Monkey Man (2024)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
While not quite John Wick, the fight sequences alone make this a must see film.*
(*for audiences into this kind of thing.)
Patel seems rather fearless as a filmmaker and Monkey Man finds him doing everything - acting, directing, co-writing, producing. This is very much his passion project.
Amid the noise and chaos of how the film is put together, there are some wonderful moments sprinkled in which could resonate with audiences.
NO
Monkey Man is not at all for the squeamish. This is a movie whose violence escalates fight by fight and moment by moment.
Detractors argue that the movie needs more of a reason to exist than Man Seeks Revenge for Death of Mother.
The movie feels overthought, massively over-edited, rudderless at times, and is simply exhausting as it never lets up. You’ve been warned!
OUR REVIEW
If a movie can induce sensory overload, Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man is that movie. An unrelenting, claustrophobic, suffocating film that dizzies up the screen with constant camera movement, intense graphic violence, and more close up action shots than any movie in recent memory.
Though there is a story here, let’s set that aside for a moment. While I would never recommend doing this, go find a sugary or caffeinated beverage, pour it in a sippy cup, and let a toddler drink it down. The quicker the better. Then, with the appropriate protective parameters in place, sit back and watch that kid work through everything they are experiencing.
That, in a nutshell, is Monkey Man.
Patel is all in on this feature. He wears the title of actor, director, co-producer and co-screenwriter. He conceived the story. He might have bought the props, taped down the blood squibs, and even cooked meals for staff. This is his baby - his sugared up, amped up, sippy cup-drinking baby.
Known as the Kid, Patel stars as a young man who seeks to gain his revenge on those he believes are responsible for the death of his mother Neela (Adithi Kalkunte) when he was younger. The unique twist on Patel’s character is that he is also the proverbial “Monkey Man,” a masked fighter in a gorilla mask who gets paid to take a beating in underground fight clubs. Sometimes he throws fights intentionally at the behest of ring announcer and matchmaker Tiger (Sharlto Copley). All of this proves to be an effort to stockpile cash and infiltrate closer and closer to those the Kid seeks to eliminate.
Soon, he is in the employ of business mogul Queenie (a fantastic, scene-stealing Ashwini Kaleskar). Then, he becomes the right-hand man to an insufferable, drug-peddling lout named Alphonso (Pitobash). That connection nudges the Kid closer to a corrupt police officer, Rana (Sikander Kher), and a revered spiritual leader named Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande).
Honestly, that’s basically it. Alphonso proves to be the gateway which provides access for the Kid to root out the people responsible. Patel basically just lines up guys in a variety of settings, and the kick, punch, bludgeon o-rama is on!
Originally designed for distribution on Netflix, Oscar-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele picked up the rights and thanks to his production company, Monkey Paw, the film will begin its life in movie theaters. In a theatrical setting, Monkey Man both succeeds and exhausts in equal measure. Once Patel, as the Kid, adapts his fighting style outside of the ring ropes and beats down his foes in the alleys, bathrooms, hotel rooms and wherever else he tracks them down, the movie takes on a basic shape and form.
With three prolonged fight sequences, each with stellar action choreography and kills aplenty, the film benefits from a crisp and robust sound design. Patel’s camera further retains a gritty, grimy look for much of the duration, except when he has flashbacks to spending a wonderful day and time with his mother as a young boy.
Patel adds what feels like some deeply personal elements to his story. The Kid is a man lost, a vagabond of sorts, who scrapes by and is without a safe space to feel comfortable in. When he needs to heal after a series of brutal fights and battles, he is taken in by a community of transgender and gender nonconforming persons known as hijra, led by Alpha (Vipin Sharma). The Kid’s connection to the hijra community is handled in a moving and emotional way, leading to moments of unexpected softness and kindness in a movie full of rampant brutality and violence.
Patel has said that Monkey Man is a movie for underdogs and underrepresented people. I think objectively that is true. However, as effective as those moments and scenes may be when they occur, they become hard to enjoy with what can only be described as Patel’s frenetic enthusiasm as a storyteller. With hyperkinetic editing, various camera angles to comprehend and his camera never sitting still - Monkey Man is a movie that needs to understand “less” is almost always “more.” And emotional moments need time to breathe for them to truly resonate.
Outside of the scenes between a child and his mother, the film seldom is at peace. Impressive as they can look, some of these brawls are rather impossible to follow and staged so erratically, you simply hope Patel pauses long enough to open the gate to let you back on the ride. Losing an audience can be a first-time filmmaker’s fatal flaw. And while Patel does not quite leave his audience behind, elements of Monkey Man feel rudderless and out of control.
I do like what Patel has tried to deliver. I think there are some important messages amid all the chaos. I wish they resonated more deeply and watching this, it is obvious there is strong potential in Patel’s future as a director.
Sometimes, a blood-soaked revenge saga can be just the right movie for just the right time. If you can bob and weave your way through the unintentional obstacles Monkey Man throws at you, and not be dismayed by excessive blood and violence, you may find yourself more enamored with the overall experience than I happened to be.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikander Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Makrand Deshpande
Director: Dev Patel
Written by: Paul Angunawela, John Collee (screenplay); Dev Patel (story)
Release Date: April 5, 2024
Universal Pictures