April 10, 2024 • 33 mins
Dev Patel achieves an astonishing, tour-de-force feature directing debut with an action thriller about one man's quest for vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to sytemically victimize the poor and powerless.
Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, 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.
Starring Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Sobhita Dhulipala, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, Sikandar Kher, and Makarand Deshpande.
Edited by Joe Galdo, David Jancso, and Tim Murrell
Music by Jed Kurzel
Cinematography by Sharone Meir
Written by Paul Angunawela abd John Collee
Directed by Dev Patel
Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, 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.
Starring Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Sobhita Dhulipala, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, Sikandar Kher, and Makarand Deshpande.
Edited by Joe Galdo, David Jancso, and Tim Murrell
Music by Jed Kurzel
Cinematography by Sharone Meir
Written by Paul Angunawela abd John Collee
Directed by Dev Patel
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:37):
All right, Ellis send him aback another dish. How we doing out
(01:26):
there? Good? Great? GrayYane dy Yane Puke doing a little,
a little breaking away from the moldhere of stuff that I'm obligated to do,
to do something that I just wantedto talk to you about it twenty
twenty five minutes. Get you outin the theater to see it, regardless
of I mean, I'm gonna dowhat I usually do to you guys where
(01:46):
you're like, I can't fucking tellif he likes it or hates it.
Good. I like being a goddamnmystery as you see on your screen,
your dial. However you're choosing tojoin us today, I know that the
cast and crew of this film definitelythank you. I know, I sure
don't. Until this program gives medental I am going to just I'm sorry.
(02:12):
I'm only gonna take so much timeon it. That's all there is
to it. But I definitely wantedto lend this film my laughable platform,
even though it is the most unlistenablemovie podcast that exists. You hear me,
the most unlistenable movie podcast to exist. You want a good movie podcast,
(02:36):
check out I Know Movies and youdon't by Kyle Brule. That's a
good one. Director's chair, that'sa good one. I think that's what
it's called. I don't remember anyway. Monkey Man, Monkey Man Dev Patel's
directorial debut with Monkey Man, MonkeyMan, starring Dev Patel, Sharp,
Charloteau, Kopley, Pete O,Bosh, Vippin, s Sharma Second Kerr
(03:00):
Adit Uh, Sabhita Duli Pala,Let's try again, Sabhita Duli Palah,
Ashwini Kel Sakar Uh Makran, Deshpandi, and a couple more people. But
those are those are the big ones. Those are the big ones. So
if you haven't seen a trailer forMonkey Man yet, we almost didn't see
(03:23):
it. Netflix dropped it. Itwas plagued by issues coming to screen.
But uh uh, for the mostpart, fucking glad that it did.
Fuck Netflix. If they wanted todrop something like this, and you know
you have Jordan Peele come in andsave it, you know that should be
(03:43):
all you need to know. IfJordan Peel's the one coming in the saves,
don't you feel pretty save the film? I would feel pretty fucking stupid
if I was a Netflix Execuh thatpassed on this, so anyway, Oscar
nominee Dev Patel achieves in astan SheenTour de force feature directing debut with an
action thriller about one man's quest forvengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his
(04:10):
mother and continue to systemically victimize thepoor and powerless. So pretty basic setup
here. I don't need much ofa setup for an action film I need,
I tell people all the time,I need the bare minimum, like
if if if this is meant notthat this film is, but you know,
(04:32):
you do a Bad Boys or somethinglike that. I need very little
to go off of in terms ofwhy vengeance needs to be had. You
know, is everything gonna be agood emotional hook like John Wick? No,
not always, but you can stillmake it attracting enough for me to
care why the main character is goingthrough? What the main character is going
(04:57):
through? Just a side note forthe John Wick thing. So as I
was just pulling up the cast andcrew so I know who to credit somebody.
The second Google search, the secondmost popular Google search for monkey Man
was is monkey Man a part ofJohn Wick? God? Damn dude,
(05:19):
y'all are y'all are hilarious? Likeit. His blows my mind. Why
because it has a similar color scheme. It must be a part of the
John Wick universe. Uh, don'tmake me laugh. Don't make me laugh,
Holy moly. Inspired by the legend, Inspired by the legend of Hanumann,
(05:42):
an icon embodying strength and courage.Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid,
an anonymous young man who ekes outa meager living in an underground fight club
where, night after night, wearinga gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody
by more popular fighters for cash.Kind of funny that later in the film
(06:03):
he starts going by the name Kongand guess what's playing in the theater right
now? Alongside Monkey Mankong and Godzilla. I still haven't seen it yet.
I mean, I guess I wantto. I Like, it's not that
I have anything against those movies.I just you know what I should.
(06:24):
I should definitely see it in thetheater because watching something like at home,
it's something like that at home,is just gonna take away from how big
I assume that film's that film is. But talk about cosmic timing, right
dev Pateel's character starts going by Kongin the fight club, and Kong and
(06:45):
Godzilla are ruling the box office atthe same time. Kind of crazy,
But for a small film like this, I think it walked away opening weekend
with ten point one million for boxoffice take. You wantn't know how much
it costs to make ten So anythingfrom here on out, Dev Patel's is
stacking stacking nate cash. After yearsof suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way
(07:11):
to infiltrate the enclave of the city'ssinister elite as his childhood trauma boils over
his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosivecampaign of retribution to settle the score with
the men who took everything from him, Packed with thrilling and spectacular fight and
(07:31):
chase scenes, pumped the brakes onthat A little bit. A Monkey Man
is directed by Dev Patel from hisoriginal story and screenplay with Paul Anguwela,
Aula Angunoela Shit and John Coley,Master and Commander of Fireside Out of the
World. That's interesting. Talk aboutcosmic timing again. I believe I got
(07:56):
a boat movie coming out as anepisode two Hansan Rising Dragon out of Korea,
Korea's most watched film ever, andI definitely talk about Master and Commander
briefly on that particular episode, butanyway interesting. The film's international cast includes
(08:16):
Charloto Copley, So Let's try again, Subhita Douli, Pala pet O Bash,
Vippin Sharmain and Vippin Sharma was awesomeby the way, Ashwinni, Sakara,
Aditi Calcunte and Secan Darker also good. So hate Heable Uh and Makaran
(08:39):
deshpand Monkey Man is produced by DevPatel, Joe mon Thomas, Oscar Winner,
Jordan peel, Ian Cooper, BasilIwenik from the John Wick franchise Oh
There We Go. So because thesame producer of the John Wick so it's
a part of the John Wick universe. Jesus, you got killing me?
