I always welcome an opportunity for actor Dev Patel to showcase his versatility in another starring role. His filmography includes many examples: The Man Who Knew Infinity, Lion, Hotel Mumbai, The Personal History of David Copperfield, and The Green Knight. The actor has gradually matured as a leading man since breaking through to international fame with Slumdog Millionaire. Yet we’ve never seen anything quite like Monkey Man from him. Maybe that’s because Dev Patel controls the production like never before. He is making his directorial debut with a screenplay he co-wrote with Paul Angunawela and John Collee.
At heart, this is a brutally savage revenge flick about a man on a mission to settle the score with those who took everything from him. This type of pulpy tale is usually relegated to the crude and often dismissed narratives of B movies. Ah, but Dev is a savvy fellow. This account has been dressed up with cultural and ideological flourishes to turn it into something that appears more meaningful than it really is.
As a young boy named “Kid,” he grows up in a village listening to his mother Neela’s (Adithi Kalkunte) stories about Hanuman, a Hindu god whose shape is half-monkey, half-human. When greedy spiritual guru Baba Shakti (Marakand Deshpande) orders an unscrupulous police chief Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher) to burn down the community for its land, Neela and the villagers are killed.
Years later, Kid, now assuming the name “Bobby,” seeks vengeance against Baba and Rana. He journeys to the fictional Mumbai-esque city of Yatana. In a nod to Hanuman, Bobby dons a monkey mask and fights in illegal boxing clubs there. He takes a job as a kitchen employee at a questionable establishment run by crime boss Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar). The exclusive nightclub is frequented by the same corrupt leaders who destroyed his home as a young boy. Bobby plans his attack by making his way up through the ranks there until he can get to the VIP areas where Rana hangs out.
Monkey Man is a pretty basic action movie, but it wallows — no succumbs — to a pool of depravity. There are buckets of blood, cracking bones, twisting knives, guns, prostitutes, car chases, death, and destruction. Its view of humanity is nihilistic. This is a grimy view of a degenerate society. One wonders why we should care about anyone here at all. Over the course of nearly two hours, the brutality weighs heavily on the viewer.
Additionally, the saga superficially grafts on a hackneyed political allegory to artificially inflate its importance. You see, the marginalized people are continually pushed down by the rich and powerful. Therefore, the lower class must rise up against the elite members of society and avenge their oppressors. Curse those top 1% income earners! Bobby trains for a major brawl and receives the help of prostitute Sita (Sobhita Dhulipala) and a group of transgender people led by Alpha (Vipin Sharma).
Subtlety is not Monkey Man’s strong suit. Class division? Check. Right-wing hate? Check. Transphobia? Check. This traffics in all the common tropes that are currently fashionable. But it downplays that underlying campaign, making it more palatable for genre fans. Those simply seeking the visceral thrill of bloody combat will likely ignore the agenda. I love an explosive spectacle. The Raid is an obvious influence.
Director Dev Patel has placed himself on the same pedestal as legendary heroes like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. Oh, maybe throw Keanu Reeves in there too. The script actually references John Wick during a discussion about firearms. Nevertheless, that franchise created by Derek Kolstad comes across as more honest about what it is. Monkey Man presents itself as a righteous morality tale with a political message while still serving up a barrage of stomach-churning violence to entertain the viewer. The contradictory optics feel phony. Just serve me a straight-ahead action flick. Hold the hypocrisy.
04-05-24