REVIEW — “Monkey Man”

Oscar® nominee Dev Patel goes on an absolutely bananas, bloody-knuckled, revenge quest in his John Wick-inspired directorial debut, Monkey Man.

Set in India, the high-energy film stars Patel (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire) as Kid, a scrappy young man haunted by his past who brawls in an underground fight club each night. Wearing a gorilla mask to conceal his identity, Kid gets paid by slimy fight promoter Tiger (a charmingly greasy Sharlto Copley) to lose against more sizable fighters.

With scarred hands and suppressed rage, Kid is beaten bloody night after night for cash, but really, he fights to feel the pain. Through this process, he conditions his body to sustain a beating—something he will need in his quest for vengeance against the vile leaders responsible for the savage death of his mother (Adithi Kalkunte).

Through a series of well-scored and shot montages, Kid finds a way to infiltrate a seedy nightclub run by the city’s sinister elite. There, he impresses lower-level enforcers like the comical Alphonso (Pitobash) as he slowly rises through the ranks to gain access to his ultimate enemy: Rana (Sikandar Kher), the corrupt officer who killed his mother and continues to victimize the poor, powerless, and different.

After years of waiting, Kid can no longer wait to unleash an explosive campaign of retribution on the man who took everything from him. However, Kid lacks the strength and focus to fully settle the score. Driven by wounded rage, his initial attack is ill-timed, premature, and sloppy. In a surprisingly honest depiction of reality for a revenge action film, he barely gets out alive.

Wounded and on-the-run, Kid is rescued by an underground community of persecuted outcasts led by Alpha (Vipin Sharma). After being nursed back to health, Kid trains to grow stronger both physically, mentally, and spiritually. With the eye of the tiger, he begins to remember who he was before revenge took over his heart and grows more connected to the memory of his mother and her teachings about his ancestral roots. No longer fighting for vengeance, he now fights for a purpose and for his people.

Produced by the visionary Jordan Peele, Monkey Man is inspired by the legend of Hanuman, a Hindu deity and icon that embodies strength and courage. The film is a tour-de-force feature directing debut for Dev Patel who not only stars, but also co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee based on his own original story.

The film features strong bloody violence, language, sexual content, nudity, and drug use throughout. There is a rather jumpy and disorientating chase scene that goes on a little long and the film could stand to be about 10 minutes tighter in length, but overall, the film’s fight scenes are as impressively well-choreographed as anything found in the John Wick series.

While the film can sometimes be a punishing watch due to the tragic depictions of shocking brutality used to portray the depths of Kid’s sadness, ultimately, Monkey Man is an astonishingly bold thriller packed with subtle jokes, slick action, excellent lighting and cinematography, and surprising boldness. Can’t wait to see what else Patel has up his sleeve. 3.5/5

Rated R with a running time of 1 hour and 53 minutes, Monkey Man opens in theaters on April 5, 2024.