'The Monkey' Plays A Mostly Solid Tune
From Child's Play to M3gan, the evil inanimate objects coming to life is a horror trope that still hasn't grown stale. Based on a short story from Stephen King, The Monkey isn't necessarily great, but is entertaining enough to get by. In most films, the cast would be filled with idiots who would take forever to find a solution in trying to dispose of the evil toy. Furthermore, the characters are usually just boring, blank slates where we're waiting for them to be executed in fantastic fasion. In The Monkey, the cast is developed enough that we see them as more than just characters who are waiting to be killed. Mostly. There are still plenty of stereotypical characters that only exist to get offed. Luckily, there's enough juice in this film's family dynamic to keep the movie interesting beyond marking time for the next kill.
Although The Monkey is a horror film, it's far more effective as a comedy. The movie starts with a good laugh. A man (played by Adam Scott) enters a pawn shop trying to get rid of a toy monkey. When trying to return the doll, the man is distraught, warning the Clerk that if you wind up the Monkey's gear, it will unleash hell, killing whoever it wants to indiscriminately. Of course, the Clerk doesn't believe the man until the toy murders him. After the Clerk is killed via an arrow to the guts, the man steals a flamethrower from the store, burning the evil device to death. However, it's not hard to guess that the Monkey will come back with a vengeance.
The Monkey in this film is like the Terminator. You can't reason with it; it has no sympathy or remorse, and it will not stop ever until you are dead. After the man sets the Monkey ablaze, we freeze-frame the film and get a narration via Goodfellas style to kick us into the story.
The narrator is our film's protagonist, Hal Shelborn (Theo James). Hal gives us the standard "so you're probably wondering how we wound up here" monologue. We then flashback to Hal as a child, spending time with his twin brother Bill (both played by Christian Convery). When going through their deceased father's belongings, they stumble across a wind-up Monkey. The Monkey seems harmless until you actually wind it up. Once the key is turned, the Monkey spins his sticks and bashes them against the drum sitting in his lap. After he's done playing, any person at random is going to die, not by the Monkey itself, but in more of a Final Destination sort of way where our everyday appliances turn on us. From a pool being electrocuted to a stove setting someone's hair on fire, it's unpredictable how the Monkey will kill his next victim.
Soon, the Monkey the boys own starts killing off their friends and family at the drop of a drumstick. The results of the toy's murder spree ignites a rift that was already set between the twin siblings. They try everything to dispose of the Monkey, from chopping its limbs off to throwing it in a well. None of that matters, as it keeps coming back like it's Michael Myers. The curse of the Monkey tears a family apart and doesn't let up, even when our main characters grow up.
As an adult, Hal is distant from his family in order to protect them. Even with his son Petey (Colin O'Brien), Hal chooses to be estranged. That is all going to change during what's supposed to be Hal's final visit with his boy. The movie is a comedy first, a horror film second, and a family drama third. How all the pieces fit together isn't perfect, but consistent enough to work. The movie's family dynamic is what keeps it from being a boring slasher. The family perspective isn't the typical tale of a group of loving people trying to survive as a unit. Hal and Bill despise each other. Their childhood trauma from the Monkey has turned them against one another and ruined their future for any happiness. Although the film is a goofy slasher, it has a familial element to it that most horror movies lack.
The movie is about how we deal with grief. Do we let the death of others define our lives, or do we move on? Everyone dies. It's a part of life. One that the Shelborn boys' mother (Tatiana Maslany) tells her kids at a young age after a funeral. Loss can shape us into who we are, or we can make our destiny. The Monkey is a film about how we shouldn't let loss control our lives. The Monkey's killing rampage doesn't draw the brothers closer together as much as it tears them apart. It's more of a believable angle than what other horror movies surrounding murder sprees have going. More than the family drama, what really works in the film is its humor.
The Monkey's kills are varied, bloody as hell, and a heck of a lot of fun. Whether it be a bowling ball crushing someone's head in or a stare case falling apart, the film's gory deaths have a sick sense of humor in the best way possible. There's plenty of laughs to be had for all you bloodthirsty sickos out there. The characters are also believably cruel. Not everyone is a good person in this movie. Most of them are bitter jerks who care only about themselves. The brother's embitterment can get a little dull. Especially the relationship between Hal and his son Petey. It's mostly scenes of Petey telling Hal that he's a terrible father to the point of exhaustion. I get that Hal's distant, but could Petey be any brattier throughout the film?
Even with its flawed character development there's enough of it to warrant a viewing for this film for its fun deaths alone. See The Monkey with your friends, and get ready to be grossed out. You may not necessarily be scared, but you will probably be laughing throughout the film. The Monkey has a consistency to it that makes it a fun time at the theater despite its shortcomings.
The Monkey opens in theaters on Friday the 21st