(09:00):
You God damn killing me. Small'sChristine Habler and Anda nagpaul Uh were the
producers of this, so listen.As far as directorial debuts go, it
was good. It's got a lotthat works in its favor. I mean
(09:22):
Jed Curzel's score I thought did didwonders uh for the piece, as well
as some of the musical choices init. I mean when j I D's
one fifty one RUMs started playing inthat I was confused in terms of when
(09:45):
we were using it, Like Ijust kind of I don't know. I
I would have used it somewhere else, but but you know this, this
is something that was plagued by issueafter issue coming to the light. There's
just like little stuff like that,like nothing wrong with the piece itself.
Just like me being armchair director,I would have been like, oh man,
(10:07):
I don't use one fifty one forone of the fight sequences even Anyway,
Jed Curzel's score was great. Ifyou don't know jedkurzl Is, I
did Slow West, The Babaduk,Son of a Gun, the Snowtown Murders.
Slow West is actually one of myfavorite westerns of all time. So
if you guys are into Westerns butyou haven't heard of Slow West with Michael
(10:28):
Fossbender, I have it a look. I promise you you will not be
disappointed. Oh look at Jed alsodid The Pope's Exorcists, which I actually
I don't believe in guilty pleasures,but if I did, I would assume
that this would fall under it,cause I dude, I really liked The
Pope's Exorcists. In the fact thatRussell Crowe's trying to get two more made
(10:54):
in the Pope's Exorcist universe. Ilove that so music by Jed Curzil fantastic.
The cinematography, I feel a lotof people were noticing that the most
in terms of its standing out.And Charon Mirre, Charon Mirror, Sharon
(11:16):
Mirror. This dude did whiplash CoachCarter, Last House on the Left.
The two thousand and nine one SilentNight Boo. Silent Night was rough,
you know, mad respect all thepeople that put Silent Night together, but
at the end of Silent Night,I was just like, Holy Moley,
do better demand more from your actionfilm? Anyway? I thought, the
(11:39):
cinematography is kind of really what separatesit from a lot of action films.
And I shouldn't even say a lotanymore, because now more action films are
choosing to light certain things. Youknow, you got pinks and purples and
dark reds, and just I thinkit's funny that it looks the same.
(12:01):
So I must be John Wick.I'm sorry I keep banging on that.
I was just so annoyed. Butif you got a dev battel, like
a dev paateel, like I said, directorial debut debut actually killing it,
and Dev Battel. In my eyes, I see him in very few things
that stink. Couldn't even name oneoff the top of my head, obviously
(12:24):
slum Dog Millionaire, Lion, GreenNight, Poison, the Wonderful Story of
Henry Sugar Hotel Mumbai, like forthe most part, kills it. He
was also in the newsroom, whichI the first season was good, right
gang the rest of them stunk.I should say that that the rest of
(12:46):
them didn't stink. It just didn'treally live up to that first season.
But anyway, I love pretty muchanything Dev Pateel does. He's just he's
got that face, likable, andI like him even more after who he
cited his in inspirations for Monkey Man, even though I almost feel like his
inspirations were so blatant it might haveactually taken away from the film for me.
(13:13):
So for example, let me takea look here, because I want
to make sure that I have allthe people that he mentioned. So yeah,
he he cites Bruce Lee Shocker forinspiration. I know I say that
negatively. It's just because if you'velistened to the show before, I I
love Bruce Lee, I do.I think I've I'm done talking about him,
(13:37):
you know what I'm saying, Like, Bruce Lee had four five films
nothing, you know, you're talkingabout Jackie He's got fifty Samo's got you
know, seventy. Like it's justphilosophically, Bruce was the man. But
we need to move on. Wejust need to move on. It's like
it's I if you are a actionfilm officionado or a kung Fu film officionado
(14:03):
specifically, and you always cite BruceLee, I'm probably not going to listen
to a lot of your conversation andand and here, just listen to my
reason for it. I believe thatyou shouldn't trust people that listen to the
same music that they did in highschool listen. So that just means like
(14:26):
I don't feel like they're evolving theirtastes or thought process blah blah blah blah
blah. And the same goes forBruce Lee. If you bring up Bruce
Lee every single fucking time there's anaction film conversation, don't you snore?
Dude? Like, there's so muchthat I've seen Samuel do that I like
(14:48):
more, there's so much that I'veseen Jackie do Jet Lee, do Donnie
Yen, do Eco Wise, doSonny Dude. The list goes on and
on and on. So it's justI love Bruce. It's time to move
past it. Anyway. He citesBruce Lee, Sam Ohank, the Raid,
Korean action. That's a pretty blanketstatement there, Bollywood, and much
(15:11):
more. As far as his inspirationsfor Monkey Man, I did want to
read a little bit of this article, which I couldn't be more in line
with kind of how I felt aboutthe film, and I'll kind of pick
it apart as I go if Ifind some stuff that I find completely outlandish.
(15:35):
But for the most part this wasspot on, so first and foremost.
Brian Tellerico, who wrote this forRogerdibert dot com, gave it three
stars. Guess what my letterbox scorewas three stars. So Dev Patel pours
his entire self into Monkey Man.Some comes over the sides and in the
mix might not always be right,but there's an undeniable passion here that comes
(15:58):
through in a genre that too oftenfeels like it came off an assembly line.
