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Thursday, March 6, 2025

Monkey Man (Dev Patel, 2024)


Cast: Dev Patel, Pitobash, Jatin Malik, Sikandar Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Makrand Deshpande, Ashwini Kalsekar, Vipin Sharma, Adithi Kalkunte, Jomon Thomas, Pehan Abdul, Sharlto Copley, Zakir Hussain. Screenplay: Dev Patel, Paul Angunwela, John Collee. Cinematography: Sharone Meir. Production design: Pawas Sawatchaiyamet. Film editing: Joe Galdo, Dávid Jancsó, Tim Murrell. Music: Jed Kurzel. 

Producer-writer-director-star Dev Patel's Monkey Man is so obviously modeled on Chad Stahelski's John Wick (2014) and its sequels, that it's no surprise when a character  in the movie name-checks it. Monkey Man has the same energy, the same world-building ambiance, and in Patel a hero with much the same kind of low-key charisma that Keanu Reeves's Wick possesses. There's even a dog that befriends the hero. Which is not to say that Patel's hyperviolent knock-off isn't a worthy successor to its predecessor. If action movies with a lot of clear-cut villains that get their bloody comeuppance after making the hero's life hell are your thing, Monkey Man will do the job better than most.