Monkey Man

Starring: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Sikandar Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Makrand Deshpande, Ashwini Kalsekar
Directed by: Dev Patel
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Thriller
2024

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Dev Patel) wages a one-man war against corrupt police and government officials in India, whom were responsible for the destruction of his village and the murder of his mother.

Review:

Tim: I liked and consider it a good film- but I'm just so wildly impressed with Dev Patel. Patel directed, co-wrote, and stars in this movie. He makes his feature film directorial debut in a hard-hitting high octane action film that pulls few punches. And, he decides to make his directorial debut in a film that he carries in front of the camera and operates with him playing a bit against type, turning himself into an action hero. As if that wasn't enough risk, he sets the film in India and embraces Hinduism and the Indian culture in nearly every frame of the film. Not one thing about Monkey Man is safe- Patel takes risks at every conceivable opportunity. And, stunningly, he pulls it off.

The structure of the film is familiar, fair. It definitely pays homage to John Wick, but there's been many films that utilize the one-man revenge plot. The broad story might feel a bit predictable at times, but everything else about the film feels unique. I loved the setting of India and having Hinduism play such a massive role in the story- our protagonist was inspired by tales of Hanuman told by his mother, and embraces the Monkey Man persona. We see the secular and religious conflict, we see government corruption, the stark class divide in India between the rich and the poor- all the trappings of this film feel so authentically Indian. Most American audiences aren't used to seeing films like this. I personally loved the different tone and flavor of this movie. I love that Patel embraced his heritage to bring this movie to life. We need more films like this.

The action scenes are well choreographed. Patel never shies away from violence- there's gruesome sequences here, enough to make squeamish viewers cringe. To be fair, it never feels unnecessarily gory- even the bloodiest moments always serve the story. The movie plays with our expectations a bit, tries to ground the action scenes in reality (even when it's basically impossible to do so). Patel worked hard to transform himself into a wiry fighter, and he puts himself through the wringer in this film. The violence always feels stark and it holds your attention. Now, that being said, there's really no truly stunning action sequence in the film. We see a lot of illegal fights, we see death and destruction- and it's all really good! But, it's all variations of things we've seen before. I think the movie needed one standout sequence, something we've never seen before. The action is strong, but not unique.

The characters are good, but I do think they could have been developed a bit further (especially the supporting ones). This feels odd to say, because Patel devotes a lot of the 2 hour, 1 minute runtime to character development. We learn about the Kid and his tragic past. We see the antagonists in his way. The corrupt police chief is a tremendous villain and we truly hate him. The spiritual guru felt like he was a bit underdeveloped. The connection between him and the Kid felt less believable, more forced. I think they could have done a better job incorporating him into the narrative. As is, it feels a bit clumsy. The character of Alphonso also felt shoehorned in a bit too ineffectually. The character behaves in ways that made no sense to me- I had trouble following his motivations at times. I do believe this is the aspect of the film that holds it back- the characters don't connect and flow as well as they should.

The cast is effective, though. It was tremendous fun seeing Patel in this role. He's always been talented and an underrated actor. I loved getting to see this side of him. He is a character-driven actor, so he brings depth to his role. I liked his character, but I never quite loved him. Still, Patel needs to be seen to be believed- I hope he gets to make more movies like this and play roles like this again. It was fun seeing Sharlto Copley here, but it did make me wonder why he never seemed to pan out as a bigger star. He was excellent in District 9, but has mostly been an average supporting player since. I thought he was effective in his role here, although the part feels bigger than the story called for. Still, it was nice seeing him do solid work. Pitobash was memorable in his role, but as I mentioned earlier, his character wasn't handled well and acts in unexpected ways. I didn't quite believe his actions as the film progresses. Sikander Kher was a standout as the corrupt chief of police. He gives a wonderfully villainous performance and you love hating him. His performance hits all the right notes and is one of the most memorable aspects of the film. Kher deserves great praise and I sincerely hope we see a lot of him in the future. Sobhita Dhulipala gives a solid performance, but her supporting character never felt developed enough. I didn't fully understand her character or her motivations. She's another supporting character that felt a bit unbelievable and didn't quite work as well as needed. Makrand Deshpande was solid, but his guru character didn't work as well as it needed to. Ashwini Kalsekar was great in her strong supporting role, too. She's quite memorable in a formidable part. As a whole, I did like the cast quite a bit- even more than I liked the characters they played.

I debated a bit on the final rating, but I feel like "7" is appropriate. This is a good movie, but a few of the character and narrative flaws hold it back from being that much better. Still, for a feature film directorial debut, you have to give Patel so much credit for swinging for the fences. This is an ambitious foray into the world of action films and Patel pulls it off. Monkey Man might not quite be a "must-see" action film, but it's the kind of film you'll be really glad you watched.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Man on Fire, John Wick, Slumdog Millionaire, The White Tiger