies by. Whilst two hours for this type of movie is asking a bit much, it manages to just keep it paced good enough without having that lackluster dip. The movie takes a break, as needed, but gets back to it fast enough, and rewards you for that wait as well.
Acting, good all around, Patel is great, but this is less of a movie about great performances, it's just not that kind of movie but everyone does their thing and nothing failed to land. The dialog writing is alright, being a bit iffy here and there.
The story and editing, I put these together because they influenced each other quite heavily. First off, the editing, it's noticeable that this is a debut. Because a major weak point is the editing at the moment, it's fast paced and snappy, but at the cost of some abrupt moments that take you out of it for a little. The story is rather simple, but stays a bit wishy washy, and the editing doesn't help to try and piece things together, whilst the gist of it is obvious, the way scenes are shown doesn't always make sense. The mother is in two places at once and so are some others, it seemed like one scene, with two alternative scenarios, but both were shown. Also generally, the revenge angle stays somewhat flat. And the side characters are underdeveloped. Some just kind of show up for the scene and peace out. Also Alphonso's motivations are unclear. Why follow him, there's nothing to gain for him. Would make more sense if he had a bit more backstory.
All in all a worthy watch and a great debut. Hope to see more.