‘Monkey Man’ Review #2
Stars: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar | Written by Dev Patel, Paul Angunawela, John Collee | Directed by Dev Patel
Dev Patel directs, co-writes and stars in Monkey Man, an ultraviolent revenge thriller which was rescued from Netflix and given a theatrical release by producer Jordan Peele. A blend of John Wick-style violence, Indian mythology and a palpable Slumdog atmosphere, it’s an exciting debut for Patel that delivers several pulse-quickening punches and then rips out your arteries for good measure afterwards.
The script makes good use of an unconventional structure, whereby we meet a character known as “Kid” (Patel) as he attempts to execute a poorly thought-out revenge plan against local corrupt cop Rana (Sikandar Kher), in the fictional Indian city of Yatana (effectively standing in for Mumbai). After the attempt fails, Kid is a wanted man, so he hides out in a temple of trans people and trains for his next revenge attack.
At the same time, expository flashbacks kick in once Kid’s initial assault fails, explaining his reasons for desiring such violent and bloody revenge. To that end, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that something nasty is probably going to happen to his angelic mother Neela (Adithi Kalkunte), who used to regale him as a child with stories about Hanuman, a legendary monkey commander in Hindu mythology.
That’s also the reason for Monkey Man‘s most distinctive visual conceit, the presumably rather visually restrictive monkey mask that Kid wears in his regular street fighting gig, where he’s paid to take nightly dives by Sharlto Copley’s sleazy MC-slash-promoter.
Patel’s direction is impressively stylish throughout, establishing a strong sense of place as well as a compelling picture of a social structure that’s steeped in corruption (the evil cop is basically the right-hand man to a populist political figure, allied with a spiritual guru), the odds continually stacked against the little guy. That said, the film is occasionally guilty of style over substance, not least in an early, admittedly impressive montage sequence, where a vital object is passed through multiple hands in the teeming streets of Yatana until it reaches Kid. That would be fine, except the rest of the movie doesn’t remotely suggest that lowly Kid has that kind of street network at his disposal.
Still, it’s hard to quibble over little script details like that when the action sequences are as good as they are here. Accordingly, Patel shows a real flair for fast-paced, cleanly executed fight scenes, not to mention a keen eye for a well-placed gore moment – gruesome highlights include the creative use of a cheese grater in a kitchen fight (why aren’t more cheese graters used in fight scenes?) and a show-stopper of a stabbing-in-the-neck sequence, where Patel has his hands full but somehow manages to push the knife in further and twist it with his teeth. (If your Monkey Man audience is the cheering sort, that’s the scene that will set them off).
Patel’s performance is excellent too – not only is he in exceptional physical shape (and wants you to know it), but he handles the physicality of the fight scenes well and convincingly conveys a man whose rage is building inside to boiling point. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect to the performance is that he has given himself almost no dialogue, saving the key speech for when it’s really needed.
In short, Monkey Man is a full-throttle action debut for Patel and it will be fascinating to see what he does next, both as an actor and a director. It’s maybe fair to say that the film could have been slightly lighter in tone, but that’s a small complaint that doesn’t detract from the film’s impact overall.
**** 4/5
Monkey Man is in cinemas now.
