thraed of MONKEY MAN (Dev Patel - 2024)

anybody seen this? I thought it was incredible, not least the first person POV shots of action sequences, filmed from the perspective of someone who is concussed and fighting adrenaline. the tension is just palpable throughout.

Stellar. Great, great effort all around, and yeah those POV shots were amazing.

the moment where he wakes up in the police car, it was just so visceral, like we were waking up with him.

Sharlto Copley had a nice appearance too

Huh, wanna check it out... The Guardian sort of brushed it off but the trailer looks cool

it's like John Wick IF John wasn't an accomplished fighter, had more passion than cunning, and fucked up a ton before he became a killing machine

from what I wrote this morning elsewhere:

I saw it yesterday afternoon. One thing I like in my action-trash is a bit of comedy, maybe a slight lightness of spirit here and there, to leaven the bonecrunching and murder, and this had none of that. Very very grim. Really well made but I came out feeling a bit depressed instead of energized.
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Also Patel made the choice a lot of the time for frenetic camera movement and fast editing to give the feeling of being in a dangerous room (including some shots being from his character’s POV) rather than pulling back and letting us see the balletic fighting in longer shots, so there are a few scenes where I couldn’t really tell how the fight was playing out, just that a fight was happening. Sometimes it’s a legit choice, sometimes it’s a way to get around mediocre hand-to-hand choreography, sometimes I can’t tell which.

It was impressive but I can't say I enjoyed or even liked it.

"sometimes" in par. 2 means in some movies, not some points in this particular movie

a bit of comedy

Man I think it did have that, in quick bursts -- the window fail, the 'comeback' fight.

yeah, I wouldn't say it was comic throughout per se, but it did have at least three "laugh loudly" moments for me, two of which you listed.

And they were good tension-release spots! Like the music and everything built up and then blam.

After the scene in the elevator (you know which one), I turned to my partner to go “OH MY GOD DID YOH SEE THAT” and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bleaker or more horrified expression on a person’s face

I lolled at the elevator scene, did not see that coming.

The scene where the join the fight and their dresses were swirling around the mayhem was a bit of calm amongst the carnage.

Dev Patel: I've got a pitch for you. What if "John Wick", but ...
Jordan Peele (or whomever): Shhh, you can stop there. You had me at "John Wick."

I didn't think this was particularly noteworthy. I agree with WmC in I left mostly kinda depressed rather than energized. I suppose there are a few things here and there to set it apart from your standard Kickpuncher, but it still mostly felt like your standard Kickpuncher. Also had a habit of more or less discarding characters it's spent a lot of time introducing. His scuzzy pal, the prostitute (who I guess makes a brief return), the dog ... Hell, he goes through the trouble to wash his monkey mask only to immediately discard it, too.

What was it that sparked the ongoing wave of hyper-violent stylized Kickpunchers? "Bourne" movies? "The Raid"?

watching dev patel beat ass for a couple hours is the best self care $15 can buy afaict

Such wisdom!

Strongly agree. We watched this last night and it cheered us right up. Just a well-made, tidy film. Well done, Dev Patel and pals.

I only wish there could have been more Sobhita Dulipala in it. I've seen her in a few things now, and she is great.