So I agree with that specifically,if we're talking American action films,
I swear to God it's like theydo a blueprint of the script that they're
going to do and they're like,all right, we got to have two
car chases, we have to haveone long action sequence here, blah blah
(16:22):
blah blah blah, all right,this will take that many minutes. This
many minutes it does. It feelsso calculated, and this one, I
think does a good enough job ofbouncing back and forth between the trauma of
what our main character is going throughand the action pieces. In fact,
in many regards, I would saythis is you could make the I'm not
(16:47):
saying that you would win, Okay, you could make the argument that this
is just as much of a dramaand social societal piece as it is an
action film. Be wrong, tellme, dm me, tell me.
I'm a fucking idiot. But Iand I do like when we do that.
(17:07):
However, some of it's just alittle clunky, and I think it's
just because he was he dev Paateelwas so passionate about this project. He
just wanted to make sure that nostone was unturned unturned in terms of the
authenticity of his vision. I madprops for that, Like I said,
you'll never hear me for the restof this podcast, I won't shit on
(17:33):
dev Patel. I thought, asfar as directorial debuts go, you can't
do much better. And then whenyou start thinking about all the issues that
it had come to light, Imean, the fact that this came out
at all and looks the way thatit does is still pretty good. But
that said, it's written by threedifferent people kind of feels like it's written
(17:53):
by three different people. So anyway, the writer producer starred as the writer,
producer, star, director, andguy who broke a few bones filming
this one named Check Bruce Lee,Samuehungg, The Raid, Korean Action,
Bollywood, and much more. Intohis intro and monkey Man often has that
overstuffed quality of a filmmaker who finallygot his chance to see his vision damn
(18:18):
all right, So that was righton par with what I was just saying,
finally got his chance to see visionson screen and worried he may never
get to do so again. That'swhat it feels like, like, Hey,
if I'm never gonna get this opportunityagain, nobody's ever gonna give me
another fucking cent to do a movieagain. I'm We're going all out,
baby, and I respect that madprops to Dev Patel, with an insanely
(18:41):
troubled production that started pre COVID.Patel credited producer Jordan Peel with saving the
film. There's something miraculous about theexistence of monkey Man, and that unabashed
passion can be contagious. When monkeyMan is humming, it earns those references
in Patel's intro. When it falters, those missteps can be forgiven as byproduct
(19:06):
of the filmmaker's unbridled desire to standout from other action movie primates. A.
I don't like that line. What'syour name there, guy, Brian,
I don't like that line. Theonly reason why I don't like that
line is that comes from someone whodoesn't watch enough action films. I would
argue, like the American, likeI said earlier in the show, American
(19:29):
action film. Sure, I'll listento that, but if we're talking international
and American, my goods there,you're not. There's a lot to love
out there. So Brian started takinga trip down the Korean action films,
Chinese action films, Japanese action films. Shit, I'll give you two right
now, Brian, Baby assassins oneand two and one percent warrior that'll fucking
(19:53):
make your head spin anyway. Inspiredby the legend of Hanuman, Monkey Man
stars Ptel as an unnamed fighter namedKid in the credits. In the ring,
he wears a grilla mask and fightsfor money from a sleezy promoter.
Sleezy Promoter played by Charlotte Charlotokopley fromDistrict nine. Wasn't he in Chappie?
Was he in Chappie too? He'sbeen a lot of stuff. I love
(20:15):
him. He's just got that likableface. He has beaten most nights of
the week, getting extra cash ifhe bleeds. With his deeply scarred hands
and silent countenance, the Kid maynot look like the strongest guy in the
room, but Patel uses those incrediblyexpressive eyes early to convey drive. This
(20:37):
young man has a goal and nothingwill stop him. Through an act of
thievery, the Kid gets a jobworking at an exclusive club that attracts the
most important power players in the city, including political leaders and chief of police
played by Sakon dar Kerr, whodestroyed his life so good. He's just
got a face that you just wantto punch, just want to take out
(20:59):
those tea one by one faces.Faces in the supporting cast start to recur,
like a beautiful club worker Sabhita DouluDoui Pala Pala and reluctantly Ally and
a reluctant Ally of sorts who getscaught up in his plan played by Pete
Bash kind of funny comic relief.But this is Patel's movie. His character
(21:23):
and present or flashback is in nearlyevery scene as we chart the ascend his
ascendants from ordinary guy to killing machine. On that last note, those coming
to Monkey Man looking for NonStop actionmay be a little surprised by its structure.
It's basically a lengthy setup followed bya lengthy action sequence and then rinse
(21:47):
and repeat. Other than the fightscenes and a lot of training, there
are really only two action sequences inMonkey Man, but they're worth the build
up. Brian, watch more actionfilms. But in fact, the stuff
that why am I talking like that, the stuff that I hang on to
(22:07):
more in this movie, that actuallyI think makes it a stronger film,
is not the action sequence. Infact, I would go as far as
to say if there were things thatkind of took me out of the film,
it would be set action pieces.But that's just because I'm damaged Goods,
Babe. I'm damaged Goods and she. In the last three weeks alone,
(22:33):
I've probably watched fifteen new action films. So watch more shit, Brian,
anyway, because I definitely felt likethe set action pieces. There was
stuff that I really liked, butbetween how we chose to you to shoot
(22:53):
those fight sequences, Ah, wecould have did better, just a little
bit better. Patel has taken actiontemplates from around the world and infuse them
with an insane brutality not often seenin films with the Hollywood studio logo.
Okay, so that's right, Buthoney, there's so many brutal action films
(23:15):
out there, you just gotta seekthem out new ones too. I'm not
saying there's brutal action films out there. Did you look at the two thousands?
I ain't doing that to you,Brian, but fuck men, fuck
Mike. Don't make statements like thatunless you know, bones, break blood's
spout and you feel the connection inways you don't often in action lately.
Come on, man, bones,break blood spurts, and you feel the
(23:38):
connection in ways you don't often inaction lately. Even the good stuff has
gone more highly choreographed, like JohnWick or Mission Impossible Man. Brian's losing
credibility sentence after sentence with me,while the choreography here is still phenomenal.
He says, well, if yousay so, anytime you have to use
(24:02):
CG within a fight that is centeredaround hand to hand combat, phenomenal wouldn't
be the word that I would use. While the choreography here is still phenomenal
boo. There's a sweaty, improvisedquality to it that adds to its kinetic
thrust. Boy, it's impossible tolook away or know what's coming next.
