Oscar Huckle

Director: Kelsey Mann
Starring: (voices of) Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Diane Lane, Kyle McLachlan
Certificate: U
Run Time: 96 mins

Inside Out 2 is the sequel to the 2015 coming-of-age knockout from now-Pixar head creative Pete Docter. Inside Out is one of the least likely films from the Pixar canon to warrant a sequel and so not just in my view but this sequel has faced an uphill struggle from the start. Docter vacates the director’s chair this time for Kelsey Mann, who’s been with Pixar since 2013’s Monsters University. 

The sequel is set a year after the original, with Riley (now voiced by Kensington Tillman) having just turned 13 and entering high school. She continues to have a love for ice hockey and after impressing Coach Roberts (Yvette Nicole Brown), she’s selected to attend a summer camp to apply for a team at her designated high school. 

Riley’s emotions, Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale replacing Bill Hader) and Disgust (Liza Lapira replacing Mindy Kaling) have sound control of her. However, on the night before she leaves, the ‘Puberty alarm’ sounds and the emotions’ console is replaced with one that makes Riley overreact. And things become even more stressful when four new emotions enter headquarters, led by Anxiety (Maya Hawke). 

Inside Out 2 unfortunately lacks the freshness and simplicity of the profound original but it’s not a completely wasted affair. Starting with the positives, the first and last twenty minutes are excellent. The beginning is sharply written and very much feels like a continuation of the original and the way in which the film ends is reasonably profound. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the film is rather messy. Perhaps this is by design given the original’s exploration of childhood was simplistic and adolescence is far from a coherent process. And on that front, the film delivers but there’s just too much going on. We’ve now gone from five emotions to nine and it’s always hard to juggle the right amount of screentime and have a meaningful amount of development when you have an overabundance of characters. Of the four new emotions, it’s only Hawke’s Anxiety that makes an impression. 

The original quintet of emotions are literally bottled away and removed from Headquarters and the quest element of them trying to return is in many ways, a retread of the original. There is an uninteresting element that the film is just going through the motions. 

But what annoyed me most was that Mann just doesn’t seem to understands the original’s concept. I know it’s a minor point, but why are none of the quintet of emotions on dream duty like one of them always is in the original whenever Riley is asleep? The literal train of thought is gone and has instead been replaced by a stream of consciousness, but why didn’t that exist in a child? Why are we being introduced to new childhood figures that didn’t exist in the original, given we’ve only moved a year forward now? And moving to major examples – why do none of the other teenagers we meet in the film have these new emotions? I wasn’t trying to interntionally pick holes but these are glaring omissions and it really threw me out the film. 

While Andrea Datzman honours Michael Giacchino’s original score and introduces a couple of rousing themes, it lacks the intelligence of Giacchino’s work. Listen carefully and you’ll notice Giacchino includes cues in the film’s earlier scenes which are later fully developed into the crescendo of when Riley runs away – the masterpiece on the soundtrack that is We Can Still Stop Her. Datzman’s score is simply window-dressing. 

Inside Out 2 is fine and I wouldn’t go as far to say that it shouldn’t exist. But it does somewhat undermine the original with some of its logic and Mann lacks the subtlety and delicate touch of Pete Docter. It’s also unfortunate Pixar have already explored puberty far more assuredly just two years ago with Turning Red, reducing the novelty and impact of Inside Out 2. There’s undoubtedly more to take away from repeat viewings of Inside Out 2 given it runs at a barraging pace but even still, it’s undoubtedly a mess. 

Oscar Huckle

Director: Richard Linklater 
Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 115 mins

Hit Man is a romantic black comedy by director Richard Linklater, who’s had quite the eclectic career. Linklater is one of the most versatile filmmakers around, from romace films such as the Before trilogy to comedies such as School of Rock to adult animation such as Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood to his magnum opus coming-of-age drama Boyhood. The only other director I can think of who has had such a varied career is Steven Soderbergh but one thing that unites all of Linklater’s work is that regardless of genre, the story he tells is thought-provoking. 

