HOLLYWOOD—Sometimes there are movies that are intriguing, but you ask yourself, why? I’m referring to the flick “The Monkey” that deals with a wicked looking monkey toy that plays with drums. However, this isn’t just a toy it is one that unleashes death in the worst possible ways on those you may love and complete strangers at the same time.
At the focus of the narrative are twin brothers, Hal and Will, that we see as children in the beginning. I truly witnessed this flick as a tale about sibling rivalry, one that is taken to new heights. Yeah, your older brother or siblings can bully the younger ones or the weak ones as they deem fit. Will is quite cruel to his brother Hal, so much to the point that the brothers start toying with the device.
It leads to their babysitter encountering an untimely demise while having hibachi. That soon turns into other brutal deaths and when I say that I mean that in the worse type of way. “The Monkey” is not skittish at all when it comes to blood, violence or just outlandish things that you imagine could never occur in your wildest dreams.
With that said, after a bullying incident at school, Hal decides to turn the money’s key in hopes of it killing his brother, but instead it is their mother who suffers a bloody fate. We soon transition to the brothers as adults. Hal (Theo James) works at a retail establishment, sort of secluded from society. He has a son but only sees him once a year out of fear that the toy he discarded as a kid with his brother might come back and kill someone he cares about.
Hal is very estranged from his twin, they haven’t spoken or seen each other in years. Will is indeed wicked and we see that as a child, but the audience doesn’t get to see that as much as an adult. That is the one caveat of the film that I didn’t enjoy. Theo James is quite intriguing in the role, but I would have like to see the actual twin brothers interact a lot more than the big confrontation that unfolds during the climax of the movie.
An actor in a dual role is not an easy task to accomplish, and if an actor can dance into that role and do it effectively it makes the narrative much more captivating to witness. No, there is not much character development with “The Monkey” it’s really about how wicked kills can shock and cause the audience to squirm. While that is fun, I’ve seen this done before in another movie and it was done a lot better in “Final Destination.”
Yeah, “The Monkey” takes a slice of “Final Destination,” but never goes anywhere because we don’t know much about the origins of this mysterious item. We know it can’t be destroyed. When Hal and Will try to get rid of it, it finds a way to teleport, which means it can be anywhere at any given time. Now that is scary, and I would have liked to see that explored just a bit more. For a movie that is just around 90 minutes it moves at a solid pace, but as a viewer, I just wanted a bit more on a story front. I don’t want to just see violence for the sake of watching it.