(24:30):
And credit to the editors, Yesfor Real, David Jansco and Tim Murle,
and cinematographer Cherund Mirr, who keepshis camera loose and fluid, almost
like another fighter in the room.While the action is impeccable, the film
falters in other places. There areclearly political subtexts that others with more knowledge
(24:52):
will be able to write. AndI couldn't pretend to comprehend. And he
is referring to the poverty, povertyDrinck in India that we are seeing.
Those are kind of the parts thatare working for me. Brian first we
were in an agreeance, like Iknow this guy or something. But first
we were in an agreeance. Andnow the stuff that I think kind of
(25:15):
held the film together is where youare feeling that it falters. This is
interesting. There are clearly political subtextsthat others with more knowledge will be able
to write, and I couldn't pretendto comprehend. But you don't need to
know the history or current troubles ofIndia to tell that. But tell the
writer might have bitten off more thananyone could chew. Religion, mythology,
(25:36):
equal rights politics. Yes, there'sa huge trans presence in this which I
found to be amazing, especially asour film starts to round out Act three.
But I'm not going to spoil anyof that for you. Religion,
mythology, equal rights politics, it'sall woven through this story in a way
that can feel clunky even to thosewho don't know the details. I don't
(26:00):
know if I agree with that,And Patel returns far too often to the
flashbacks using them. Yeah, thisI happen to agree with. And Patel
returns far too often to the flashbacks, using them as emotional blast when he
feels like the audience might be driftingbetween the action scenes, so just all
(26:22):
you gotta do, Dev stronger writing, I don't care if it's two people
talking at a fucking table for fifteenminutes. Seriously to Gopher Broke on this,
I don't mind if it give meall the I don't I don't believe
or I don't agree with what Brian'ssaying. Like I, I would prefer
to be as detailed as possible.And I understand understand. You know,
(26:45):
we only got two hours to wrapthis up in. But without those sequences,
without the religion, the mythology,the equal rights, the politics,
this movie doesn't work for me.Because it doesn't. I don't think it
stands well enough alone as an actionpiece. And that's just personal opinion.
(27:07):
But you're also talking to someone whowatches far more action films than he should,
so I'm not going to deny that. But I don't know. I
guess I. I just want tosit down and talk with Dev. I
want to be like, all right, so, what specifically about those inspirations
where you're pulling from, because Ido think that there are moments in this
(27:30):
where it kind of wants to bethe raid and I'm sorry and nobody's making
the raid. Okay, the Raidone and the Raid two is a once
in a lifetime thing. I'm notsaying that you can't be impressed by it
and try to draw what you canfrom it, but actually do it.
I don't mean the look in termsof lighting. You know, if you're
(27:52):
going to cite the raid, heyman, let's let's sharpen up this choreography
a little bit because I feel like, whenever we really started to pick up
speed, all of a sudden,the shits in CG and I'm never until
they put me in the fucking ground. I understand that you need to use
CG for you know, bigger sequences. I get it. Okay, I'm
not happy about it, but Ifucking get it. There is nothing you
(28:17):
are going to be able to tellme that is a good enough excuse as
to why what are the two?Most recently I watched so monkey Man and
Roadhouse needed cig hand to hand fightsequences. Nothing, Nothing you're gonna be
able to tell me if you can'tget two people that at least know how
to sell it for five to sevenshots and what I mean by shots is
kicks, punches or whatever. Ifthey can't remember five to seven hit combos
(28:41):
before you cut and move on tothe fucking emation do it? Okay?
Okay? Bete beteky bete what DennisMiller? Nobody even know? Anyway,
it's all over a bit of adebt, and Patel returns far too often
the fan, but yes, hereturns to the flashbacks often. It's funny
because it almost feels like pa Telthe director doesn't trust Patel the actor enough.
(29:04):
Hmm see, I think I wouldactually flip that a little bit it.
I don't know. That's a veryinteresting statement. It's almost like Patel
the director doesn't trust Patel the actorenough. Interesting putting so many flashbacks in
(29:27):
to justify his mission. We cansee the fearless drive and Patel's body language
and learn so much just from hiseyes, which convey both the pain of
memory and a commitment to vengeance.At the same time, while Patel's editing
team nails the fight sequences, thereare parts of the non action segments that
(29:48):
feel unnecessarily hurried too. I don'tknow if I go that far again,
trying to compensate in a way thatkeeps the audience awake when people aren't getting
mutilated Patel doesn't need to do that, says Brian. He's clearly a talent
in front, in front of andbehind the camera. I have a feeling
Monkey Man is going to be huge, and when he knows that he's going
(30:08):
to be able to make a second, third, fourth, and beyond movies,
he'll hone that overstuffed storytelling and visuallanguage in a way that could be
legendary. Oh, saving face there, Brian backpedaling there a little bit hot,
ad Bud, cause you don't wantDev to blow up. And then
remember you wrote about his directorial debutand basically said you too much could be
(30:33):
legendary. Monkey Man may be anorigin story for a future action franchise character,
but it feels more to me likean origin story for a future action
star in director. Oh all right, all right, I mean hey,
that is kind words towards the endthere, Brian, kind words. All
(31:00):
right. So I think I talkedenough about it without ruining anything. I
overall I liked it. I'm sayingbasically what everybody else is saying, which
is, you know, Dev Patel, as far as directorial debuts go,
absolutely nailed it. There's just partsthat don't work, and I think for
(31:23):
someone doing it his first time.If you, if you had only seen
like ten movies your entire life,monk, and the content of Monkey Man
is like your jam is your genreand stuff. That movie's awesome to you.
So I think it's just some ofus pieces of shit that watch way
(31:48):
too many movies. And I'm guilty. I'm guilty. I think if I,
if I would have seen a fractionof the action films in my day
that I've seen Monkey Man, I'mprobably fucking shout Monkey Man from the rooftops
based on how awesome it looked andblah blah blah blah. But now I'm
just kind of shouting from the rooftops, give Dev Battel more money to do
(32:08):
more ship. So I'm kind ofwith Brian on that one. Anyway.