Linklater’s latest stars Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a psychology and philosophy professor at the University of New Orleans. In his spare time, Johnson works undercover with the New Orleans Police Department, assisting in undercover sting operations. When a colleague is suspended, Gary is asked to step into his role. This entails him to portray fake hitmen, visiting clients to solicit murder-for-hire confessions. Gary quickly becomes very good at the role, becoming completely absorbed and thoroughly researching his clients beforehand and tailoring his appearance and personality to suit. However, things get tricky when he’s sympathetic to a client, Madison (Adria Arjona) and his job quickly becomes complicated. 

Hit Man is a strange film in Linklater’s filmography and while I admired the concept, I didn’t find it particularly funny. On the plus side are the performances – Glen Powell is terrific as the professor-cum-hitman, a layered and rather likeable protagonist. Adria Arjona is also very solid as his ultimate love interest who deftly balanced being beautiful but terrified. Although sparse, Graham Reynolds’ score is also effective. 

But I found Hit Man to overall be a little too ponderous and it wasn’t as light as its comedic intentions could have made it be or as cynical if it wanted to interrogate its preposterous concept. It’s also a good twenty minutes overlong and I found it dragged in the second half.  Some have compared Hit Man to Linklater’s Bernie, where Jack Black plays a murderous mortician but I thought both films strike completely different tones. 

While Hit Man has a thought-provoking concept and is reasonably entertaining in the moment with a terrific central performance from Glen Powell, I struggle to fully understand the lavish praise it’s received. It’s certainly not one of Linklater’s best works but there’s no denying it has an original concept.  

Oscar Huckle

Director: Ishana Night Shyamalan  
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, Oliver Finnegan 
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 102 mins

The Watchers is a supernatural horror that marks the directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan. Based on the 2022 novel by A. M. Shine, the film follows Mina (Dakota Fanning), an American immigrant living in Ireland who struggles to come to terms with the death of her mother fifteen years prior. She works in a pet shop and is tasked with delivering a valuable golden parakeet to a zoo in Belfast. Unfortunately, her car breaks down en-route in a notoriously haunted forest – suspend your disbelief because the reality is the drive between Galway and Belfast is all via motorway! She quickly meets a trio that live in a bunker-like building nicknamed ‘The Coop’, where they must return every night or face a certain death. 

The Watchers is an odd film, with a real mix of promising and frustrating elements. It’s not particularly scary and Shyamalan fails to decide whether to lean into full-blown horror or embrace the twisted fairytale nature of the source material. While she manages to inject some atmosphere into the film, her direction isn’t as assured as her influential father yet but that’s to be expected. The melding of Irish suburbia with a fantastical forest felt rather awkward and I did get frustrated at Mina’s typical horror antics quite early on. 

Fortunately, the film picks up once Mina meets the trio and this is where The Watchers is at its best. A late chase sequence is particularly thrilling and the ideas of voyeurism and duality are interesting, but not fully explored. There’s a natural point for the film to end and it would have been a lean sub-80 minute experience but (perhaps a fault of the source material), it goes on for another 20 minutes of exposition and I found the ending very unsatisfying and protracted.  

Dakota Fanning could play this type of role in her sleep and does the best with what she’s got. But Mina is unfortunately rather unlikeable and Fanning’s saddled with some rather stilted dialogue. After her winning turn in Barbarian, Georgina Campbell fares better as Ciara and Olwen Fouéré is also impressionable – we’re not sure whether we can trust Madeline or not. Unfortunately, Fouéré is regularly riddled with plot exposition. 

Really elevating The Watchers is a tremendous score by Abel Korzeniowski. It’s hauntingly melodic and brooding and like many of his other works, does a lot of the heavy lifting. Eli Arenson’s cinematography is a mixed bag – sometimes, the lighting is too dark but at other times, he beautifully captures the forest settings. 

While The Watchers is a perfectly serviceable horror film and stronger in its middle act, it’s a shame Shyamalan’s debut is bookended by a frustrating beginning and end. Still, I’m excited to see her career progression because although this film feels like it’s a debut feature, she clearly has promise. 

