CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress / ITDC News Bhopal: Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man is receiving accolades from critics in its initial reviews. It premiered at the SXSW on Monday.

Dev Patel has hit the bull’s eye with his directorial Monkey Man. The actor who plays the titular role in the vigilante action-thriller has been receiving laurels for his acting prowess and directing talent. Dev recently received a standing ovation at Monkey Man’s SXSW world premiere. As the audiences cheered for him, he got emotional while expressing his gratitude with folded hands. Apart from movie buffs praising the craft and storytelling, Monkey Man is also scoring high on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. (Also Read | Dev Patel cries after receiving standing ovation for Monkey Man. Watch)

Monkey Man gets thumbs up from critics

Monkey Man got a stellar 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A positive review from The Guardian read, “This is a brooding, bruising revenge film whose arc is more one of capability than redemption.” The Rolling Stone review said, “While [Monkey Man] often feels very much like a rough, earnest fan film… it also suggests that if Patel’s technique behind the camera catches up to his passion for the genre, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

Indie Wire review for Monkey Man read, “It’s a free-for-all of headrush filmmaking… Its lack of grounding wide shots makes the film feel unmoored at times, which inhibits emotional engagement. But the badass factor here is strong.”

Hollywood Reporter review read, “Patel makes a fine hero. The actor is a consistently charming presence whose capabilities have only grown since Skins and his breakthrough role in Slumdog.”

However, Variety review was a lot less favourable: “Patel wants to make his story “real,” but he hasn’t given it depth; he’s just given it a kind of dark-side-of-Mumbai longueurs along with fashionably jagged cinematography.”

IMDb score

On IMDb, it has an impressive 8.8 score. While praising Dev’s performance on X, a user wrote, “MONKEY MAN is more than just a bloody good time. Dev Patel takes his time with the storytelling, weaving personal tragedy with inner strength, mythology with modern political revolutions. It’s an action tour de force, full of talent and fucking passion in every frame. #SXSW.”