Yeah, a little impromptu for y'all, A little impromptu Ellis Cinema A Monkey
May, Monkey May, starring DevBattel, Charlotto Copley, Pico, Bash,
Veepen Sharma, Secondar, kur Aditie, Sabhita, I Did It,
(32:36):
Ashwiny Kalsakar, and many more.Elli Cinema. How We Go
All right, Ellis send him aback another dish. How we doing out
(01:26):
there? Good? Great? GrayYane dy Yane Puke doing a little,
a little breaking away from the moldhere of stuff that I'm obligated to do,
to do something that I just wantedto talk to you about it twenty
twenty five minutes. Get you outin the theater to see it, regardless
of I mean, I'm gonna dowhat I usually do to you guys where
(01:46):
you're like, I can't fucking tellif he likes it or hates it.
Good. I like being a goddamnmystery as you see on your screen,
your dial. However you're choosing tojoin us today, I know that the
cast and crew of this film definitelythank you. I know, I sure
don't. Until this program gives medental I am going to just I'm sorry.
(02:12):
I'm only gonna take so much timeon it. That's all there is
to it. But I definitely wantedto lend this film my laughable platform,
even though it is the most unlistenablemovie podcast that exists. You hear me,
the most unlistenable movie podcast to exist. You want a good movie podcast,
(02:36):
check out I Know Movies and youdon't by Kyle Brule. That's a
good one. Director's chair, that'sa good one. I think that's what
it's called. I don't remember anyway. Monkey Man, Monkey Man Dev Patel's
directorial debut with Monkey Man, MonkeyMan, starring Dev Patel, Sharp,
Charloteau, Kopley, Pete O,Bosh, Vippin, s Sharma Second Kerr
(03:00):
Adit Uh, Sabhita Duli Pala,Let's try again, Sabhita Duli Palah,
Ashwini Kel Sakar Uh Makran, Deshpandi, and a couple more people. But
those are those are the big ones. Those are the big ones. So
if you haven't seen a trailer forMonkey Man yet, we almost didn't see
(03:23):
it. Netflix dropped it. Itwas plagued by issues coming to screen.
But uh uh, for the mostpart, fucking glad that it did.
Fuck Netflix. If they wanted todrop something like this, and you know
you have Jordan Peele come in andsave it, you know that should be
(03:43):
all you need to know. IfJordan Peel's the one coming in the saves,
don't you feel pretty save the film? I would feel pretty fucking stupid
if I was a Netflix Execuh thatpassed on this, so anyway, Oscar
nominee Dev Patel achieves in astan SheenTour de force feature directing debut with an
action thriller about one man's quest forvengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his
(04:10):
mother and continue to systemically victimize thepoor and powerless. So pretty basic setup
here. I don't need much ofa setup for an action film I need,
I tell people all the time,I need the bare minimum, like
if if if this is meant notthat this film is, but you know,
(04:32):
you do a Bad Boys or somethinglike that. I need very little
to go off of in terms ofwhy vengeance needs to be had. You
know, is everything gonna be agood emotional hook like John Wick? No,
not always, but you can stillmake it attracting enough for me to
care why the main character is goingthrough? What the main character is going
(04:57):
through? Just a side note forthe John Wick thing. So as I
was just pulling up the cast andcrew so I know who to credit somebody.
The second Google search, the secondmost popular Google search for monkey Man
was is monkey Man a part ofJohn Wick? God? Damn dude,
(05:19):
y'all are y'all are hilarious? Likeit. His blows my mind. Why
because it has a similar color scheme. It must be a part of the
John Wick universe. Uh, don'tmake me laugh. Don't make me laugh,
Holy moly. Inspired by the legend, Inspired by the legend of Hanumann,
(05:42):
an icon embodying strength and courage.Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid,
an anonymous young man who ekes outa meager living in an underground fight club
where, night after night, wearinga gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody
by more popular fighters for cash.Kind of funny that later in the film
(06:03):
he starts going by the name Kongand guess what's playing in the theater right
now? Alongside Monkey Mankong and Godzilla. I still haven't seen it yet.
I mean, I guess I wantto. I Like, it's not that
I have anything against those movies.I just you know what I should.
(06:24):
I should definitely see it in thetheater because watching something like at home,
it's something like that at home,is just gonna take away from how big
I assume that film's that film is. But talk about cosmic timing, right
dev Pateel's character starts going by Kongin the fight club, and Kong and
(06:45):
Godzilla are ruling the box office atthe same time. Kind of crazy,
But for a small film like this, I think it walked away opening weekend
with ten point one million for boxoffice take. You wantn't know how much
it costs to make ten So anythingfrom here on out, Dev Patel's is
stacking stacking nate cash. After yearsof suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way
(07:11):
to infiltrate the enclave of the city'ssinister elite as his childhood trauma boils over
his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosivecampaign of retribution to settle the score with
the men who took everything from him, Packed with thrilling and spectacular fight and
(07:31):
chase scenes, pumped the brakes onthat A little bit. A Monkey Man
is directed by Dev Patel from hisoriginal story and screenplay with Paul Anguwela,
Aula Angunoela Shit and John Coley,Master and Commander of Fireside Out of the
World. That's interesting. Talk aboutcosmic timing again. I believe I got
(07:56):
a boat movie coming out as anepisode two Hansan Rising Dragon out of Korea,
Korea's most watched film ever, andI definitely talk about Master and Commander
briefly on that particular episode, butanyway interesting. The film's international cast includes
(08:16):
Charloto Copley, So Let's try again, Subhita Douli, Pala pet O Bash,
Vippin Sharmain and Vippin Sharma was awesomeby the way, Ashwinni, Sakara,
Aditi Calcunte and Secan Darker also good. So hate Heable Uh and Makaran
(08:39):
deshpand Monkey Man is produced by DevPatel, Joe mon Thomas, Oscar Winner,
Jordan peel, Ian Cooper, BasilIwenik from the John Wick franchise Oh
There We Go. So because thesame producer of the John Wick so it's
a part of the John Wick universe. Jesus, you got killing me?
