Filmed With An IPhone, But A Masterpiece || Movie Review

Dev Patel brought to the box office a movie that was a mixture of India Mythology, gruesome violence, and a well developed India John Wick protagonist character. I say, the Indians now have their very own John Wick!

When I saw the trailer of this movie, I thought it would be like a B-class movie considering the low budget, but what made me curious to watch this movie was because of Dev Patel. I remembered the movie ’Avatar: Last Airbender (2010)’ where he starred as Zuko. Though that movie didn't really do well, his performance in the movie was unforgettable. Dev Patel producing and directing his first movie? I had to watch it.

’Monkey Man (2024)’ is an Indian action thriller film that was directed, co-written, and produced by Dev Patel. It was distributed by Universal Pictures. It starred Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Sobhita Dhulipala,, Ashwini Kalsekar, Makarand Deshpande, Jatin Malik and Zakir Hussain.

The plot of this movie is majorly centered around revenge. In a small village in India, an underground fighter, nicknamed the “Monkey Man” was determined to take down his mother's killer. This man had a rough start in life. When he was a boy, he watched Rana Singh, the corrupt police chief burn down his village, his home, assault and kill his mother after which he burnt her body right before his eyes.


Now, the ’Monkey man’ hasn't forgotten the tales of the Hanuman that his mother told him about when he was a boy. With this piece of fond memory, he is determined to make Rana Singh pay for his crimes. Also, on the other hand, Rana is a tool in the hand of a ruthless spiritual guru, Baba Shakti. Who will the ’Monkey Man’ take down first? And can he do this on his own?

My Review And Rating.

This movie depicted how unique the Indian culture and mythology is like. I say, Dev Patel is a very talented writer, director and skilled actor. I see a good future for him in the film industry, if he continues like this.

One thing that is shocking that I discovered after watching this movie, was the fact 80% of the scenes in this movie were filmed using an iPhone and GoPros due to its low budget cut. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't at all obvious that this movie was filmed with a phone.

This movie began well and builds up with an intense momentum for a thrilling and satisfying revenge arc. The plot was well written with a unique style. The storytelling was excellent. It is also a Mix of Indian Mythology, Indian Political History, brutal hand to hand combat, and a little bit of Gun Play. I love how the present and past was blended together to create suspense with a hint of mystery. The characters were well developed and realistic. The protagonist’s backstory had the right element to get one hooked right from the beginning till the end.

The Cast performance were amazing. All the actors play their roles with passion that their performances were convincing and realistic. The protagonist Patel was the star of the movie. He was wonderful all through the movie. He play this role like it was one if his personalities. I say, Dev Patel was absolutely good in the movie. He was brutal and all the emotions that comes with vengeance course, he portrayed them excellently well.

The cinematography was nice, real, and natural. The location was perfect for the story of the movie. The directorial style was impressive and unique. I will give Patel that. All the combat scenes were filming with excellently well that one would almost think its real. The creative of photography was raw and realistic. The violence was brutal, bloody and visceral. As the tension builds from the beginning for the protagonist to full come into his potentials, the wait was suspenseful but kt was worth the wait.

The camera was fantastic because there was some "shaky cam,” involved. This technique made all the fighting stunt appear very realistic, convincing and it intensified the impact. Also, the sounds used for this movie was perfectly selected and befitting.

Rating this movie, I will give it 8 out if 10 stars. I enjoyed it, it was interesting, intriguing, thrilling, and above all satisfying. All the violence were right on spot satisfying. This is was a fantastic revenge flick. I had fun with it.

If you have motion sickness, you get easily unsettled when you blood or violence, I advice you not to see this movie at all. I would recommend this movie to action-thriller lovers and if you enjoy watching revenge flicks, like John Wick.

All images above are from the movie screenshots

Poster image source

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