The Monkey Review: Stephen King's Newest Adaptation Has a Killing Toy
Copyright © Neon, C2, Atomic Monster, The Safran Company, Oddfellows, Range, Stars Collective
Title: The Monkey
Director: Osgood Perkins Based on: The Monkey by Stephen King
Release Date: February 21, 2025
It is finally time for The Monkey to get a feature-length adaptation. Many of the Stephen King movies, like The Shining, IT (2017), and Pet Sematary (2019), became iconic horror genres for most people over the years. Today's movie is called The Monkey, a horror movie about a killer wind-up monkey, and it might join the pack in the next few years. Using a budget of $10-$11 million, it gained a standard commercial success with $68.9 million from the box office, as well as a critical success with critics for its campy horror. On the other hand, audiences were mixed enough to praise the deaths, but they criticized the trailer hype and comedy. Albeit it could do better with more things to wrap up, The Monkey is a good enough drumming tune that can emit the eerie.
It is finally time for The Monkey to get a feature-length adaptation. Many of the Stephen King movies, like The Shining, IT (2017), and Pet Sematary (2019), became iconic horror genres for most people over the years. Today's movie is called The Monkey, a horror movie about a killer wind-up monkey, and it might join the pack in the next few years. Using a budget of $10-$11 million, it gained a standard commercial success with $68.9 million from the box office, as well as a critical success with critics for its campy horror. On the other hand, audiences were mixed enough to praise the deaths, but they criticized the trailer hype and comedy. Albeit it could do better with more things to wrap up, The Monkey is a good enough drumming tune that can emit the eerie.
Summary
"When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tears their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree, forcing the estranged siblings to confront the cursed toy." - Google
"When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tears their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree, forcing the estranged siblings to confront the cursed toy." - Google
Reasons
The good things from The Monkey are the absurd concept, stylized deaths, and dark humor. Yes, it is a movie based on a Stephen King short story from 1980, but the concept is still something that went out of the box. Honestly, there should be more horror movies featuring killing toys, after Annabelle and Child's Play. The adaptation did give NEON an advantage to get a handful of merch, like a popcorn bucket, as part of their promotion in the theater. Alongside the concept, the deaths were shockingly mind-blowing. Instead of the common methods used in other horror movies, they were done in ways that scream wacky. The reason is the Monkey itself, of course. To move on to its main side, the humor is well-written to balance the scary. Unlike Longlegs, which is a more serious movie, this movie is attempting to be comedic. Most of the jokes are silly lines or random gags.
Now, let's move on to the mixed of The Monkey, which are the emotional weight, pacing, and character development. Half of the sad moments did work to add depth. As for the other half, they felt kind of flat in a way. The ones that did not click were just trying to connect with the death theme like the other good ones had done. Another thing to say about this bunch is the pacing. In the 1 hour and 36 minute runtime, a handful of spots are fast. Meanwhile, some parts drag in the middle. I know this may be harsh, but the character development for some characters is quite half-baked. I mean, they could have done better with Bill at least, and also Ricky. It is just that their alignment changes are quite flat.
Because it is not perfect, The Monkey has a fair share of flaws, like the unresolved ending, plot holes, and predictability. The ending was not resolving the problem enough, but at least it is not adapting the one from the original story. Be glad that it could have been worse. Still, it will just cause the Monkey to keep on killing everyone left and right. Speaking of the unresolved, it also has some plot holes, mainly relating to the lore. Where did the Monkey come from? How is it able to come back? It's meant for comedic expression, but it just leaves more questions, and it makes the context of the toy seem vague. As a final part, it can get predictable. Sometimes, you can tell what's going to happen next and who's going to get killed. It may not be a huge problem, but if this movie wants to be more shocking, then it could deliver a few plot twists.
Conclusion
Although it could fix itself from being flat, The Monkey is a drumming tune that can be heard to emit both the eerie and the silly. On a personal note, sorry if I was harsh on this movie, because I am not much of a Stephen King fan myself. Thankfully, it did not drop the ball for the original ending, but it was still unresolved because the Monkey would just keep on killing anyone with its drum. Overall, though, the movie can still be enjoyable because of its deaths and humor, and it is for that campy horror aesthetic. If you are a fan of horror movies, you can check this one out if you really do want to. Heck, if you like Stephen King's novels and stories, you might enjoy it more than I have.
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