VOD: Monkey Man (dir: Dev Patel, 2024)

CELEBRATING 15 YEARS OF THIS BLOG!

"In the great tapestry of life, just one small ember can burn down everything."

Dev Patel plays The Kid, the titular fighter-for-pay Monkey Man, who infiltrates the ranks of a criminal organisation on a revenge trip that goes badly wrong and finds himself the one who is hunted.  The film takes its time to build the world  and that of Monkey Man that fuses a gritty India-set contemporary tale with a well-laid backstory, modern-day politics, spirituality and mythology very deftly.  Whereas the first act delivers pure action, a more contemplative second act gives the film depth that pays off well in the bruising finale. Visceral action/fight sequences and a fast-cut car chase at times feel a little John Wick via John Woo (which is not a criticism!), but Dev Patel's directorial debut (as well as acting and co-writing here) is bold, rich, stylish and vibrant, his on-screen performance as committed and nuanced as ever, all delivering an extremely watchable slice of very smart action-thriller entertainment. 

 

VOD: The Union (dir: Julian Farino, 2024)

"Don't let the pretty face fool you. I'm from the street!"
"Yeah? Which street is that? Sesame Street?"

Mike (Mark Wahlberg) is an ordinary construction worker who gets pulled unconvincingly into the world of glossy cartoon espionage via an encounter with an old girlfriend Roxanne (Halle Berry) in this typically silly Netflix actioner.  Wahlberg finds a sense of everyman resignation that comes across well, whilst Berry is adequate but never feels like a good fit for the role.  The saving graces in the supporting performances are the mighty J.K.Simmons as the spy gang's leader and Lorraine Bracco as Mike's mother.  The London setting used for most of the film is used well, with a couple of picturesque European locations used to bookend it.  The Union is an efficient and functional lightweight actioner that may convince younger viewers but no-one else.

 

VOD: Boy Kills World (dir: Moritz Mohr, 2024)

"Some things are hard to forget."

Boy Kills World is one of those movies that has cult status written all over it.  With his family killed when he was a child in an annual ritual societal event, The Culling, Boy is taken in and trained by a shaman and trained as an assassin, and as a mute/deaf adult he takes his bloody revenge.  The film hearkens back to the hard-boiled Asian action fight-fest movies that influenced Tarantino.  The insane action and violence displayed on screen is leavened by a strange cheesiness, largely created by Boy's inner-voice narration that mimics a videogame character, some darkly comic moments, a contrapuntally whimsical soundtrack and a Hunger Games-styled exaggerated ruling dynasty.  As the adult Boy, Bill Skarsgard - in the physical shape of his life - convinces as the purposeful killing machine and successfully engages without using speech.  The blood-soaked one-on-one final act showdown is relentlessly brutal, and overall Boy Kills World is a peculiar little film that works satisfactorily on its own terms within its own videogame-styled surreal little world.  Look out for the brief but interestingly-played end-of-credits scene.

 

VOD: Unicorns (dirs: Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd, 2024)

"Everything comes at a price.  It just depends what price you are willing to pay."

Opposites attract as down-to-earth single father mechanic Luke (Ben Hardy) takes on a night-time driving job and finds himself falling unexpectedly for an Asian drag artist Aysha (Jason Patel) in this gritty but romantic British love story.  It is generally a thoughtfully-crafted and well-written film, with the clashing cultural and sexual identities - together with the slow-burn developing central relationship - handled in a gentle but honest and open manner, balancing humour, drama and emotions well.  Ben Hardy displays his usual excellent level of character work and detail in his grounded performance, paired with a rounded and nicely-judged loquacious performance by Jason Patel.  As events take a more melodramatic turn in the final act, it may have benefitted from a simpler focus on the burgeoning relationship, but overall this is a small, intimate and sincere movie.