MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES:
Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Dev Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash. After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.
REVIEW:
Monkey Man written, directed and starring Dev Patel is an Indian John Wick. It’s also kinder to animals- no dogs are killed. The violence is more brutal. Bones are broken and bodies gashed, but Monkey Man shows more blood and the occasional digit amputation. For John Wick the revenge motivation was a dead wife and dog, for the non-surnamed Kid, it’s a dead mother. Wick was never into politics other than the personal kind. For Kid every act is political. The government is corrupt and murderous. It’s spiritual gurus, hypocrites and false messiahs, in it for the money and power.
Kid must get repeatedly bloodied and beaten so he can have his Jesus moment- rise from the presumed dead and dish out heavy deliverance. The first half he’s a human who wears a gorilla mask in the ring where he is the predestined loser. Only after he gets his motivation and proper training sequences, his John Wick imitation suit and tie, do we get some righteous Wick action. Patel gets no style points and the set design is brawl functional. The slums are slummy. The bars are dives. No high tech sleek glowing faux nouveau riche structures here. Just basic blood and guts delivered with an emotional punch.
The story folds in a considerable amount of Hindu mythology, more for the style points than actual metaphor. Kid’s lunatic revenge plan involves taking down an underworld operation and a corrupt cult leader with political ambition and a lust for power, money and fame. In other words, Indian flavored Trumps seeking non democratic change. Monkey Man could have gone deeper, given us a complicated, layered political thriller that indicts an entire nation for its corruption and wayward beliefs, but doesn’t have the heart or political will. The film is content to remain a bum exercise. It does get points for its elevated depiction of the hijras, India’s third gender caste.
Patel has an appealing but not overly magnetic screen presence. You still want to root for him as a character though. His slender physique and gentle, melting eyes allow for vulnerability and easy empathetic identification. In Monkey Man, Patel has buffed himself up to be a stunt worthy physical specimen. But, it’s those eyes and abs that go a long way in covering over some messy story details.
Patel’s earnestness with everything on screen makes you want this first directing effort to be a success. The style Patel nails easily. The form and function unfortunately, is a bit haphazard and unfocused. Monkey Man never coheres structurally. It’s too busy to breathe a little and properly set up the next action sequence
Action wise, Patel emphasizes brutality over style and form. The fights in the ring are all pretty much the same- nasty brutish and short. The fights in the bars, particularly the long final brawl, manage to echo John Wick, but never exceed them. The imitation I admired, and I give Patel the credit for dutifully studying the masters, but the student still has a ways to go in finding his true action voice. However, I did see some talent and originality with car chases. An early chase has a thief on a scooter seamlessly handing a package from one thief to the next- before it lands in Patel’s hands. The tracking camera follows them from every angle. I found it impressive. The more original, had a supercharged Pedicab dodging both police and chasers. I like to see Patel take a stab at a Fast and Furious installment.
Monkey Man can be all action with no thought or desire to pause. I was exhausted visually by the time the final comeuppances start. The training sequences are the only semi-breathers— and that’s because it’s the standard recalibration and healing time, and for the expected Bollywood dance sequence.
In future films maybe Patel might want to slow down, breathe and develop his themes, layer his stories deeper. He might want to say something important about the world beyond blood and guts. But for this Monkey Man it’s action time.
Monkey Man gets a 3.0/5 or a B.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Screenplay by
- Dev Patel
- Paul Angunawela
- John Collee
Story by
Dev Patel
Produced by
- Dev Patel
- Jomon Thomas
- Jordan Peele
- Win Rosenfeld
- Ian Cooper
- Basil Iwanyk
- Erica Lee
- Christine Haebler
- Anjay Nagpal
Starring
- Dev Patel
- Sharlto Copley
- Pitobash
- Sobhita Dhulipala
- Sikandar Kher
- Vipin Sharma
- Ashwini Kalsekar
- Adithi Kalkunte
- Makarand Deshpande
Cinematography
Sharone Meir
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
- Bron Studios[2][3]
- Thunder Road Films[2][3]
- Monkeypaw Productions[2][3]
- Lost Winds Entertainment[3]
- Lucky Elephant Media[3]
- Minor Realm[2][3]
- S’Ya Concept[2][3]
- WME Independent[2]
- Creative Wealth Media Finance[2][3]
Distributed by
Release dates
- March 11, 2024(SXSW)
- April 4, 2024(Australia )
Running time
121 minutes[4]
Countries
- Canada
- United States
Language
English
Budget
$10 million
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