Movie critic Bruce Miller says "Monkey Man" never sits still. The film is full of extreme close-up shots which are impossible to ignore and, often, easy to misread.
Watch 鈥淢onkey Man鈥 on a cellphone or an iPad and you鈥檒l see that鈥檚 how director Dev Patel envisioned it.
Otherwise, how do you explain the tight close-ups?
Almost claustrophobic in approach, the action film goes in for the kill repeatedly. When it鈥檚 not, it鈥檚 rushing through subtitles that explain what鈥檚 happening.
In short, there鈥檚 no time to rest.
Patel plays a masked fighter (thus the film鈥檚 title) who earns money taking falls for others. He鈥檚 also a smart worker who worms his way into situations that will get him into proximity with power.
Alternating current events with his childhood, Patel paves the way for a 鈥淛ohn Wick鈥-like story of revenge. (And, yes, there鈥檚 even a dog here.)
鈥淢onkey Man,鈥 however, is eager to dissect the class system in India and show how an impressionable boy can be driven to do just about anything.
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While others slip in and out of focus, Patel鈥檚 鈥淜id鈥 holds the attention, cleaning floors, refining his body, and stalking a group of moneyed men who have a connection to his past. He wears the mask when fighting, looks like a suave spy when he鈥檚 toiling in a VIP club.
Dev Patel stars in "Monkey Man."
Ewet Akhirwan Nurhaidir, Universal Pictures
Patel, the director, assumes we鈥檒l catch聽up as he races through hallways, garages and streets.
鈥淢onkey Man鈥 doesn鈥檛 indicate where specifically it鈥檚 set but it does show a much different India than other films. No Bollywood happiness here, just a lot of people on the take, pretending to work in the best interests of others.
As an action film, 鈥淢onkey Man鈥 is quite good. Patel doesn鈥檛 skimp on the action, but he also doesn鈥檛 pull back far enough to show the stunt work.
As an action hero, he鈥檚 every bit as measured as Keanu Reeves and Liam Neeson.
He has a nifty way of gaining entrance to the secured floors and a way with pots and pans that would make Bobby Flay weep. His flashbacks provide the necessary context but, they, too, could have been slowed so the story could resonate. We don鈥檛 get the children鈥檚 book connections until it鈥檚 too late to savor them. More time up front (setting the scene with his mother) could have made the ending even better.
As a director, Patel shows great promise. He isn鈥檛 afraid to improvise (he broke his hand during the first action sequence) or mix things up.
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聽Bruce Miller is editor of the Sioux City Journal.聽
