Dev Patel comes out swinging with Monkey Man, a John-Wick-esque action-thriller that makes revenge look as sweet as ever.
Dev Patel has been great in many leading roles over the years, but here he has taken over the directional chair to unleash his inner action star. A plethora of nail-biting action sequences quickly cements Patel as not only a must-see physical menace, but also an exceptionally sharp-minded individual from behind the camera. The only thing lacking in Patel’s epic release is a sure-fire script that truly sticks in our brain. If the characters jumped out a bit more it would be a shoo-in for a classic revenge flick, however it just misses the mark of iconic.
Monkey Man’s passion is quick to show itself as we are immediately thrown into a bare-knuckle fighting ring as Patel dons a sweaty gorilla mask. That crunchy force we all desire in action movies is immediately apparent as Patel’s character, known only as ‘Kid’, crashes to the floor. He loses often, earning money after every fight he throws. It’s a brutal world where only the toughest survive.
The Kid soon gets a job working at an exclusive club that only features the city’s most important people. His goal: to kill the Chief of Police (Sikandar Kher) who pillaged and raided the Kid’s village when he was a young. A common revenge story but effective nonetheless as we watch Patel shred through a mass of security guards. While it’s not reinventing the wheel, it’s plenty satisfying for those bloodthirsty audiences looking for some hard-hitting action. The style and choreography is so sure-handed it is remarkable that a first-time director is behind the helm, but Patel is so confident in his approach it’s like he’s been doing it for years.
While the action is addictive as ever here, it does falter in fleshing out the greater story around the action. There is a political underline here that never grows strong enough to make a point. Rather, it stays in the background, only rearing its head when the story needs some exposition. Ultimately, it complicates the simple revenge story and moves the goal further than necessary. Furthermore, an abundance of flashbacks dilute the quick moving story, attempting to give us greater motives for our hero. At this point, it’s unnecessary since we are already bought into the Kid’s motives. Giving us over-sentimental flashbacks among the visceral action scenes only hampers the pacing.
A weak protagonist isn’t a huge thing for these types of films, but it does hurt the iconic nature of some epic action moments. Many of the action scenes may stick in your mind, but the emotional beats will not, therefore creating an audiovisual cacophony at times. But still, the action is easily justifiable enough to pull you through the story. For a first-time director, this is a grand-slam of directorial style. Likewise, Patel’s performance is never not 100%, and that includes body sweat as well. Whether it’s a Monkey Man sequel or something entirely original, getting Dev Patel back into the director’s chair should be a massive demand for anyone who loves the action genre.
Fun Fact:
Due to budget cuts, multiple shots were filmed with GoPros and iPhones.
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