Oscar Huckle

Director: George Miller
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Lachy Hulme
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 148 mins

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the long-awaited next chapter in the franchise, coming off the back of the widely-regarded masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road.  Rather than a sequel, returning director George Miller has opted for what functions as both a prequel and a spin-off on Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa. Set 15 to 20 years before Fury Road, Furiosa explores the origins of the character, beginning from her childhood where she is kidnapped by the twisted warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).  What follows is her rise to power as a trusted lieutenant of Fury Road villain Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme, replacing the late Hugh Keays-Byrne) and her quest for revenge against Dementus.

 Those wanting a rehash of Fury Road should rethink their expectations because Furiosa: A Mad Max Sagaplays out very differently – a mature and slow-burn revenge thriller split into five chapters. Except for perhaps ten minutes when the characters reach The Green Place in Fury Road, that film was effectively a non-stop car chase whereas there’s plenty of room to breathe this time around. Considering he’s almost eighty years old, Miller’s film is brimming with the same passionate energy with some truly breathtaking action sequences, the highlight an extended chase aboard the War Rig. There’s plenty of meat to the bone to all the characters too, with an excellent script Miller co-wrote with Nico Lathouris, and it’s expectedly beautifully shot by Simon Duggan.

 Although she doesn’t show up until the third chapter, Anya Taylor-Joy stuns as the titular character. Not only is her performance magnetic, but she also embodies Theron’s sounds and mannerisms. The character is also mostly silent to conceal her identity, leaving Taylor-Joy to communicate her performance through her facial expressions but when Furiosa finally starts to speak more, it feels like a natural progression into how she morphs into Theron’s depiction. Alyla Browne also impresses as the younger Furiosa, who’s forced to abandon her childhood rather prematurely. 

 Chris Hemsworth is clearly having fun as Dementus in a scenery-chewing but relatively nuanced performance and is more than an intellectual match for Immortan Joe. Dementus instantly becomes one of the most despicable villains in the series and the decision for him to wear a teddy bear is genius. Tom Burke also shines as Praetorian Jack and I really brought the blossoming but respectable relationship between him and Furiosa.  

 Junkie XL returns on scoring duties, with the soundtrack to Fury Road one of its defining features. His score here is also brilliant, weaving existing themes with a pumping heartbeat that grows as the film progresses, in line with Furiosa’s development. It would have been very easy for the composer to have repeated himself again and it shows great restraint that this score stands out on its own.

 While I initially don’t think Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is quite as strong as Mad Max: Fury Road, this is still a terrifically original film.  It had me glued from start to finish and I appreciate Miller not trying to simply outdo himself by rehashing Fury Road’s best beats, instead refreshingly switching gears with the story and its tone. The performances elevate the film and all the crew are working at the top of their game once again. I really hope Miller gets to further expand the series and I hope we don’t have to wait another nine years.

Oscar Huckle

Director: Wes Ball
Starring: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 145 mins

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the latest in the ever-endearing franchise and marks the start of a new era after the excellent reboot trilogy. With Andy Serkis’ Caesar kicking the bucket at the end of War for the Planet of the Apes, this film picks up ‘many generations’ after War’s conclusion with a new set of characters. 

Directed by Wes Ball, most notable for The Maze Runner trilogy, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes opens with the simians having established numerous clans. Humans have now become even more feral. Noa (Owen Teague) from the Eagle Clan, prepares for a coming-of-age ceremony by collecting eagle eggs with his friends. However, events lead to his village being burned down by a group of ape raiders, led by their self-proclaimed king, Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). 

Although Ball witholds Proximus Caesar from the screen for quite a while, we feel his influence right from the raid, a wickedly intelligent villain who has twisted Caesar’s teachings and diluted them to something that the great ape hadn’t intended. Noa sets out after the raiders to rescue his clan, along with an orange-utan Raka (Peter Macon) and a human scavenger who he names Nova (Freya Allan). 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is an uncommonly intelligent sequel and is another strong entry in the series. The underlying social subtext is what really allows these films to excel, and the lack of it is what lets down its two weakest instalments – Tim Burton’s misguided Planet of the Apes remake and Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The idea of exploring how a key figure’s teachings have been twisted after a period of time is a genius move, reflecting the intrigue and conflict brought by religion in our world. 

