Monkey Man (2024)
3.6 of 5 from 55 ratings
1h 53min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Oscar nominee Dev Patel (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire) achieves an astonishing, tour-de-force feature directing debut with an action thriller about one man’s quest for vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless. Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, 'Monkey Man' stars 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. - Actors:
- Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikander Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Khalsekar, Makrand Deshpande, Jatin Malik, Zakir Hussain, Joseph J.U. Taylor
- Directors:
- Dev Patel
- Producers:
- Ian Cooper, Christine Haebler, Basil Iwanyk, Bavand Karim, Erica Lee, Anjay Nagpal, Dev Patel, Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Samarth Sahni, Jomon Thomas
- Writers:
- Paul Angunawela, John Collee, Dev Patel
- Studio:
- Universal Pictures
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of Monkey Man
A totally believable Patel creates a film with plenty of punch but some terrible creative decisions - Monkey Man review by TB
Dev Patel: action star. Whilst I have always been impressed with the projects that he has chosen, I never thought for a second he could comfortably slot into the pantheon of action stars. But this film, for all it's flaws, has a revelatory & stunning performance at its center. Patel, who also writes & directs this (his first film) is never anything less than convincing. It is a stratospheric & jaw-dropping performance. It is just a shame that the rest of the film cannot keep up and at times is scattershot & unfocussed.
Kid (his real name is never given,) is a nobody, a cipher. He spends his nights being beaten to a pulp & exploited by a slimy, smarmy fight promotor (Sharlto Copley, who couldn't be more greasy if he fell into a vat of cooking oil.) By day, Kid ducks & dives, making money through street scams. However, his driving mission in life is to avenge his mother, who was brutally murdered in front of him by the monstrous chief of police Singh, on the orders of Baba Shakti. Kid manages to get work in a hotel which the two men frequent & begins to plan his revenge.
There are some very powerful moments in this film, which absolutely drive the narrative forward, none more so than the murder of Kid's mother. In a genuinely distressing & disgusting scene, she saves him only to be brutally sexually assaulted & killed. There is also a strong focus on the legends/stories of India, which are fleshed out & add layers to the narrative.
Finally, for most people who are action fans, they came here for 1 thing: the brutal hand-to-hand combat shown in the trailer. And make no mistake, on that this film delivers. Especially in the final showdowns, Patel is incredible, fully mastering the extremely complicated & intrinsic choreography flawlessly. These scenes would give John Wick a run for his money (amusingly, not only does this film clearly owe a debt to the Wick series, it is also referenced early on.)
But unfortunately, this film also has a huge number of issues. The camera work is at times appalling. There are a couple of chase scenes where Patel feels that the best way to shoot this is for the cameraman to literally sprint with it in their hands, shaking & spinning it all over the place, so you not only get motion-sickness, but more importantly cannot see what is going on. And when this is done during a fight scene, it literally becomes unwatchable. I sat there thinking "This would be an incredible action scene if I could actually see it!"
Narrative-wise, there are also similar problems. Like with many action films, there will be some cutting back & forth, showing how the influence of a loved one powers the protagonist through the hurdles in their way. But these flashbacks are usually sparing, in order to not distract from the narrative. But here, it is literally back & forth, again and again and again, repeatedly derailing the momentum.
So when you have all this to contend with, what was marketed as a stripped-down action film is anything but. And although, as I said earlier, when the showdown arrives, it absolutely delivers, I almost felt like there was far too much periphery stuff I'd had to sit through to get to it.
Make no mistake, if you look purely at the combat & action scenes, this is incredible filmmaking and Patel could quite easily give up acting, seamlessly moving behind the camera to become a highly sought-after director. But leaving the cinema, I also felt that he desperately needed a good editor & scriptwriter to focus his many incredible ideas and hone them into what could be a stunning film.
But maximum respect for choosing this hugely ambitious project as your 1st film Dev. I cannot wait to see what you do next.
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Critic review
Monkey Man review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso
Dev Patel explodes on the screen for his directorial debut, launching into a brutal action extravaganza. While the fast-paced, gritty action pictures that try to match the momentum of John Wick have been numerous, Monkey Man sticks out beautifully. It’s a refreshing dose of a meaningful revenge thriller with a brutal sense of intense fight scenes and vicious violence.
Patel plays an Indian man without a name he cares to admit. In the underground wrestling ring, he is known as Monkey Man, thrilling audiences with his monkey mask and ability to take brutal blows for money. When he gets a job in a kitchen, he adopts the name Bobby, an uncreative alias based on a brand of bleach. Haunted by his tragic past, he’s driven by revenge to get back at the law officials who decimated his village. Working within the system, he progressively works his way up into a corrupt nightclub for his chance to strike. And, oh, how he strikes!
The promise of gritty fight scenes seems guaranteed from all the promotion for this picture. With that said, I think it’s important to highlight how this is an India-set film with the most teeth. Far from the safer regions of Bollywood and mindless frenetic romps, this is a story about one man’s battle with corruption. Unlike John Wick, this is a world that is deeply political and doesn’t shy away from the grotesque nature of class division or the corrupt nature of violent nationalists disguised as traditional gurus. The transgender community, through Ardhanarishvara, becomes a target of corruption as well as allies for Monkey Man in his quest for revenge. It’s not just a matter of bloody vengeance but a strike at a system that continues to discriminate and violate the rights of all. It takes a lot of grit to make a film that is critical of the hierarchical systems within India, and Patel’s direction is incredible in highlighting these aspects.
However, Patel’s direction is also grand in how he stages his fight scenes. He gets up close and personal with the onslaught of close-quarters combat, letting the audience view every pulsing vein and sweat dripping. For the most part, this style works. The rocky camera work mostly focuses on what matters in each fight, especially in the climax-starting kitchen fight, featuring close-ups of Patel forcing pots into faces and shoving said faces into grills. A few times, the camera doesn’t feel like the POV of an erratic henchman struggling to get a punch in the fight. There are some solid long shots of Patel battling atop a bar with great lighting and stunning wide shots of the city amid carnage and celebration. Your mileage may vary, but the camera's movement was just erratic enough not to seem like a blur or require barf bags.
There are some solid rivals tossed into this action bonanza. Sharlto Copley eats up the screen as the sleazy fight coordinator Tiger, forcing Patel to bleed for his cash. Sikandar Kher is towering as the vicious villain Rana Singh, engaging in a handful of destructive fights with Patel. Makarand Deshpande becomes the ultimate boss as the guru Baba Shakti, who calmly trots into combat with secret weapons in his seemingly harmless attire. There are strong allies as well. Pitobash plays the eccentric gangster Alphonso, showing enough faith in Monkey Man to follow this dude’s quest for justice. Vipin Sharma plays the Ardhanarishvara Alpha, providing wise words for a man training his body against a corrupt system. The moment when Alpha busts into a room with their legion of dressed and armed Ardhanarishvara is so satisfying to watch unfold.
Monkey Man isn’t the most original or well-shot action film, but it has a level of guts that can’t be denied and a drive that keeps the blood flowing. Where so many other action films keep things safe, whether Indian or not, this film blazes forward to an almost dizzying degree. There was rarely a moment where I wasn’t fully engaged with the fast-paced rage quest of a man dressed as a monkey, battling his way through the streets of India.