This is a film that really crept up on people. I had heard inklings that Dev Patel was directing an action film, but it didn’t feel like it was coming to anything, until the trailer was released a few weeks ago. When that trailer was released, it was clear that we were seeing a labour of love from Patel, it being immediately apparent that he has been wanting to make a brutal action film for a long time. When it was announced that there was going to be an advanced screening of the film at my local cinema, I jumped at getting the tickets and I’m glad I did. This is a very assured debut from Patel and feels like it’s going to be a future action classic.
The film follows Kid, an anonymous young man in India who works as an underground fighter, his persona based around the legend of Hanuman, the Monkey King. He works as the fighter as he builds up his way into working for senior political figures, to get revenge on them for massacring the village he grew up in and killing his mum. As the film goes on There is a clear sense of anger that Patel brings to the film through the script he co-wrote with Paul Angunawela and John Collee. Now I’m not really familiar with Indian politics, most of what I know coming from satirists, but it feels like Patel and the writing team know what is going on and have crafted the film around their anger. The film demonstrates how poorer groups in society are targeted by the most powerful, for monetary and political gain, not seeing them as worthy of any care, just as a means to an end. It felt like the powerful characters had no idea why Kid was going after them, because they don’t see him as worthy of their attention. It demonstrates the classist attitudes that are present.
The film also highlights the need for solidarity amongst marginalised groups in society and how these groups uniting together is vital to bring about meaningful change. During the film, Kid gets allies in the form of a group of transgender people, who have been the target of police harassment and abuse, and it is only by working together that they are able to take effective action. Given the attitudes towards the transgender population in a lot of other media, it is refreshing to see them portrayed in a positive light.
A lot of the power of the film comes from Patel’s performance. It is a very physical role, not just in the action scenes but in the overall plot of the film. Patel doesn’t give himself much dialogue here, instead focused on how the character acts. Keeping himself in the background in a lot of scenes to keep himself hidden from view, but you can feel the anger of Kid in every frame that he’s on screen. The rest of the cast are solid in their roles, fitting the characters well, with Sharlto Copley being fun as the fight promoter Tiger, Pitobash gets some fun scenes, although he does seem to disappear in the third act, Vipin Sharma gets some of the more powerful scenes in the film, adding to the thematic weight, Sobhita Dhulipala gets some good moments, highlighting how the political powers exploit women, but she does feel a bit underutilised, and Sikander Kher and Makarand Deshpande play effective villains, Kher being this more brutal figure representing a physical threat and Deshpande being more of a power behind the throne figure that gives across this air of being untouchable and protected from anything that can damage his political goals.
The action scenes throughout the film are excellently done. All of them are incredibly brutal, the sound design and choreography highlighting how hard every punch thrown is. The filmmaking further enhances this by being more shakey in the earlier action scenes, when Kid is getting used to being in life or death fights, rather than the paid fights he’s used to, but as he gets more experienced and devotes himself to the fight and the cause, the camera gets more fluid and longer takes are used, being an effective demonstration of Kid’s growing skills. There are some elements that felt a bit more surreal, giving us an insight into Kid’s head and, whilst these bits go on a little bit too long for my liking, you can understand Patel’s thinking in their usage. The production design and lighting as well highlight the darkness of the film, with the only scenes in daylight being flashbacks, to the time before Kid’s village was slaughtered, demonstrating how the darkness and brutality that the political powers have inflicted has damaged the world. I do have to acknowledge that there may have been some issues with the brightness in my screening (I think a lot of the darkness was more severe than it should have been), but it does feel like there is a thematic purpose to a lot of the lighting used.
Overall, Monkey Man is a very self assured directorial debut from Dev Patel. Reading more behind the scenes details of the film, it is amazing that it got made at all, with COVID and supposed political pressure causing issues, and it is likely this film would have been buried on Netflix if it wasn’t for the efforts of Jordan Peele. There is a clear anger to the film that makes this a powerful film to watch, aided by some of the most brutal and effective action scenes I’ve seen in a long time. I can’t wait to see what Patel does next behind the camera, given how effective this debut is, it’ll likely be something special.
My Rating: 4/5
Coogs Reviews 