April 8, 2024 · Watch the official trailer
Dev Patel’s directorial debut “Monkey Man” probably shouldn’t exist.
It’s one of the last features begun before the COVID-19 pandemic to survive amid financing problems, abrupt location changes, loss of cast and crew, and studios dropping out of the project.
A cerebral, political, brutal action thriller from a first-time writer/director isn’t something that should make it past all these challenges, but like the main character Kid, every time the production got knocked down, it got back up stronger and with more resolve.
The result is a vibrant, chaotic frenzy of a film that begs to be seen on the big screen and showcases a lot of potential for the future of the action genre.
Patel stars as Kid, a man seemingly from the slums of an unnamed Indian city who infiltrates a crime syndicate in order to avenge the rape and murder of his mother.
Clearly evoking the classic Park Chan-wook film “Oldboy” with shades of modern action like the “John Wick” franchise which is name-dropped in the film, “Monkey Man” is a revenge action thriller that leaves audiences brutal and bloodied after two hours of a melancholic, occasionally psychotic fever dream that stamps Patel’s relentless desire to make a uniquely original film no matter the personal cost.
Despite being the film’s star, “Monkey Man” might be the least Patel speaks in any of his films as there is a brooding sense of quiet that comes over his character throughout. Audiences are constantly able to see the wheels turning in Kid’s head even when it seems that his brains are being bashed in.
But there’s a relentlessness both in Kid’s persona and Patel’s performance that’s able to overcome poor circumstances.
On top of directing the film, Patel does all of his own stunts ala Tom Cruise in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise in a herky-jerky manner more befitting his tall, slender frame and it’s even more impressive of an action star feat given how Patel broke several toes and had a screw put into one of his hands during the early part of production.
This required him to be even more cerebral and intentional both as a performer and a filmmaker in order to maximize the brutality of Kid in action sequences in spite of his physical complications.
“Monkey Man” takes advantage of Patel’s unusual frame for an action star, allowing viewers to feel fights from a higher vantage point, almost top-down fisticuffs at times. The camera ducks and weaves its way in and out of Patel’s wingspan, somewhat hiding his limitations from the audience while making “Monkey Man” feel exceptionally fresh in its closed-quarters hand-to-hand combat.
Patel takes chances in other ways as a filmmaker that aren’t exactly as successful. The narrative structure seems to have been changed several times over the course of production (and likely again in the edit bay) which causes some of the first act to wobble as viewers follow Kid into the boxing ring for unclear reasons and in haphazardly connected flashback sequences that don’t fully pay off.
The vision is illustrious in its highs as some of the cinematic moments – especially in the extended action sequences that have a frenetic pace on par with the Jason Bourne franchise – are offset by a storyline that only slightly comes into focus in the final moments and is often less compelling in political commentary and drama than Patel might like. There’s a raw, visceral quality to the film that earns its R-rating with violence on a level that might make the most resilient moviegoers a bit squeamish in their seats.
But without a doubt, “Monkey Man” is one of the year’s most innovatively original features and a must see on the big screen.
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