(09:00):
You God damn killing me. Small'sChristine Habler and Anda nagpaul Uh were the
producers of this, so listen.As far as directorial debuts go, it
was good. It's got a lotthat works in its favor. I mean
(09:22):
Jed Curzel's score I thought did didwonders uh for the piece, as well
as some of the musical choices init. I mean when j I D's
one fifty one RUMs started playing inthat I was confused in terms of when
(09:45):
we were using it, Like Ijust kind of I don't know. I
I would have used it somewhere else, but but you know this, this
is something that was plagued by issueafter issue coming to the light. There's
just like little stuff like that,like nothing wrong with the piece itself.
Just like me being armchair director,I would have been like, oh man,
(10:07):
I don't use one fifty one forone of the fight sequences even Anyway,
Jed Curzel's score was great. Ifyou don't know jedkurzl Is, I
did Slow West, The Babaduk,Son of a Gun, the Snowtown Murders.
Slow West is actually one of myfavorite westerns of all time. So
if you guys are into Westerns butyou haven't heard of Slow West with Michael
(10:28):
Fossbender, I have it a look. I promise you you will not be
disappointed. Oh look at Jed alsodid The Pope's Exorcists, which I actually
I don't believe in guilty pleasures,but if I did, I would assume
that this would fall under it,cause I dude, I really liked The
Pope's Exorcists. In the fact thatRussell Crowe's trying to get two more made
(10:54):
in the Pope's Exorcist universe. Ilove that so music by Jed Curzil fantastic.
The cinematography, I feel a lotof people were noticing that the most
in terms of its standing out.And Charon Mirre, Charon Mirror, Sharon
(11:16):
Mirror. This dude did whiplash CoachCarter, Last House on the Left.
The two thousand and nine one SilentNight Boo. Silent Night was rough,
you know, mad respect all thepeople that put Silent Night together, but
at the end of Silent Night,I was just like, Holy Moley,
do better demand more from your actionfilm? Anyway? I thought, the
(11:39):
cinematography is kind of really what separatesit from a lot of action films.
And I shouldn't even say a lotanymore, because now more action films are
choosing to light certain things. Youknow, you got pinks and purples and
dark reds, and just I thinkit's funny that it looks the same.
(12:01):
So I must be John Wick.I'm sorry I keep banging on that.
I was just so annoyed. Butif you got a dev battel, like
a dev paateel, like I said, directorial debut debut actually killing it,
and Dev Battel. In my eyes, I see him in very few things
that stink. Couldn't even name oneoff the top of my head, obviously
(12:24):
slum Dog Millionaire, Lion, GreenNight, Poison, the Wonderful Story of
Henry Sugar Hotel Mumbai, like forthe most part, kills it. He
was also in the newsroom, whichI the first season was good, right
gang the rest of them stunk.I should say that that the rest of
(12:46):
them didn't stink. It just didn'treally live up to that first season.
But anyway, I love pretty muchanything Dev Pateel does. He's just he's
got that face, likable, andI like him even more after who he
cited his in inspirations for Monkey Man, even though I almost feel like his
inspirations were so blatant it might haveactually taken away from the film for me.
(13:13):
So for example, let me takea look here, because I want
to make sure that I have allthe people that he mentioned. So yeah,
he he cites Bruce Lee Shocker forinspiration. I know I say that
negatively. It's just because if you'velistened to the show before, I I
love Bruce Lee, I do.I think I've I'm done talking about him,
(13:37):
you know what I'm saying, Like, Bruce Lee had four five films
nothing, you know, you're talkingabout Jackie He's got fifty Samo's got you
know, seventy. Like it's justphilosophically, Bruce was the man. But
we need to move on. Wejust need to move on. It's like
it's I if you are a actionfilm officionado or a kung Fu film officionado
(14:03):
specifically, and you always cite BruceLee, I'm probably not going to listen
to a lot of your conversation andand and here, just listen to my
reason for it. I believe thatyou shouldn't trust people that listen to the
same music that they did in highschool listen. So that just means like
(14:26):
I don't feel like they're evolving theirtastes or thought process blah blah blah blah
blah. And the same goes forBruce Lee. If you bring up Bruce
Lee every single fucking time there's anaction film conversation, don't you snore?
Dude? Like, there's so muchthat I've seen Samuel do that I like
(14:48):
more, there's so much that I'veseen Jackie do Jet Lee, do Donnie
Yen, do Eco Wise, doSonny Dude. The list goes on and
on and on. So it's justI love Bruce. It's time to move
past it. Anyway. He citesBruce Lee, Sam Ohank, the Raid,
Korean action. That's a pretty blanketstatement there, Bollywood, and much
(15:11):
more. As far as his inspirationsfor Monkey Man, I did want to
read a little bit of this article, which I couldn't be more in line
with kind of how I felt aboutthe film, and I'll kind of pick
it apart as I go if Ifind some stuff that I find completely outlandish.
(15:35):
But for the most part this wasspot on, so first and foremost.
Brian Tellerico, who wrote this forRogerdibert dot com, gave it three
stars. Guess what my letterbox scorewas three stars. So Dev Patel pours
his entire self into Monkey Man.Some comes over the sides and in the
mix might not always be right,but there's an undeniable passion here that comes
(15:58):
through in a genre that too oftenfeels like it came off an assembly line.
So I agree with that specifically,if we're talking American action films,
I swear to God it's like theydo a blueprint of the script that they're
going to do and they're like,all right, we got to have two
car chases, we have to haveone long action sequence here, blah blah
(16:22):
blah blah blah, all right,this will take that many minutes. This
many minutes it does. It feelsso calculated, and this one, I
think does a good enough job ofbouncing back and forth between the trauma of
what our main character is going throughand the action pieces. In fact,
in many regards, I would saythis is you could make the I'm not
(16:47):
saying that you would win, Okay, you could make the argument that this
is just as much of a dramaand social societal piece as it is an
action film. Be wrong, tellme, dm me, tell me.
I'm a fucking idiot. But Iand I do like when we do that.
