Monkey Man (2024) is an upcoming action movie that seem to promise to deliver a powerful message, nothing that has not seen before but there are a few aspects that will cause a big impact into this movie; a blend of exciting action and might provoke certain reactions from viewers when it touches on topics like corruption and abuse of the weak ones, this is a movie develop around the India culture so it might or not on porpuse try to touch this aspects of now days reality within India.
As its a classic for this kind of stories, the action takes place in a city where the rich and powerful exploit the vulnerable and from this situation a man who was directly affected emerge as the center of hope for some people, might not save the world but can safe a few from this social and economical situation impacting a large population, driven by by the memory of his mother and the stories she told him about a mythical protector known as the “White Monkey” the main character takes on the role of a anonymous hero determined to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.
The plot starts to develop with the main character as a kid and his struggles growing up on this society, consume by the corruption and power while this men will go beyond than most people would to challenge this social status, fueled by vengeance he will now try to put an end to the suffering of others but not before him going through a good doses of violence as a fighter to keep him sharp, there are those in power who will try to stop him at all cost to keep and maintain the grip on society.
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- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18177528/
- Platform: Theaters
- Release: April 5, 2024
Themes and Social Commentary
At its core the movie digs into the concept of vengeance and the lengths an individual will go to seek justice in a corrupt society it tackles the theme of corruption and the abuse of power showing the insidious nature of systemic oppression and its devastating impact on communities.
The movie also looks at the power of storytelling and mythology as the main character’s mother’s stories about the “White Monkey” protector serve as a catalyst for his transformation into a anonymous hero this aspect highlights the role of stories in creating this new identity inspiring and providing hope in the face of such social and economical problems transferring power to those who abuse of it.
I could not find much information if there any specific reason why the movie tries to touch such provoking themes delivering more than just entertainment but also a powerful social message that might sound to the viewers, this is an important aspect to avoid viewers to call out the creator of the movie for pushing messages as its a usual practice now days although I personally don’t see anything wrong so far with it in this case.
Visual Style and Cinematography
The movie guarantees to be a visually beautiful one that makes use of a number cinematography techniques to carry its all the action and story to life the trailer gives a peek into the movie atmospheric look with excessive contrast lighting and deep shadows mainly on the city scenes, giving you that vibe of corrupt mega city.
Great camera movements and angles add to the tension and action throughout the fight and chase scenes will probably help immersing the audience, I really like the contrast when he has the mask on during the ring fight how the lighting make it look like a very dusty place and also provide that underground clandestine fight type of vibes, in contrast to other scenes where there is landscape, vegetation, it truly give shots of all kind of place
Dev Patel Director Debut at Monkey Man
Dev Patel, the well known British actor from movies like Slumdog Millionaire, Lion, and The Green Knight, is going to direct his first movie, called Monkey Man, this is an interesting new step in Patel’s career, as he moves from acting to directing, him shifting into directing shows his love for telling stories and his interest in trying new creative things, he will act in the main role and also helped write the script with Paul Angunawela and John Collee, I think this shows how much Patel cares moving forward looking into trying new things to a evolve as some one who can not only perform the role of a character but also create something from a script or scratch, also about making a story that people will find meaningful at the same time it is a big deal that Jordan Peele, who won an Oscar and started the production company Monkeypaw and has decided to back Monkey Man. Peele, who made the successful movies Get Out and Us, really liked Patel’s work and pushed for the movie to be shown in theaters through Universal Pictures, instead of just on Netflix like originally planned. As an actor, Patel has worked with some very respected movie directors, like Danny Boyle, Garth Davis, and Armando Iannucci, all this has probably taught him important things about telling stories, making characters feel and look real, and making movies look so good. For Dev Patel being an actor also helps him understand how to get strong performances from the other actors in his movie, I’m sure movie lovers like me and people who like Dev Patel are excited to see how his first time directing turns out, with his talent, creative ideas, and support from important people in the movie industry like Jordan Peele, Patel has a good chance of making a big impact as a director and showing everyone that he’s a skilled artist in many different ways.
From what I have seen on the trailer I have no doubt this is going to be a great watch, even though some action movies basically give it all on a trailer it does not seem the case with Monkey Man, the story develops in multiple locations and times from when he was a kid, then while growing up he went through some fight training and now as an adult got tired for the system and its going against it, on a timeline with so much expansion I doubt everything was reveal on the trailer. It's true that this movie probably is not going to show us anything new that we have not seen so far but it does gives a fresh face as a potential replacement for John Wick, fast fight and shooting action scenes had happen in the past but there is the culture mix on the movie too that will provide something different to it, can't wait to watch this movie.
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