Completely over-the-top in a great way, The Monkey wasn't what I expected, but I'm delighted with the results.
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I think it's safe to say that The Monkey was misrepresented in its advertising. Because if you highlight a bunch of violent misadventures and invoke "The director of Longlegs," and "based on story by Stephen King," an in-the-know audience member is primed for some slow burn horror centered around a cursed object. Which is why the later reveal by critics and audience members that Perkins and company had instead made a horror comedy that might give the Final Destination franchise a run for its money via contrived death scenes, it was a shock. But not an unwelcome one, because The Monkey scratched an itch an for me that's been missing from the horror scene.
The Setup
The movie centers around Hal Shelburn, a social recluse who's been haunted by a series of horrific deaths he blames on a cursed wind-up toy, the titular monkey. But on what might be the last weekend he gets with son, Hal will be forced to reckon with the wind-up harbinger of death and stop whoever is using it for their own purposes...
The Monkey is best understood as a movie-long dark joke, where the main joke is...what's the most messed up thing that could happen in front of poor Hal?
The Final Destination comparison wasn't a throwaway either because there's a lot of connective tissue between the two. Much like the Destination movies, The Monkey is based around the anxiety of everyday objects and how they can fail and annihilate us in cruel ways. But instead of being predestined or death righting its ledger, it's all via the chaotic whims of a malevolent toy that offers choice about when someone may die.
So instead of trying to outrun death, this movie is about the combined madness of trying to outrun chaos and death (that's Hal corner) and trying to control death (which is the outlook of our main villain). Both obsessive fixations that will either isolate you from having a life and connections (as is the case for Hal) or drive you mad (as is the case for the villain).
That's the thematic base and the setup for Hal's arc going from completely closed off, including from his own son, to a form of acceptance that will both allow him to save his son's life but also explains who he is as a person and allows him to progress moving forward.
So what besides the theme makes this differ from Final Destination. Perspective is one. The underlying tension in the Final Destination movies is that, no matter how ludicrous the Rube-Goldberg setups are to each death, there's an immediate tension with our leads because something like that is coming for them and each death leading up to theirs amplifies the tension.
Whereas, Hal can see all of this coming, but also seems immune to the Monkey's powers. Not to say death won't come for him, but the Monkey seems to enjoy making carnage happen in front of Hal versus threatening Hal directly. Which means almost all of the violent payoffs involve Hal seeing a death coming, trying to prevent it, failing and then deadpan dealing with the aftermath or playing it down like "just another day where someone was blown into pieces in front me, *sigh*"
These scenes are all jokes played at Hal's expense until he learns his lesson and confronts his fear, versus an inevitable fate that awaits him.
These scenes are all jokes played at Hal's expense until he learns his lesson and confronts his fear, versus an inevitable fate that awaits him.
Another difference is the look of the movie which is using Perkins own deep black, high contrast cinematography (same thing he used in Longlegs) that's seemingly poking fun at his own film's self-seriousness. It means everything looks and feels like a modern slasher movie, including the kills and then we cut to Hal basically shrugging after another impossible event happens right in front of him. It's a juxtaposition between visual style and what's happening on screen. Because whatever is happening feels too silly for this aesthetic that's usually meant for classic or gritty horror flicks.
And finally there's the performances. Both by Theo James.
I've already alluded to James' performance as Hal which is convincingly sad sack and closed off, despite his movie star jawline. But the real fun here is his second performance as Hal's twin brother Bill. Without giving too much away, Bill is the polar opposite of Hal in how he speaks, his outlook and the arch-villain comedic bent he gives every single line. Honestly the kind of performance I'd expect from Jemaine Clement and I mean that as a compliment. Which means we've got these polar opposites playing against each other. One guy who wants to be involved in anything else and the other guy, his brother who looks exactly like him, who is a loon.
When all of this combines, you've got a horror comedy that lets the audience laugh at the absurd destruction left in the Monkey's wake and also at the notion that life, death and the world are within our control.
Any noteworthy shortcomings or blips? Not for me, but I imagine some folks might be a bit taken aback by what the movie primes as funny and how over-the-top things get by the end. But for me, it's an anarchic vibe that you'll either embrace or reject and I embraced it whole-heartedly.
The Verdict: Delightfully Chaotic
Completely over-the-top in a great way, The Monkey wasn't what I expected, but I'm delighted with the results. 8/10
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