Best Action Thriller Of 2024 Is Beloved Actor’s Directorial Debut
If you’re an avid movie watcher, the name Dev Patel likely rings a bell, since the London-born Indian actor has appeared in such groundbreaking projects as Slumdog Millionaire, The Green Knight, Chappie, and more. This year, Patel wowed audiences across the world in both an on-camera and behind-the-scenes capacity, with the release of his feature film directorial debut, Monkey Man.
The film, which was made on a shoestring budget with production credits to Jordan Peele, managed to bring in tons of revenue and impress critics, ensuring that Patel has an incredibly bright future as a Hollywood filmmaker.
Monkey Man
Those interested in checking out Monkey Man today can find the film streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The narrative of the movie, which serves as a sort of modern adaptation of popular Hindu folklore, centers on an Indian boy named Kid who pays his bills by boxing in an underground fight club called Tiger’s Temple.
While working to build up his finances and establish a name for himself in India’s criminal underworld, Kid secretly plots revenge on the corrupt police chief who killed his family years earlier, as well as the evil spiritual guru who ordered the hit.
Donning his fight club character’s monkey mask, Kid infiltrates a local brothel and cocaine den, where he plans to kill the chief while his guard is down. Though getting the drop on the corrupt cop turns out to be a more difficult task than Kid realized, he begins making solid connections with underserved people impacted by local criminals, and eventually becomes something of a neighborhood vigilante. By the time the credits roll on Monkey Man, Kid goes through a complete character transformation and learns to utilize his incredible fighting abilities for the good of his community.
Dev Patel At His Finest
Though Dev Patel was known for his on-screen talent before the release of Monkey Man, this film truly exemplified his strengths as a performer, screenwriter, and filmmaker. Due to the conservative budget of just $10 million, many shots in Monkey Man were completed using iPhone cameras and GoPro devices, though you’d never know it from the stunning visuals they produced. All in all, Monkey Man made over $35 million at the global box office, and wowed critics enough to earn a certified fresh critic score of 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Best Film Of 2024
REVIEW SCORE
Personally, I find Monkey Man to be one of the best films of 2024, right up alongside the likes of Longlegs, Rebel Ridge, and MaXXXine. I would list the blood-soaked R-rated thriller as the single best high-octane action movie of the year, which makes me really excited to see what Patel has cooking up next.
Monkey Man has already been widely hailed as a spiritual successor to the John Wick franchise, with many fans affectionately referring to the film as “the Indian John Wick.”
If you haven’t yet had the chance to catch Monkey Man thus far, you should definitely drop what you’re doing and stream the film on Amazon Prime Video today. Even if you have already seen it, there are plenty of small details best explored on multiple rewatches, especially when you look into some of Dev Patel’s exceptionally creative production choices.
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