I loved how Ball advances the aesthetic and tone of the series – gone are the predominantly forested surroundings of Dawn and War and its road movie influence feels closer to earlier entries of the original pentology. The abandoned human world is fascinating to pick apart, from rusted escalators to buildings covered in overgrown fauna. There’s some great set-pieces too, with fast-paced and memorable action sequences, the highlight being one on a bridge. 

The film is lusciously shot by Gyula Pados and John Paesano does a great job with the score, no mean feat coming off of Michael Giacchino’s work. Although it’s not quite the slamdunk of Giacchino, it’s fitting and I liked that Paesano respects both Giacchino and original Planet of the Apes composer Jerry Goldsmith’s theme, while hedging out his own. I particularly liked the theme of Noa riding out to track the clan under a bridge – Noa’s Purpose on the soundtrack. 

Arguably with an even greater task on his plate is Owen Teague, who fortunately proves an excellent lead and at no point was I longing for Andy Serkis’ return. He gives Noa a likeable and easy personality to root for, even if he goes on a more straightforward journey than Caesar. That said, Noa’s thrown straight in the deep end and is constantly thrown obstacles to deal with.

Kevin Durand is brilliant as Proximus Caesar, quite possibly both career-best work and one of the most memorable villains of the series. Despite his limited screentime, you can feel his presence throughout and he’s given some killer dialogue by screenwriter Josh Friedman. Peter Macon’s also brilliant as the orange-utan, Raka, who gets given lots of the film’s comic relief but has bags of personality and does his best to spread the word of Caesar’s philosophy.  

The human characters don’t fare quite as well, although that’s not a big problem compared to other Planet of the Apes entries or monster films such as the recent Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire because humans play second-fiddle to the apes in the story. Still, The Witcher’s Freya Allan makes a reasonable impression and William H. Macy is clearly having fun in a small role as Trevathan, a cowardly figure who teaches Proximus Caesar human history.  

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a more than worthy addition to the series and I was quite surprised by how good it was. It’s uncommonly thoughtful for a mainstream blockbuster and although long at 145 minutes, I really liked how Ball gave the film breathing room to develop the world he’s introducing and the characters. Although there are hints as to where future entries could go (I’ll admit there are some worrying elements here and I hope the series retains its grounded approach), they’re not at the cost of this film’s quality, a flaw which has dragged many a film down. 

It isn’t clear yet whether Ball is going to direct the next entries but I’m really pleased to see he put the effort in with this entry. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does an excellent job of advancing the reboot series, while brimming with potent social subtext and respecting what made the original pentology work. 

Oscar Huckle

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett
Starring: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir, Giancarlo Esposito
Certificate: 18
Run Time: 109 mins

Abigail is the latest from horror director duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The duo have been in the horror game a while, contributing to the found footage anthology film V/H/S and directing Devil’s Due. They peaked with Ready or Not (which I thought was just fine) before rejuvenating the Scream franchise. 

Abigail covers somewhat similar ground to Ready or Not in that it is also largely set in a grand, secluded manor. Six criminals are tasked with guarding the titular character, a young ballet dancer, for 24 hours while they wait for a ransom payment from her influential father. The film begins in the vein of Reservoir Dogs where none of the team know one another and use fake names to avoid any member from identifying the others. In a somewhat cheap move, Melissa Barrera (who led Scream (2022) and Scream VI)’s Joey, a former military medic struggling with substance abuse issues, deduces the identities of all the criminals in an early sccene. However, despite the seemingly straightforward task of babysitting Abigail,  all is not what it seems and if you’ve seen the trailer (or any of the marketing material, for the matter), the big surprise has been bafflingly spoiled.  

Abigail is just fine and you pretty much get the film promised by the trailer, albeit with a couple of narrative surprises to keep things fresh. It’s drastically overlong – the film would have been much punchier with a tigher 85 minute run time. As it stands with the 109 minute length, we end up going through the motions and being a step ahead of the characters which makes things predictable. The film isn’t particularly scary and I’m surprised the violence is enough to earn it an 18 rating in the UK. Horror-comedies are a tough genre to pull off and this is neither funny or scary enough to fully work as either. 

