The first production by Dev Patel, who also plays the lead role, “Monkey Man” was released in theaters this Wednesday, April 17. What do viewers think of this brutal action film, physically and politically?
Discovered in the series Skins in 2007, Dev Patel has today signed his first feature film as a director. A movie “punch”to use the established expression, too often used indiscriminately, but which is completely adapted here.
Because the young director is inspired by an Indian legend as well as films with Bruce Lee, The Raid saga or Korean productions to create a story of revenge that hurts. Physically and politically. But what did the spectators think of this brutal and enjoyable Monkey Man, sometimes virtuoso in his action scenes?
With an average of 3.52 out of 5, established from 51 ratings, Monkey Man is so far the best film directed by Dev Patel. Because he’s the only one. Among the feature films in which he stars, this is the highest rated in five years and Attack on Mumbai (4).
It’s also the best film produced by Jordan Peele and his company Monkeypaw since 2018’s BlacKkKlansman.
They liked
“What a slap”said The sap (5 out of 5), which shows that it’s not just the characters in the film who take hits. “We can take it lightly at the John Wick Or Jack Reacher if we don’t dig deeper, or as a relevant criticism of the Indian government’s track record regarding the massacre of certain minorities.”
Monkey Man is both gorgeous, intelligent and incredibly entertaining
A social statement that also pleased Tom37 (4.5 out of 5): “On a fairly classic plot of revenge against a backdrop of class struggle, a very effective action film which renews the genre by unfolding in India. A country with strong narrative potential for this type of story, exploited intelligently and quite exotic for the Western viewer: new mythologies, omnipresent social inequalities and corruption, societal violence, gurus and spirituality.”
“Monkey Man offers an excellent exploration of the theme of revenge, a genre that has not produced such a gripping film in a long time”continues The sap. “The film is brutally violent, but intelligently executed.” What confirms Baptiste Hidden (3.5 out of 5), when he says that “this extremely violent film still manages to convey a message of justice and revenge.”
They didn’t like
“The film is all action, stabbing/stabbing. The scenes are satisfactory, the settings are beautiful and I love the atmosphere of the film” : if the review signed Hugo H (2.5 out of 5) starts well, the rest is a little less positive.
There is an attempt to make a connection between an old legend and the character in the film but nothing comes of it
“However, the story is very simple, no character is developed, whether the antagonists or the small roles on the side. There is an attempt to make a link between an old legend and the character in the film but nothing comes of it. follows. It’s hard to understand why the antagonists are.”
In summary
“Monkey Man is magnificent, intelligent and incredibly entertaining” : the end of the text of La sève could serve as a summary, as it summarizes the majority of the positive reviews. But the writing is singled out among the negative points, proof that, if the action works well, some spectators are looking for more than that.
And you ? What did you think of Monkey Man?
*Notes as of Wednesday April 17, 2024
