For our 2nd monkey themed film of the year, we have Monkey Man, the directorial debut of Dev Patel, who also stars in the film. It’s the story of a young man in India who plots his revenge on the men that destroyed his village and killed his mother right in front of him. May not sound like the most original of stories, but Monkey Man is proof that you can do a lot with simple stories when there’s a strong enough creative voice behind it. This is a stellar debut for Patel, who illustrates both competence and style in the director’s chair while also managing to pull off some phenomenal stunt work as the titular man. The film makes use of creative camerawork, choreography and needle drops to make this a mostly exhilarating revenge trip. Its pacing sometimes feels uneven and you may be surprised to find that it isn’t as non-stop action as you may have thought, yet Patel’s voice shines through tremendously, delivering on a super fun action film that shows even us scrawny kids can kick some ass if we punch enough bags of rice.

Pulling double duty as both director and star is no easy feat. Unless your name is Neil Breen, who often pulls quintuple duty on his films. But for a first time outing, Dev Patel shows a lot of confidence in illustrating this messy, high octane aura not too dissimilar from a Safdie Brothers joint. High caffeinated camera work and editing dominate the film, often pushing in uncomfortably close to its subjects to amplify the film’s white-knuckle energy. As a star, we already knew he had the chops from films like Slumdog Millionaire to personal favorite The Green Knight. But as an action star? This is new territory for him, one that he has absolutely embraced to the fullest extent. Patel isn’t playing around as the one known as Kid, Bobby and the Monkey Man. He’s ferocious in his drive to see the ones who wronged him hurt, willing to take a truckload of punishment if it means getting closer to his goal. He’s one of those action MCs who actually spends a good chunk of the film getting the snot beat out of him, only for him to eventually rise to his true potential later on and absolutely decimate those in front of him. His underdog story is framed by the political climate around him, living in the slums while the rich continue to bulldoze their way over their homes and control them through power, money and religious zealotry. While the film never really gets deeper than that, it’s still always refreshing when an action film makes an attempt to say something even if it’s a bit surface level. 

In his journey of revenge, Patel’s character meets and occasionally fights some fairly entertaining characters. There’s Alphonso, a short-statured gangster who befriends Patel while he’s using the fake name Bobby, and Queenie, his foul mouthed boss and owner of the high-class brothel at which he is employed. Eventually, Patel finds sanctuary in a hijra commune, which is a group of transgender men and women who are also being targeted by the growingly hostile politics of the country. I think this is one of the better examples of trans representation in film, especially in the illustration of their beliefs and lifestyles being tied to their following of the deity Ardhanarishvara, a being of both genders. It’s a super fascinating piece of culture in an already culturally rich film, to the point that I wish they played a more integral role in the story, which could have easily given this film ample uniqueness in the action genre. At the top of the monkey’s hit list is police chief Rana Singh and Baba Shakti, two men who played a role in the destruction of Patel’s village. Both are figureheads for political corruption; Rana showing excessive use of his status as police chief to get what he wants, and Shakti, who hides behind the guise of a religious prophet to slither his way into the ears of the country’s most powerful individuals. They’re certainly easy to hate, with Rana perhaps getting the most bad blood between him and our hero. Shakti’s big bad status unfortunately keeps his role in the story as more of a background element, as his power and influence is often illustrated through cutaways that don’t exactly tie themselves to Patel super strongly. It does make their eventual confrontation feel a bit lukewarm, even though you’re looking forward to seeing him get his comeuppance.

Since the first trailer, many have compared this film to John Wick for its smashmouth style of action, and for the most part that’s a fair assessment. Yet I was surprised to find that Monkey Man is not as action centric as the John Wick franchise, with there really only being about 3 or so big action sequences in the film. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it gives room to allow the main character to grow and evolve to complete his mission. However, that does leave the pacing a bit lopsided. The first act of this film manages to be super energetic and fast paced leading into the film’s first big fight sequence. Once the 2nd act rolls around though, the brakes really get pumped. The 3rd act delivers on the big brawl-out you are hoping for, but this steep drop in energy definitely drags down the film a bit in the middle. A slightly shorter film could have potentially made this work, but these 2 hours aren’t always as rich and exciting as they should be. Even still, those handfuls of action we get are a ton of fun. This is where Patel’s competence really shines through, managing to craft hard-hitting and grounded fight sequences that take advantage of each location and its surroundings. They manage to be bloody and brutal, while the camerawork and editing both reflect that energy while also not completely overdoing it. I do have some issues with the technicals of some of the scenes. While I wouldn’t say the camerawork is as egregiously shaky as some other films, it does render some moments a colored blur where you aren’t fully aware of place in those moments. Additionally, there are some occasionally jarring instances of cuts when one character hits another. These jump cuts aren’t a huge deal and may not be noticed by many, but for me it does kind of interrupt the fluidity of these scenes. Despite these small complaints, these fight sequences absolutely deliver on everything I could want, often accompanied by some pretty fun needle drops of varying genres. That trippy remix of Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane was absolutely chef’s kiss.

Dev Patel is working on another level for this first time action debut. And what a monumental feat this was to make, from breaking his hand and toes, causing him to completely rework some fight scenes, to cameras themselves breaking, to threats of funding being pulled, to the horror of having this unceremoniously dumped on Netflix before Jordan Peele swooped in and gave this a theatrical release. Like the story, this film is an underdog story in itself, and one I had a blast watching. While the narrative is pretty straightforward and the pacing occasionally dips too harshly, this is still a super satisfying, stylish piece of action cinema that delivers on the brutality we’ve come to enjoy while also displaying an earnest showcase of India’s culture and political climate. It’s safe to say Patel went bananas on this one, and I for one am looking forward to his next opportunity to go ape-shit.

RATING

HANUMAN’S PUNISHMENT

The deity known as Hanuman was once but a small, hungry monkey, who desperately wanted to eat a shiny mango he saw up in the trees. When he ascending to reach and try to devour it, he soon realized it was actually the sun! The Gods did not take kindly to this honestly, simple mistake (when do they ever, amiright?) and responded by removing all air from Earth. This was eventually fixed (along with Hanuman’s broken jaw), but today we remember his unfortunate case of the munchies with this bright, refreshing cocktail! This is a bright cocktail made with mango and lemon juice, and is given all kinds of bites thanks to a turmeric and ginger syrup, tequila, and a chili powder rim. Incredibly refreshing but packing quite a punch, this gives you the power of the sun in the palm of your hand! There’s even a sun-shaped lemon peel if you really want to see what the sun tastes like (SPOILER: not great!).

INGREDIENTS

• 2oz reposado tequila
• 1/2oz elderflower liqueur
• 1oz mango juice
• 3/4oz turmeric ginger syrup
• 3/4oz lemon juice
• Garnish: Mint sprig
• Garnish: Lemon disk cut like the sun
• Rim: Chili salt (mixture of chili powder, sea salt, and cayenne pepper)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Before making the cocktail, combine sea salt, chili powder, and cayenne pepper at a 2:1:1 ratio.
2. Using a citrus wedge, run it alongside the rim of a rocks glass before coating the rim with the salt mixture.
3. In a shaker, add all ingredients and shake to chill.
4. Strain cocktail into the prepared rocks glass over fresh ice.
5. Garnish with a lemon disk cut into a sun shape and a sprig of mint.