Trying to make a genre new and exciting is not easy. We’ve seen countless movies that tackle action as a concept, but Dev Patel really struck gold with his movie. monkey man And he showed us what he is capable of as a director.
Much of this story comes from inside Dev Patel’s head. He starred in the film, directed it, and also co-wrote it with Paul Angunawela and John Colley. But even though it has all the elements of a typical revenge movie; monkey man It elevates the genre in unexpected ways, especially in how Kid (Patel) comes to terms with what he has to do to avenge his mother.
Throughout the film, we see a boy being told the story of Hanuman, the Hindu god who is half-human and half-monkey. A boy is told these stories by his murdered mother, and soon the film becomes about this young man finding his own justice for his mother. Often, it can feel very “been there, done that”, but the way Patel, Angunawela and Collie mix the action sequences with Patel’s own charm as a performer is , leaving the audience on the edge of their seats with every new scene.
Mixed between his days as a martial artist (with a monkey as his persona) and his new job working as a waiter at an elite establishment, what makes Kid the character we want to win over is, as always, completely ours. It’s out of love and appreciation for Patel as a performer. This character could easily be the “troll them” type, but instead he has a heart and drive that we as the audience can empathize with.
Dev Patel’s visually stunning debut film
![Dev Patel stands in a red hallway in black silhouette](https://www.themarysue.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/dev-patel-in-red-in-monkey-man.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200%2C675)
Patel was there the whole time.If you weren’t a fan of his skinthen you probably saw him slumdog millionaire or lion Or watch any number of movies throughout the year. But when you look at what he can do in movies like that, not just in front of the screen, but behind the lens. monkey man I’m really looking forward to the future.Patel’s use of color and landscape monkey man Good for some of the coolest fight sequences.
There are kitchen fights that use cooking utensils to your advantage. I gasped in the theater as the red lights turned on and Kid’s silhouette appeared in the darkness.There’s even a moment where he’s fighting a guy with an axe, and he clearly does do not have When I hold it, I can’t help but cheer and scream for Kid the whole time.
This kind of passion exists because Patel knows how to captivate audiences not only on screen, but also behind the camera as you can see.It would be easy to make this into john wick He burns his tenacity and makes it into a simple revenge story, monkey man It elevated the idea of what a story like this should be.
Patel kept me on the edge of my seat and excited me with whatever story he wanted to tell. monkey man It has become one of my favorite movies over the past few years.
(Featured image: Universal Pictures)