 The main draw of the film are the performances. Barrera embraces the scream queen role and it’s easy to empathise with her trauma. Kevin Durand is another highlight as Peter, an alcoholic and physically imposing, yet rather unintelligent mercenary. However, it’s Dan Stevens who steals the show as Frank, a former police detective and the actor delivers some ripping dialogue. Brian Tyler’s score is another plus, with the composer updating the iconic Swan Lake with a twisted and sadistic edge.

 It’s a shame Abigail doesn’t fully work with its fun premise but this is a passable, somewhat fun-in-the-moment horror that you’ll forget about almost immediately afterwards. The film would have benefitted from a tighter edit and committing to either being a fully-fledged horror or comedy rather than awkwardly trying to balance both. 

Oscar Huckle

Director: Alex Garland
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 109 mins

Civil War is the new film by Alex Garland set in a dystopian United States where violence has engulfed the nation. Originally esteemed for his screenwriting, Garland’s directorial career has been very strong so far. I loved Ex Machina and found plenty to admire in Annihilation. I wasn’t quite as hot on his folk horror Men but it was still a fiercely original piece. 

Civil War centres on four journalists, two of whom are trying to make their way to Washington D.C. to interview and photograph the President before the city falls. Renowned war photogapher Lee Miller (Kirsten Dunst) is the film’s front and centre, joined by her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura). Older veteran journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) wants to accompany them as far as Charlottesville and aspiring photojournalist Jessie Cullen (Cailee Spaeny) blags a space in the car to follow her idol, Lee. 

Civil War is a brilliant film – it’s well-paced and sustains its unnerving tension throughout. I really connected with the characters and the film looks more expensive than its $50 million budget suggests.  I loved its depiction of journalism in how there is the dedication, thrills, rush and joy of creating content. The idea of one photo every 100 being perfect is also true, but the lengths in which Garland depicts journalists in capturing even a single photo (for example, by jumping into enemy gunfire) is chilling. I also loved how photojournalism was edited into the film and Civil War is about how a story becomes an image. Sound is also used to brilliant effect, with the lack of sound in key sequences very effective in increasing tension and portraying how used to violence these characters have become. 

Garland doesn’t take a viewpoint on the war and the film has received some criticism for this. But I think Garland has deliberately chosen to remain neutral, firstly because that’s how a publication should treat an event (even if that doesn’t happen) and to also convey the message that the population have forgotten who and what they’re fighting. There’s a powerful line in a shootout between two parties, where one of the opponents tells the journalist simply ““Someone’s trying to kill us, so we’re trying to kill them”.  

Kirsten Dunst is terrific as the world-weary veteran war journalist. Lee has clearly become disillusioned and manages to convey her vast amounts of experience solely through her tired expression and the way in which she drags her feet. In fact, all of the journalists just look plain tired, overworked and underpaid, an unfortunate side of the industry. 

Wagner Moura is excellent too, as a journalist who thrives when there’s violence, and the ever-reliable Stephen McKinely Henderson makes a powerful impression as the older wisened writer. Cailee Spaeny isn’t quite as effective as the main trio, but recaptures a similar naivety she had in Priscilla. Jesse Plemons is every bit as terrifying as you’ve been led to believe and Nick Offerman is an eerily evocative choice as the power-strapped President, who Garland brilliantly portrays in the film’s opening rehearsing a speech. 

Civil War is ultimately a glum but eye-opening thrill ride and it’s quite possibly Garland’s best directorial effort to date. In recent interviews, Garland has said he is going to step away from directing and if this is the case (given that he’s still attached to co-direct Warfare), this is a hell of a high note to go out on. 

