In the last decade, the action genre has moved away from watered-down independent scripts, cheap and clunky productions, and into more challenging regions. From the saga Taken And Equalizerwith intense protagonists turned into killing machines, right down to the baroque staging of the franchise. John Wick. Not forgetting about the duology Tyler Rake from Netflix. It’s about new brutal heroes in films where blood flows in the rain of bullets, They are becoming more and more sophisticated. At the same time, their stories are more thorough and far from the usual clichés.
Monkey man (2024), Dev Patel’s directorial debut, is perhaps the latest heir to this new dimension of action. So brutal and explicit that it hits home, and with action scenes that will leave fans holding their breath, the film is a combination of several things. On the one hand, he is aware of the acrobatic sense of using cameras and framing scenes of fight and death.
Which makes the film’s highlights a rare combination of remarkable aesthetic sense and breakneck pacing. On the other hand, the hero, also played by Patel, a nameless man based on the myth of the Indian god Hanuman, is the quintessential incorrigible killer. With his face covered by a monkey mask, the main character climbs into the wrestling ring every night. That is, to win brutal battles that left him scarred and enraged.
Monkey man
Man-Ape turns a lone man’s revenge into a massive action movie. Particularly thanks to the well-drawn action scenes and the script’s ability to move quickly without losing sight of the answers to the core questions of its conflict. However, the film sometimes lacks credibility and tries to mix many topics at once without always making them clear.
In “The Ape Man”
Revenge is at the center of everything
Patel, who is also writing the script, manages to make his character mysterious. All the while without losing the sense that there is a past about which we initially know little – but which is gradually revealed – and a debt that needs to be paid. The first few minutes of the film are spent establishing that this anonymous man is an angry bomb ready to explode. He will also have to face the horrors that made him who he is in order to secure his future. And as the opening scenes make clear, this is a one-man army. that he doesn’t need weapons – at least not many – to destroy everyone he considers his enemy.
With some sense of revenge based on inevitable fate, Man-Ape moves quickly towards his conflict. The film is structured in such a way that the big fight scenes in the story, and there are three in particular, are the culmination of a long preparation. So, once you’re convinced that unknown fighter Patel is virtually unstoppable, you move on to the next interesting point. Namely: the reason why revenge consumes the character.
A shootout that starts by accident
The script has enough skill to tell the story without becoming tedious with flashbacks, flashbacks or expository dialogue. Instead, the fighter always seems to be in the right place to achieve his goal. So, after interfering with a crime, he is hired into a mysterious club.
Then the film becomes dense, dark and impenetrable to breath. These are caves of iniquity where the powerful go to have fun without anyone judging them. Including the police chief (played by Bollywood actor Sikandar Kher). This caused the death of the fighter’s mother and the cause of most misfortunes that happened to him. So, the center and beginning of revenge is his death.
One day at this moment, Monkey man has one of the few pacing problems. The film becomes violent as the anonymous fighter tries to carry out his plans to destroy everything in his path. Newcomer Patel lacks the timing of greats like John Wick, and the first big action scene is a chaotic bloodbath. But despite the visual awkwardness, the sequence sets the tone. From here on out, the film gets progressively more violent without losing the sense of mystery that makes it so entertaining and well-constructed.
There are bullets, blood and broken bones everywhere.
One of the most interesting elements Monkey man, is his ability to make action seem realistic. The fistfights, of which there are many and last seemingly in real time, are a collection of broken bones and spilled blood. Patel uses sound and especially the actors’ ability to express pain in a rare way to advance the plot. He achieves this as his character becomes more powerful and kills more enemies, with those wounded along the way marking a strange timeline.
The film gradually becomes darker and more sinister, even paying homage to the god who gave him his name in a dream scene. But the best of Monkey man, is its ability to be over-the-top, wild, and at times overwhelming, while still remaining extremely entertaining and well-told. Partial credit goes to editors David Janso and Tim Murrell, who turned the fights into quick action sequences occurring between obvious flashes of blood. And also director of photography Sharon Meir, who manages to shoot scenes at amazing speed without losing sharpness or focus.
The film’s ending – predictable and fast-paced – showed that, despite its rough edges, this is one of the strongest stakes in an action film. The last pitched battle, striking in its visual intelligence, Monkey man says goodbye to his character, although not forever. This taciturn and silent action movie is likely to return to the big screen. But if not, Patel’s first film will be remembered as a rare gem of a reinvented genre. Your best point of view.
Source: Hiper Textual
