Monkey Man (2024)

You should either be a big fan of Dev Patel by now or you should be underserving of his great talent. Patel has been delivering great acting performances for a while now, and he has just added another string to his bow with Monkey Man, a savage action movie that marries some astounding set-pieces to smart commentary on aspects of Indian culture (e.g. the caste system, the huge divide between the haves and the have-nots, and the treatment of the individuals who make up the Hijra community).

Patel plays a character simply credited as Kid (in lieu of a proper name), spending his time working at an underground fight club where he is usually given very little money to don a monkey mask and have his ass beaten for the entertainment of the crowd. Kid has something he is moving towards though: Revenge. He wants to get close enough to the corrupt police chief, Rana (Sikander Kher), who he witnessed raping and killing his mother. And he wants to get to the spiritual guru, Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande), responsible for giving the orders to the police under his control. Unfortunately, Kid may not be as ready to complete his quest as he likes to think he is, but taking a step back, and being welcomed into the Hijra community, may help him clarify his vision and solidify his path ahead.

It feels like there's rarely a week that goes by nowadays without another film trying to rework/outdo John Wick, and Monkey Man is certainly in that wheelhouse (even overtly acknowledging the influence of that film when a gun seller refers to one particular model as, to paraphrase, "the John Wick gun". Unlike other attempts to use that simple template to deliver something with both incredible fights and a strong heartbeat, Monkey Man actually manages to put a lot of meat on the bones, using the pacing and choreography of the film to show the motivation and development of the central character.

Patel does an excellent job in the director's chair for this feature debut, and he also co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee (two individuals who don't have any past work signifying that they could be such a good fit for this). It's a confident and stylish feature that allows Patel to basically punch film viewers in the face and underline his arrival as a huge talent who has been deserving of recognition for at least a full decade now. Is it too much to view the violence and energy of Monkey Man as a force fuelled by Patel's urge to break through the screen and smash up every obstacle put in the way of his ascent to fully-fledged movie star status? Maybe, but I'll view it that way anyway. The brutality here is jaw-dropping, the action inventive and intense, edited brilliantly in a way that allows things to feel punctuated without them feeling erratic, and the visuals (kudos to Sharone Meir for the cinematography) are accompanied by a fantastic selection of music by Jed Kurzel.

For as good as he is behind the camera, Patel dazzles in the lead role. He's very capable, very suave when he gets the chance, and a classic soulful hero that you want to see win out before the end credits roll. Kher is a solid villain, cocky and irredeemable, and Deshpande is good as the persuasive leader controlling the soldiers sent out to destroy innocent lives. Pitobash is a lot of fun in his supporting role, as is Sharlto Copley (playing the loathsome ringmaster who is happy to pay someone a meagre sum for a beating that will keep audiences happy), Sobhita Dhulipala is a ray of light in the darkness, Ashwini Kalsekar is a dangerous criminal queen, and Vipin Sharma comes along in the second half to make a hell of a strong impression in the role of Alpha.

There are moments here that are cool and cinematic, but there are just as many moments that are delivering a thought-provoking exploration of pain and societal issues. There are also numerous scenes in which someone fights for their life in a way that truly feels like that someone desperately trying to stay alive. The fact that each aspect continually intertwined and works as well as it should is testament to Patel’s skill. I cannot wait to see what he does next, and I will rewatch this numerous times until his next feature comes along.

9/10

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