Monkey Man (2024)

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Siskoid
Dev Patel writes his own ticket and the result is Monkey Man, a gritty, grimy action flick that's part Greengrass' Jason Bourne, part John Wick, and part Golden Harvest. Patel's nameless lead is out for revenge after the corrupt forces that be did something terrible to his village and family - impressionistically alluded to until we're ready to know - but he's kind of savagely hapless in the way he goes about it. The first half of the movie is all close-up details, furious shaky cam, POV moments where the camera is between a fist and a face, which is almost too much. Once he's had his training and found a clearer purpose, the camera takes a step back, stays on him, gives us longer shots. It's all quite purposeful and shouldn't be held against it the way we might other action movies. The action isn't badly conceived and therefore created in post with fast cuts, it's part of the character's psychology, and besides, incredibly immediate and visceral. A simple revenge story made better by its Indian setting, its mindfulness, and a charismatic star who no one else would cast in an action movie so he did it himself. And you know what? He pulls it off. 2 weeks 2 days ago

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