Monkey Man (2024)

The struggle is real!

This is the story of an avenger. A street fighter who fights with purpose; who seeks to avenge his mom, and works clubs as he does. He hustles and bustles, and brawls, and rises higher and higher on the social ladder, even if he doesn't know his red wine glass from the white one.

I didn't know either honestly! I know now. I should've known maybe. I've seen both.

It's a grimy story, and you see scenes both from temples and from the street. You don't know exactly where it's going initially, but it's captivating, and you can really FEEL the despair. It's a palpable setting.

In the fights they play with reflections, with classy backdrops, masks... they're both creative and thorough.

The film reminds me a bit of Slumdog Millionaire too, in that it's an Indian film that seems intended more so for an international audience. And I hope it got the international audience it strives for, cause my gawd it's good!

The action's but a part of it. The philosophy's a stronger one. And how relations seem to form from nothing. How just a gaze seems to convey a thought. How both ruthless and telling the battles are, and in the end you don't even know if he lives, you don't know if he gets the girl, you don't know how many from the temple were harmed either...

But it doesn't matter, because what's done is done, and the action's depicted masterfully.

I felt this one more than I did The Raid I think.

Sometimes I'm reminded of that movie - with the all out action scenes and general mayhem. But it's not like that at all. It's similarly ruthless, but it has a finesse and a fortitude to it all too. Like there's a higher power working for vengeance too, and how often do you see that in a movie...

The moment of spiritual awakening was disturbingly good too. A simple effect, but done so well.

With turbo do they mean nitro though? The terminology doesn't seem perfect always, the car was silly, and the relations are fleeting but....

I'm tempted to give this one a top score y'all.

It may seem a simple tale in some ways - as the one of vengeance that it is, but in other areas it's all the more intricate, and it captivated more than I thought it would.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

Maybe it's more a 4.5 than a 5 though... I'll have to give it another watch in time; maybe adjust this score a bit accordingly then.

First impressions: Friggin' amazing.