Oscar Huckle

Director: Matteo Garrone 
Starring: Seydou Sarr, Moustpha Fall, Issaka Sawagodo, Hichem Yacoubi
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 121 mins

Io Capitano is the new film from Matteo Garrone about two teenager cousins who decide to leave Senegal to seek a more prosperous future in Italy. It’s a story we hear of many times in the news, and the film has been inspired by actual stories of migrants’ African routes to Europe. While it’s easy to dismiss the swathes of desperate individuals trying to claim asylum in a safer country, Garrone delicately portrays their plight. Garrone is a talented director, initially most famous for his gangster film Gomorrah, which I didn’t love. However, he’s since proved a knack for the fantastical with Tale of Tales, Dogman and his ambitious Pinocchio. 

Io Capitano is a terrific and thought-provoking piece from Garrone. While its first twenty minutes are quite atypical of his usual directorial style, once the boys leave home, this is a Garrone experience through and through. A scene with a desperate woman falling behind as a group walk through a desert is particularly affecting, especially with how Garrone plays with time and hallucinations. The ending is also bleak and hard-hitting yet simultaneously joyous. An extended sequence set in a prison is also typical of Garrone and I really brought the relationship between the Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Martin (Issaka Sawagodo), a man he’s imprisoned with. 

Garrone masterfully often shows but doesn’t tell and I always respect it when a filmmaker treats their audience as intelligent. The blues-inspired score by Andrea Farri is sensational and really elevates the material on-screen and the film is beautifully shot by Paolo Carnera. 

I absolutely loved Io Capitano and was completely absorbed in the teenager’s journey. This is another brilliant film by Matteo Garrone and one well worth seeking out – it’s one of the best of the year. 

Oscar Huckle

Director: Dev Patel
Starring: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Makarand Deshpande, Jatin Malik, Zakir Hussain
Certificate: 18
Run Time: 121 mins

Monkey Man is actor Dev Patel’s directorial debut, a neo-noir action thriller descibred by some as “John Wick in Mumbai”. In the film, Patel plays Kid, who after losing his mother when he was very young earns a living as a monkey-masked fighter at an underground boxing club, where he is incentivised to lose. When he notices the perpetrators of his childhood, he gets recruited into a luxury brothel that they frequent to enact his revenge. 

Patel certainly had a memorable experience in getting the film to the big screen – the film was almost cancelled when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Patel broke his hand when filming an action sequence and Thunder Road Films, the original production company sold the rights to Netflix. It was only when Jordan Peele saw the film that he persuaded Universal Pictures to acquire the film from Netflix because he wanted it to be seen on the big screen.  

 Monkey Man is a mixed bag – some of the film is quite promising and there’s some visceral action sequences that suggest Patel has a future behind the screen. But it’s also equally sluggish, especially the second act where Kid goes through the typical revenge film motions of bulking up before he has a second crack at his enemies. Patel also tries to interweave too many elements into what is a rather simplistic plot, such as themes of discrimination, the caste system and poverty but nothing really sticks. 

 Patel puts in a typically committed performance as Kid and I really brought that his character had gone through a tough upbringing after the loss of his childhood. Of the rest of the cast, Pitobash is a highlight as Alphonso, a gangster working for the enemy who Kid befriends to work his way up the ranks. Sharlto Copley is underused as Tiger, who organises the fights and feels like he’s come in from a different film. On a side note, Patel apparently asked Neill Blomkamp to originally direct the film (the three had collaborated on Chappie) andCopley’s performance feels like it’s lifted from a Blomkamp film. 

 Although DP Sharone Meir resorts to quick cuts in the action sequences, some of them are well-shot and show promise for Patel as a director, the best being a supercharged tuk-tuk on the city streets. You can certainly tell the crew are working on a limited budget as the film will often cut away or obscure any effects that you’d expect to see as a consequence to an action. The usually reliable Jed Kurzel turns in a strange score too – some of it’s great, especially an atypically acoustic track to a gritty fight sequence but there isn’t a memorable theme that holds the film together. 

Although Monkey Man shows promise and is sporadically entertaining, the odd pacing and overly simplistic story derail the film from reaching the heights of better revenge action thrillers such as John Wick. Even The Beekeeper, an over-the-top revenge film starring Jason Statham that released at the start of the year is better-paced than Monkey Man. I’d be interested in seeing what else Patel has up his sleeve as a director because there is certainly potential but I think he’s taken on too ambitious a project for his debut.