Film Review of Monkey Man (Ep. 70, 12th April 2024)

Rev. Andy Godfrey (00:00)
Hi everyone and welcome to episode 70. Can you believe it? You have had 69 previous encounters with us lot telling you all about movies. That is just staggering. Tonight we're looking at the new film written, directed and starring and produced by Dev Patel. It's called Monkey Man. It's a bit breathless. Here's a clip.

That doesn't exactly tell you everything you need to know. So Emma, tell us more. What was your take on Monkey Man? What did you think of it?

Emma Sewell (00:59)
Oh, oh my goodness. I really enjoyed it, I have to say. But you know, I like, you know, smashy sorts of films that... excessive violence. I genuinely was really impressed considering, you know, how new Dev Patel is to sort of all of this, you know, with the directing and all of that. I came out of it and I was really impressed.

Rev. Andy Godfrey (01:12)
We know.

Emma Sewell (01:27)
There may be some bits that were a little bit over the top and you know the usual things from these sorts of action films but actually I thought it all really worked together I was not bored at any point, it all flowed really

genuinely liked the whole setting and although at times I feel like I just did not appreciate what the point of his revenge was

I could, who knows? I couldn't even tell you what the plot was. He just got angry and hunted people. And quite honestly, I was fine with that. There were a few moments where I was getting Hardcore Henry vibes. I haven't seen it in a long time, but there were some angles in that. And I was like, oh, oh, getting like flashbacks of other movies. And obviously people are comparing it to John Wick, which.

is slightly merited, slightly. But yeah, I just thought all around very good, especially for like his debut directorial effort.

Rev. Andy Godfrey (02:36)
Okay, brilliant. Scott, what did you make of Monkey Man?

Scott Forbes (02:41)
For me, I was a bit more mixed. I think the revenge story was solid, but a bit like Emma, there was times where I thought I wasn't fully sure exactly what was going on with the plot. There were a lot of characters and there was a lot of times I was like, okay, so what is she related to this part of the plot? And then who's he? Okay, that's the main bad guy. No, there's a mainer bad guy. And that's not even a word. But so this...

got to me in a wee way where in the middle of the film, I think it tries to slow down a little bit and I'll emphasize a little bit and I got a tad bored just in the middle for a few minutes. But a lot of it's wild. As you say, there's been a lot of sort of easy sort of lazy John Wick in India sort of comparisons. I think for me, it's a little bit more like The Raid 2.

I would say was a more close comparison for the action style on this. And yeah, it was great in terms of goriness and the blood and guts and one particular scene in a lift that I really enjoyed. Okay, my main highlight, I'll say for this, I thought it was a very stylish looking movie. Thought the cinematography, there was some...

amazing shots where you could pause quite a lot of these scenes and have really good posters. So I'm very impressed with that. Patel himself, solid. I don't think about him as an action star and even after this I'm not sure that's necessarily the path that he should go down. But fair play to him to having a go and doing something a bit different.

Yeah, overall I would say solid film. I wasn't completely in love with it as much as I hoped to be, but as a first time directorial effort, I think he can be proud of what he's done.

Rev. Andy Godfrey (04:35)
Yeah, I mean, like you guys say, I got a little bit wrapped up in trying to work out what the plot was as the film was proceeding. But I mean, basically, it's a revenge story, isn't it? Basically, our hero is out for revenge on somebody who's wronged his family. And it's basically nonstop fights, isn't it? One fight after another. I was really impressed with the lift scene. We've seen fights in lifts before in Bond movies and in other films.

never anything quite like that in such a confined space. I thought it was a bit breathless. My complaint was that it was too long. I mean, it's over two hours. Okay, just by a minute. But I found if it had been a bit shorter, a bit tighter, if they just focused on that one element of the need for revenge, it would have been, you know, I'd be able to concentrate a lot more. I think it was dragged out a little bit in places. And there were a few places where I was glad it slowed down because I was actually

needing to pause for breath from the relentless action. So on the whole, I enjoyed it as well. I mean, I get the John Wick comparison, John Wick Indian style. And a lot of people are really, really loving it from the reviews that I've seen. And as you said, I'm a credit to Dev Patel for trying to do something a bit different and a bit out there. So on the whole, really good action movie with revenge in its heart. It's a really great.

cinematography in terms of the fight scenes, some really great stunts and really lovely gore if we can put it like that. And yeah, I overall I enjoyed it. So let's go for the scores. Emma, scores on the doors.

Emma Sewell (06:17)
Well, I mean, you're all going to laugh at me anyway. I was prepared for this, but I gave it a 10 because I really did enjoy myself.

Rev. Andy Godfrey (06:24)
Not surprised, and why not? I mean, you've had a great time, that's all that matters. The end of the day, that's all that matters. Scott.

Emma Sewell (06:31)
EXACTLY

Scott Forbes (06:33)
So I floated a little bit between a 6 and a 7 for me on this but I am feeling generous tonight so I'm gonna go with a 7.

Rev. Andy Godfrey (06:46)
Okay and I'm going to go with an 8. So if somebody could do the maths for me because I got an ungraded CSE at maths two years running at school. My maths is rubbish.

Emma Sewell (06:55)
According to my calculator that makes it an 8.33 reoccurring out of 10.

Rev. Andy Godfrey (07:05)
So, so Monkey Man from the Flickering Dreams score is an undoubted hit. We really enjoyed it. Emma had the time of her life and she can't wait for the sequel. Monkey Man strikes again. Thanks for watching everybody. Hope you've enjoyed this episode of Flickering Dreams. Please do look at the bottom of your screen and subscribe to us. We need all the subscriptions we can get and don't forget to email us your thoughts as well.

Emma Sewell (07:18)
Yeah.

Rev. Andy Godfrey (07:33)
So thanks ever so much for joining us on this episode of Flickering Dreams.