barryjohnjohnson

No one likes bullies that stack the deck to harm those that are vulnerable. The bullies here are criminally connected establishment who enjoy prestige & power behind a veneer of righteousness.

They deserve a comeuppance.

The Monkey Man delivers the comeuppance.

There are layers here to the traditional revenge theme. It speaks of trauma and pain spawned by abuse and oppression, that seeks expression. There is an interjection of myth in the story line relative to traditions in India and the Hanuman monkey man. There is socio-economic commentary intertwined, deftly.

The film setting is basically the underbelly of modern big city India where everybody is hustling & exploiting or being exploited.

The storyline gives us enough tension in building the backstory to what is happening in the present so that they come together in a timely fashion. We are not immediately satisfied as our hero hits setback after setback. Still he models determination & focus.

Dev Patel delivers a passionate lead performance consistent with his career, yet here in a pure action oriented role. He amazes more so as a first-time director making excellent choices in visuals & storytelling. The film score works well to enhance the action.

Films fans will look forward to his next directing effort as this film is well done & very entertaining.

Better than the big budget English language take which is uneven; tries too hard. I quit that show after two to three episodes.

On the contrary this series grows on you, drawing you in, after two episodes.

This Italian version is smoother, less cluttered. It holds a consistent style than the bigger production USA series. It has neat special effects like the weaponry that don't dominate the story line.

The series relies on effective dialogue, tension & intrigue.

The two lead actors hold their own. The film pulls off the storyline without a huge budget with effective production.

The show grows on you as entertaining sci-fi. It a fun, diversion; binge-able.

Not too heavy, not too light, better than average thriller / whodunnit. Entertaining escapist fare featuring a straight laced female lead out for a girl's holiday but ending up in a murder scenario with all the clues pointing to her.

Plenty of suspicious supporting characters to flavor the brew; some twist & turns & an exotic locale. It's well paced giving just enough of a frantic vibe for the storyline.

Without equating by any means, we can say the movie plays homage or tips it's hat to Hitchcock in the story & pace.

The cast is solid with an international mix of talent. Leighton Meester plays the lead part Jimmy Stewart might play in a Hitchcock film & she does a good job.

It's a fun watch. It's enjoyable.