Dir: Dev Patel
Cast: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Makarand Deshpande, Jatin Malik, Zakir Hussain
Despite a troubled production, Dev Patel manages to give everything he has got, both in front and behind the camera, in this gloriously bloody revenge thriller
Having seen ‘Monkey Man’, the eagerly anticipated directorial debut of British actor Dev Patel, it is impressive to see how far the the 33-year old actor has come from the days of his breakout role as scrawny teenager Anwar in teen drama series ‘Skins’. When he landed the role back in 2007, Patel had no professional acting experience but his performance in the series secured him the leading role in Danny Boyle‘s multi Oscar-winning drama ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ only a year later.
Patel has gone onto enjoy a successful career, starring in acclaimed films : ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ (2019), ‘The Green Knight’ (2021) and ‘Lion’ (2016), the latter of which earning him an Academy Award nomination. Despite this success, Patel has stated that having idolised the likes of Bruce Lee in his childhood, he had dreamed of starring in his own no-holds-barred action flick. Given his Indian heritage, Patel became increasingly sceptical that this would never come to fruition, as someone of his ethnicity typically is not considered to be an ‘action star’ by Hollywood. Ultimately, Patel took matters into his own hands and decided to direct, write and star in his own action thriller, infused with the culture from his Indian heritage.
Having initially gone into production way back in 2018, ‘Monkey Man’ has endured a very troubled production lasting almost six years. It is one of the last films impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak to have a theatrical release, with the pandemic forcing production to relocate from India to a small Island in Indonesia. There were significant losses in crew members with the production designer and stunt choreographers leaving the project amongst others. Patel himself suffered multiple injuries, including a broken hand and foot during filming, but it all seemed worth it when the distribution rights were acquired by Netflix for $30 million. However, upon seeing the theatrical cut, Netflix cut ties with the project, deeming it too gritty and political for Indian audiences. Despite its trials and tribulations, ‘Monkey Man’ finally managed to get a worldwide release this April thanks to Jordan Peele, who came on board as a producer and persuaded Universal to acquire the film.
Patel was the first to thank Peele for essentially saving the project and getting it a theatrical release, and having now seen it myself I can declare it would have been an absolute travesty if a film as bold and cinematic as this was not released on the big screen.
In the film, we are introduced to our nameless protagonist (Dev Patel), a role which is credited only as ‘Kid’. Kid earns a punishing living as a ‘professional wrestler’ under the guise of ‘The Beast’ as he dons a monkey mask. The fights themselves are brutally real, but the results are fixed by ringmaster Tiger (Sharlto Coley), who incentivises Kid to continuously lose to earn more money. Kid lives in the slums of the fictional Indian city of Yatana, and seeks revenge against ruthless spiritual guru Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande) and corrupt police chief Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher), both of whom were responsible for the massacre of his childhood village.
Kid takes the alias ‘Bobby’ and begins to infiltrate a luxury brothel often frequented by Rana in an attempt to get close to him. Revealing that he is the ‘Monkey Man’ fighter to local gangster Alphonso, Kid enables him to win a large sum of money by betting on his predetermined fights and is rewarded with a promotion to the brothel’s VIP lounge, which is rife with drugs and sex trafficking. It is not until an ill-prepared Kid botches an attempt on Rana’s life that he realises that he is way out of his depth and is soon on the run from Rana, his goons and the authorities. Kid takes refuge with Alpha (Vipin Sharma), whose transgender community is being targeted by Baba’s growing political movement. With Alpha as his mentor, Kid trains and plans out how to carry out his bloody revenge on those responsible for his childhood trauma.
Considering all the obstacles Patel had to overcome to get his passion project made, it is quite incredible how successful he has been in producing a visceral and frenetic action thriller. The film wears its influences on its sleeve, with clear homages to the like of ‘Enter the Dragon’, ‘The Raid’ and ‘John Wick’, the latter of which is even referenced in the film, but with Patel’s distinctive vision as a driving force, ‘Monkey Man‘ can proudly stand on its own as an instant modern classic in the genre. Those going into ‘Monkey Man‘, expected a non-stop thrill ride may be a little surprised by its structure. Despite showcasing some excellent fight choreography and some gruesomely inventive kills, there is a lot more set-up here than one is to expect from a film initially marketed as ‘John Wick in Mumbai’. We come to learn more and more about our nameless hero as the movie progresses and I for one became surprisingly emotionally invested in his quest for revenge.
The action on display is impeccable, showcasing two or three well choreographed multi-man brawls, including an impressive one take fight within the small confines of an elevator. The fight scenes are limited in the first half, as the film gears up for the much more action-heavy second and third acts, but the one major fight scene we do get, which takes place in a bathroom, does an excellent job of capturing Kid’s lack of skill and finesse when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. Clearly taking visual inspiration from filmmakers from his past, Danny Boyle and Neil Blomkamp, Patel opts for a fast-editing, high energy approach to convey the panic within his lead character once he realises the perilous position he finds himself in. These frantic and messy early fight scenes are juxtaposed with the almost balletic long-take sequences in the film’s final act, visually depicting the protagonist’s superior fighting skills following his strenuous training.
There is no denying that ‘Monkey Man‘ is a solid genre movie, with great action and a surprising amount of set-up, but it is not without its faults. Bubbling beneath the revenge plot at its core, there are clear political and religious subtext woven through the story which add very little to the narrative, outside of a pinch of world-building, resulting in a messy structure which peaks and troughs throughout the two-hour runtime. While I commend Patel on attempting to incorporate topical themes surrounding political corruption, false gods and gender into his film, I fell he has bitten off more than he can chew, particularly given the circumstance surrounding the production itself. There are a handful of questionable creative choices as well, including some out of place needle drops and shonky POV scenes, but this does not manage to detract from what Patel is looking to accomplish.
‘Monkey Man’ may have its faults but succeeds where it needs to establish itself amongst the genre. Patel evidently poured his heart and soul into this project and I am excited to see where the undeniably talented actor goes from here.
Dan Loves Film 