By Dev Patel’s feature directorial debut movie “Monkey Man” premiered at SXSW in Austin last night to a rave response in the audience along with excellent reviews.
With 22 reviews counted on Rotten Tomatoes, the film sits at 91% with a 7.9/10 average score.
Speaking at the premiere, Patel says of his aims for the film: “The action genre has been abused by the system. You know, a quick buck. Mindless s—. I wanted to give it soul. Real trauma. Real pain. You guys deserve that. I wanted to infuse it with a little bit of culture.”
Patel also stars in the film as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club. Night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash.
After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.
Here’s a sampling of review quotes:
“Just as Kid is reborn in the film, so too is Patel. It requires fighting a bloody battle, but what a beautiful sight it is to see. Forget John Wick, let no one doubt the power of action star Dev Patel again.” – Chase Hutchinson, The Wrap
“It’s a free-for-all of headrush filmmaking… Its lack of grounding wide shots makes the film feel unmoored at times, which inhibits emotional engagement. But the badass factor here is strong.” – Katie Rife, Indiewire
“It’s a muscular, emotional, ferocious triumph of a movie, and when it’s over, you’ll want to go right back in and watch it all over again.” – Matthew Jackson, AV Club
“While [Monkey Man] often feels very much like a rough, earnest fan film… it also suggests that if Patel’s technique behind the camera catches up to his passion for the genre, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone
“Dev Patel has made a very daring, bloody, and exciting debut as a filmmaker. This movie is the unexpected violent, vicious, and cathartic ride we did not know we needed.” – Sharai Bohannon, Dread Central
“It isn’t and hasn’t been the smoothest ride, but as proof of concept for Patel’s action movie bona fides in front of and behind the camera, consider Monkey Man a success.” – Adrian Horton, The Guardian
Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, and Makarand Deshpande co-star in the film.
Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, Patel co-wrote the script with Paul Angunawela and John Collee. Jordan Peele is producing the action thriller which is getting a theatrical release via Universal Pictures on April 5th.
The post “Monkey Man” Earns Raves In Early Reviews appeared first on Dark Horizons.