(17:07):
However, some of it's just alittle clunky, and I think it's
just because he was he dev Paateelwas so passionate about this project. He
just wanted to make sure that nostone was unturned unturned in terms of the
authenticity of his vision. I madprops for that, Like I said,
you'll never hear me for the restof this podcast, I won't shit on
(17:33):
dev Patel. I thought, asfar as directorial debuts go, you can't
do much better. And then whenyou start thinking about all the issues that
it had come to light, Imean, the fact that this came out
at all and looks the way thatit does is still pretty good. But
that said, it's written by threedifferent people kind of feels like it's written
(17:53):
by three different people. So anyway, the writer producer starred as the writer,
producer, star, director, andguy who broke a few bones filming
this one named Check Bruce Lee,Samuehungg, The Raid, Korean Action,
Bollywood, and much more. Intohis intro and monkey Man often has that
overstuffed quality of a filmmaker who finallygot his chance to see his vision damn
(18:18):
all right, So that was righton par with what I was just saying,
finally got his chance to see visionson screen and worried he may never
get to do so again. That'swhat it feels like, like, Hey,
if I'm never gonna get this opportunityagain, nobody's ever gonna give me
another fucking cent to do a movieagain. I'm We're going all out,
baby, and I respect that madprops to Dev Patel, with an insanely
(18:41):
troubled production that started pre COVID.Patel credited producer Jordan Peel with saving the
film. There's something miraculous about theexistence of monkey Man, and that unabashed
passion can be contagious. When monkeyMan is humming, it earns those references
in Patel's intro. When it falters, those missteps can be forgiven as byproduct
(19:06):
of the filmmaker's unbridled desire to standout from other action movie primates. A.
I don't like that line. What'syour name there, guy, Brian,
I don't like that line. Theonly reason why I don't like that
line is that comes from someone whodoesn't watch enough action films. I would
argue, like the American, likeI said earlier in the show, American
(19:29):
action film. Sure, I'll listento that, but if we're talking international
and American, my goods there,you're not. There's a lot to love
out there. So Brian started takinga trip down the Korean action films,
Chinese action films, Japanese action films. Shit, I'll give you two right
now, Brian, Baby assassins oneand two and one percent warrior that'll fucking
(19:53):
make your head spin anyway. Inspiredby the legend of Hanuman, Monkey Man
stars Ptel as an unnamed fighter namedKid in the credits. In the ring,
he wears a grilla mask and fightsfor money from a sleezy promoter.
Sleezy Promoter played by Charlotte Charlotokopley fromDistrict nine. Wasn't he in Chappie?
Was he in Chappie too? He'sbeen a lot of stuff. I love
(20:15):
him. He's just got that likableface. He has beaten most nights of
the week, getting extra cash ifhe bleeds. With his deeply scarred hands
and silent countenance, the Kid maynot look like the strongest guy in the
room, but Patel uses those incrediblyexpressive eyes early to convey drive. This
(20:37):
young man has a goal and nothingwill stop him. Through an act of
thievery, the Kid gets a jobworking at an exclusive club that attracts the
most important power players in the city, including political leaders and chief of police
played by Sakon dar Kerr, whodestroyed his life so good. He's just
got a face that you just wantto punch, just want to take out
(20:59):
those tea one by one faces.Faces in the supporting cast start to recur,
like a beautiful club worker Sabhita DouluDoui Pala Pala and reluctantly Ally and
a reluctant Ally of sorts who getscaught up in his plan played by Pete
Bash kind of funny comic relief.But this is Patel's movie. His character
(21:23):
and present or flashback is in nearlyevery scene as we chart the ascend his
ascendants from ordinary guy to killing machine. On that last note, those coming
to Monkey Man looking for NonStop actionmay be a little surprised by its structure.
It's basically a lengthy setup followed bya lengthy action sequence and then rinse
(21:47):
and repeat. Other than the fightscenes and a lot of training, there
are really only two action sequences inMonkey Man, but they're worth the build
up. Brian, watch more actionfilms. But in fact, the stuff
that why am I talking like that, the stuff that I hang on to
(22:07):
more in this movie, that actuallyI think makes it a stronger film,
is not the action sequence. Infact, I would go as far as
to say if there were things thatkind of took me out of the film,
it would be set action pieces.But that's just because I'm damaged Goods,
Babe. I'm damaged Goods and she. In the last three weeks alone,
(22:33):
I've probably watched fifteen new action films. So watch more shit, Brian,
anyway, because I definitely felt likethe set action pieces. There was
stuff that I really liked, butbetween how we chose to you to shoot
(22:53):
those fight sequences, Ah, wecould have did better, just a little
bit better. Patel has taken actiontemplates from around the world and infuse them
with an insane brutality not often seenin films with the Hollywood studio logo.
Okay, so that's right, Buthoney, there's so many brutal action films
(23:15):
out there, you just gotta seekthem out new ones too. I'm not
saying there's brutal action films out there. Did you look at the two thousands?
I ain't doing that to you,Brian, but fuck men, fuck
Mike. Don't make statements like thatunless you know, bones, break blood's
spout and you feel the connection inways you don't often in action lately.
Come on, man, bones,break blood spurts, and you feel the
(23:38):
connection in ways you don't often inaction lately. Even the good stuff has
gone more highly choreographed, like JohnWick or Mission Impossible Man. Brian's losing
credibility sentence after sentence with me,while the choreography here is still phenomenal.
He says, well, if yousay so, anytime you have to use
(24:02):
CG within a fight that is centeredaround hand to hand combat, phenomenal wouldn't
be the word that I would use. While the choreography here is still phenomenal
boo. There's a sweaty, improvisedquality to it that adds to its kinetic
thrust. Boy, it's impossible tolook away or know what's coming next.
(24:30):
And credit to the editors, Yesfor Real, David Jansco and Tim Murle,
and cinematographer Cherund Mirr, who keepshis camera loose and fluid, almost
like another fighter in the room.While the action is impeccable, the film
falters in other places. There areclearly political subtexts that others with more knowledge
(24:52):
will be able to write. AndI couldn't pretend to comprehend. And he
is referring to the poverty, povertyDrinck in India that we are seeing.
