‘Hit-Monkey’ Review
Blood, violence, a brooding macaque, and the ghost of a hitman. Did Marvel capture the magic of a great comic book or just monkey around?
The first season of Marvel’s new “grown up” cartoon hit Hulu all at once yesterday. This tale of a wisecracking dead hitman and a monkey on a quest for vengeance has a solid cast and some stunning animation. But is Hit-Monkey a hit or not?
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Who is Hit Monkey?
Hit Monkey is a macaque living in the snowy mountains of Japan. One day, an injured assassin stumbles onto his troop of monkeys, and members of the troop take the man in. Monkey is distrustful of the man, and as he tries to express this to his clan, he becomes violent.
Monkey is banished from his troop. While in exile, he watches the assassin practice his skills on snowmen, so Monkey learns how to fight.
One day, Monkey comes across men who are pursuing the assassin. He runs back to his colony to warn them, but he arrives too late. The men have murdered the assassin– along with Monkey’s entire troop.
Having watched the mercenary, a furious Monkey picks up two guns and shoots the men. From that day on, he vows to become the killer of killers.
If this story isn’t ‘comic book’ enough for you, Monkey also has a sidekick. The spirit of the dead assassin guides him in his quest.
Created by writer Daniel Way and artist Dalibor Talajić in 2010, Monkey first appeared in the one-shot comic Hit-Monkey #1. Soon after, he was sent to assassinate Wade Wilson in a three-issue Deadpool arc.
He’s since appeared alongside the Howling Commandos a couple of times. He also briefly ran with the Mercs for Money, Deadpool’s alternative to the Heroes for Hire.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Hit Monkey Season 1 Review
The show takes straight from the pages of the comic for Monkey’s origin story. Something about the show’s art and attitude give me a nostalgic late-night Adult Swim vibe. The art certainly pulls inspiration from both anime and comic books, and is one of the highlights of the series.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios
That said, the first few episodes of the series feel clunky in all the wrong places. Most of the screen time is wrapped up in Bryce’s identity as a narcissistic spy– I mean hitman– but it doesn’t properly mesh (or contrast) with Hit Monkey’s quest for vengeance.
The city of Tokyo could itself be a kind of character with this rich animation, but that opportunity seems lost. The Yakuza tie-ins with Japan’s politics is a flimsy plot device. The characterizations of Bryce and Hit-Monkey pick up some momentum as the show moves on, but Akiko and police officers Ito and Haruka remain fairly one-dimensional. The actors, including George Takei, are all very talented. But it doesn’t feel like their characters do much outside of their established procedural drama tropes.
And yes, I get that deep criticism of scenery and character development sound silly right now– I’m reviewing a cartoon about a monkey assassin. But these missed opportunities actually stand out when you view them in contrast to some of the thoughtful and oddly-nuanced portrayals of Hit-Monkey and, yes, eventually Bryce.
Everything picks up speed right around the time that Lady Bullseye shows up. If you can get through the first few episodes of Diet Archer, the show starts to pay off. Overall, I’m always thrilled to see Marvel breaking into their vault of obscure heroes– especially in a context with more adult themes.
‘Hit Monkey’ season 1 is available now for streaming exclusively on Hulu.
