Review: Monkey Man

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.

Dev Patel's ultra-violent and semi-mystical "Monkey Man" is a "John Wick" type of action film set in modern day India to the extent that when the lead character, played by Patel, finds a dog to feed in an alley, I briefly wondered if the pup would be killed, thereby sending Patel's unnamed fighter on a killing rampage.

The dog goes unscathed, which is more than can be said for virtually everyone else in the picture. The film is inspired by the legend of Hanuman, which I won't recap here, but suffice it to say that Patel's character bears some similarity to that legend in that he's a kid from the slums who rises up to challenge the elites.

As the film opens, he is getting paid to lose fights in boxing matches at the behest of a sleazy promoter played by Sharlto Copley, who gets so into his role that saliva often flies from his mouth whilst speaking. In the ring, Patel's "Kid" - as he's known in the credits - wears a monkey mask and is good at taking a punch and a fall. As it turns out, he actually can fight.

Some years before, the Kid watched his mother get murdered by a corrupt police chief (Sikandar Kher) and intends to exact revenge on him as well as the sinister guru (Makarand Deshpande) who is to blame for the death as he was ordering the city's poor to be ordered off their land to make way for a factory. A question that occurred to me while watching the film: Is it typical for a yoga-practicing spiritual guru to be running a factory? 

Regardless, the Kid puts himself in proximity of these corrupt figures by working at a restaurant run by the foul-mouthed and mean spirited Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar) where the baddies tend to flock. The film's final prolonged fight sequence - which utilizes all manner of kitchen utensils and pots and pans - is set in this restaurant, where the leaders of the Sovereign Party - a MAGA-type group that oppresses the city's trans inhabitants, Muslims, and the poor - are holding a pre-election banquet.

For a first time director, Patel does a decent job at crafting a tense and kinetic action picture. That being said, it's not without its flaws. The fight scenes have a near-frantic nature and there are multiple scenes in which the Kid is fleeing from crowds of villains. The camera work is herky jerky almost to the point where it's difficult to see who's doing what. Also, while the film has a mythologizing element, from its use of the Hanuman legend to the mysteries surrounding the Kid's personality and background, we learn little other than that his mother was wronged and that he's pretty pissed off.

As a result, "Monkey Man" isn't quite on the level of some of the films it's mimicking - namely, the "John Wick" movies - but it's better than some other obvious influences (the overrated "The Raid" pictures). Patel is a fine actor and has talent behind the camera, but I'm hoping next time he tackles something that feels a little less like a mishmash of influences from other genre movies.