Those are kind of the parts thatare working for me. Brian first we
were in an agreeance, like Iknow this guy or something. But first
we were in an agreeance. Andnow the stuff that I think kind of
(25:15):
held the film together is where youare feeling that it falters. This is
interesting. There are clearly political subtextsthat others with more knowledge will be able
to write, and I couldn't pretendto comprehend. But you don't need to
know the history or current troubles ofIndia to tell that. But tell the
writer might have bitten off more thananyone could chew. Religion, mythology,
(25:36):
equal rights politics. Yes, there'sa huge trans presence in this which I
found to be amazing, especially asour film starts to round out Act three.
But I'm not going to spoil anyof that for you. Religion,
mythology, equal rights politics, it'sall woven through this story in a way
that can feel clunky even to thosewho don't know the details. I don't
(26:00):
know if I agree with that,And Patel returns far too often to the
flashbacks using them. Yeah, thisI happen to agree with. And Patel
returns far too often to the flashbacks, using them as emotional blast when he
feels like the audience might be driftingbetween the action scenes, so just all
(26:22):
you gotta do, Dev stronger writing, I don't care if it's two people
talking at a fucking table for fifteenminutes. Seriously to Gopher Broke on this,
I don't mind if it give meall the I don't I don't believe
or I don't agree with what Brian'ssaying. Like I, I would prefer
to be as detailed as possible.And I understand understand. You know,
(26:45):
we only got two hours to wrapthis up in. But without those sequences,
without the religion, the mythology,the equal rights, the politics,
this movie doesn't work for me.Because it doesn't. I don't think it
stands well enough alone as an actionpiece. And that's just personal opinion.
(27:07):
But you're also talking to someone whowatches far more action films than he should,
so I'm not going to deny that. But I don't know. I
guess I. I just want tosit down and talk with Dev. I
want to be like, all right, so, what specifically about those inspirations
where you're pulling from, because Ido think that there are moments in this
(27:30):
where it kind of wants to bethe raid and I'm sorry and nobody's making
the raid. Okay, the Raidone and the Raid two is a once
in a lifetime thing. I'm notsaying that you can't be impressed by it
and try to draw what you canfrom it, but actually do it.
I don't mean the look in termsof lighting. You know, if you're
(27:52):
going to cite the raid, heyman, let's let's sharpen up this choreography
a little bit because I feel like, whenever we really started to pick up
speed, all of a sudden,the shits in CG and I'm never until
they put me in the fucking ground. I understand that you need to use
CG for you know, bigger sequences. I get it. Okay, I'm
not happy about it, but Ifucking get it. There is nothing you
(28:17):
are going to be able to tellme that is a good enough excuse as
to why what are the two?Most recently I watched so monkey Man and
Roadhouse needed cig hand to hand fightsequences. Nothing, Nothing you're gonna be
able to tell me if you can'tget two people that at least know how
to sell it for five to sevenshots and what I mean by shots is
kicks, punches or whatever. Ifthey can't remember five to seven hit combos
(28:41):
before you cut and move on tothe fucking emation do it? Okay?
Okay? Bete beteky bete what DennisMiller? Nobody even know? Anyway,
it's all over a bit of adebt, and Patel returns far too often
the fan, but yes, hereturns to the flashbacks often. It's funny
because it almost feels like pa Telthe director doesn't trust Patel the actor enough.
(29:04):
Hmm see, I think I wouldactually flip that a little bit it.
I don't know. That's a veryinteresting statement. It's almost like Patel
the director doesn't trust Patel the actorenough. Interesting putting so many flashbacks in
(29:27):
to justify his mission. We cansee the fearless drive and Patel's body language
and learn so much just from hiseyes, which convey both the pain of
memory and a commitment to vengeance.At the same time, while Patel's editing
team nails the fight sequences, thereare parts of the non action segments that
(29:48):
feel unnecessarily hurried too. I don'tknow if I go that far again,
trying to compensate in a way thatkeeps the audience awake when people aren't getting
mutilated Patel doesn't need to do that, says Brian. He's clearly a talent
in front, in front of andbehind the camera. I have a feeling
Monkey Man is going to be huge, and when he knows that he's going
(30:08):
to be able to make a second, third, fourth, and beyond movies,
he'll hone that overstuffed storytelling and visuallanguage in a way that could be
legendary. Oh, saving face there, Brian backpedaling there a little bit hot,
ad Bud, cause you don't wantDev to blow up. And then
remember you wrote about his directorial debutand basically said you too much could be
(30:33):
legendary. Monkey Man may be anorigin story for a future action franchise character,
but it feels more to me likean origin story for a future action
star in director. Oh all right, all right, I mean hey,
that is kind words towards the endthere, Brian, kind words. All
(31:00):
right. So I think I talkedenough about it without ruining anything. I
overall I liked it. I'm sayingbasically what everybody else is saying, which
is, you know, Dev Patel, as far as directorial debuts go,
absolutely nailed it. There's just partsthat don't work, and I think for
(31:23):
someone doing it his first time.If you, if you had only seen
like ten movies your entire life,monk, and the content of Monkey Man
is like your jam is your genreand stuff. That movie's awesome to you.
So I think it's just some ofus pieces of shit that watch way
(31:48):
too many movies. And I'm guilty. I'm guilty. I think if I,
if I would have seen a fractionof the action films in my day
that I've seen Monkey Man, I'mprobably fucking shout Monkey Man from the rooftops
based on how awesome it looked andblah blah blah blah. But now I'm
just kind of shouting from the rooftops, give Dev Battel more money to do
(32:08):
more ship. So I'm kind ofwith Brian on that one. Anyway.
Yeah, a little impromptu for y'all, A little impromptu Ellis Cinema A Monkey
May, Monkey May, starring DevBattel, Charlotto Copley, Pico, Bash,
Veepen Sharma, Secondar, kur Aditie, Sabhita, I Did It,
(32:36):
Ashwiny Kalsakar, and many more.Elli Cinema. How We Go
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