‘Monkey Man’ Film Review: Dev Patel’s Bloody Revenge Tale

Dev Patel’s feature length directing debut, Monkey Man, finds its lead character bringing down the walls of vengeance and unleashing his hell in a violent and viscerally commanding revenge picture crafted with an infectious passion. The film’s aesthetic falls somewhere between the late 80s/early 90s action pictures of Jean Claude Van Damme and the modern kinetic style of films such as John Wick (Patel REALLY admires John Wick!) and Monkey Man mostly overcomes its paper-thin story. This is a film that gets by on Dev Patel’s unshakable drive as a filmmaker, as the journey from script to screen was not an easy one.

The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the actor from filming in the locations he had already set in place. Along with these issues, Patel lost his original cinematographer and production designer, moved the production to Indonesia, lost a good deal of his cameras and dollies and sound equipment due to malfunctions (creating a camera rig from rope, which he named the “pendulum cam”), even running out of funds to dress his sets. Filmmaker Jordan Peele believed the work deserved to be experienced on the big screen and came on as producer, rescuing it from straight-to-Netflix streaming. Patel claims Peele “saved the film” Frankly, as watchable as it all is, the story of its tumultuous production is more compelling than the finished product.

Monkey Man is inspired by the legend of Hanuman, a deity in Hinduism and God of Strength, Courage, Devotion and Self-Discipline. Referred to as a “Vanara”, which are apes or monkeys, the Hanuman stood in defiance against oppression. Patel stars as a fighter called only Kid, who wears a gorilla mask and makes money by fighting in illegal matches run by a slimy promoter named Tiger (Sharlito Copley). Kid loses often (the fighters get extra cash if they bleed more), but the young man has an end game that will prove more dangerous than any opponent he faces in the ring.

The character finagles his way into working at an exclusive nightclub that caters to the city’s most powerful. With a customer base made up of millionaires, crooked politicians and corrupt police, the clientele partake in an unlimited supply of cocaine, alcohol, and sex-trafficked young women. Kid’s reason for being in such a place is part of his master plan. The club is run by the bitchy Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar) while crooked police captain Rana (Sikandar Kher) runs security. The rather evil policeman is Kid’s main target, as Rana is the one who murdered his mother (Adithi Kalkunte).

A loner for most of his life, Kid does have people in his corner. A fast-talking hustler named Alphonso (Pitobash) becomes a sidekick of sorts but is eventually discarded by the script. Sita (Sobhita Dhulipala) is an escort in the club who seems to take a shine to Kid, but the script doesn’t know what to do with their relationship and she becomes mere window dressing.

Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande) is a power-hungry guru who is a devil disguised spirituality who wants all the land and uses Rana and his men to get it. The film crafts the character into an interesting villain, but has nowhere to go once his motives are established. Of course, Baba Shakti is headed on a path towards Kid, but when their meeting comes, the moment fails to register.

What does register is the action. While Patel’s references are too on the nose (paying homage to John Wick right down to the black suit, skilled martial arts-knife fights, and a line mentioning the film), it is in these sequences where the director finds his mojo. The fights are insanely brutal and mostly creative. Dávid Jancsó, Joe Galdo, and Tim Murrell’s editing is lightning fast, but occasionally causes confusion, as the dreaded shaky-cam style plagues this film. Mostly, the fights are well choreographed and feel sweaty and raw. Patel and his sound department want their audience to feel every blow. These fights hurt.

The visuals are quite good, as cinematographer Sharone Meir keeps his camera fluid while bathing the film in a Neon-hued grittiness that puts the audience deep into Kid’s down and dirty world. The contrast of the elites and the poor citizens forced to live in poverty is well shot and Meir’s camera finds the right balance of style and realism.

While it is inventive for Patel to pepper the picture with socio-political subtext about how India treats its people, the mix of the political and the spiritual doesn’t always work. At times the screenplay (from John Collee, Paul Angunawela, and Patel) is all over the map, cramming many ideas into its two hour run time; the cluttered screenplay revealing its dramatic limitations.

Dev Patel loves Korean action pictures, and Bruce Lee, and Bollywood, and the Wick series, and so on. The actor/director really put everything into this one, from his influences to his very body and soul. While it isn’t always perfect, this one is an often-exciting experience helmed by a director whose drive to succeed is as intoxicating as his deep gaze. Monkey Man is an interesting action piece that (mostly) gives the people what they want; a bloody, bone-breaking, good time.