Most Americans will (if they haven’t already) describe Dev Patel’s directorial debut “Monkey Man” as “Indian John Wick.” And perhaps that’s a good way to describe it if you’re short on time. I live in San Francisco and hear phrases like “Jira for weddings” and “Uber for personal security” employed quite often by people describing the startups they work for. It’s lazy, but it works for communicating a concept over the Skrillex at a burner party.
Like many of those young companies, “Monkey Man” is more nuanced than its one-line description. Yes, it does follow the formula of a revenge fantasy—i.e. a person wronged by a powerful cadre of elites decides to inform them that they’ve made poor choices and then kill them—but it also has a lot in common with class-warfare films like “Snowpiercer.” Patel’s character, who remains nameless throughout, had a rough start to his life, and has had to scrape by on his wits and his toughness.
When we join him, he’s working as a fighter in an underground arena where he dons a monkey mask and gets the stuffing knocked out of him for paltry sums of money. Miserable as he is, though, he has goals. He uses the money he has to buy information about a powerful woman in the area, then scams his way into a job at her high-class establishment. We’re not sure why this job is particularly attractive, but we know it must have something to do with childhood trauma we see in frequent but brief flashbacks. After scamming his way into a promotion, he gains access to the VIP room, where he finally confronts the man he’s been seeking and attacks him.
This occlusion of the origin of his character’s motivations seems like a conscious choice from Patel, but it makes the first half of the movie a little confusing. Not knowing what has made him so angry, his actions seem random and extreme. If your main character is shooting people at a club—even if the people are obviously deplorable—you don’t want to just lean on “well, he probably has a good reason.”
That said, it turns out he does have a good reason, which is revealed later in a longer flashback. What he lacks, at first, is the ability to execute. After a setback, he’s rescued by a group of outcasts. They teach him some things about serving a higher purpose, give him a weird spiritually beneficial poison, and encourage him to train with a heavy bag. Somehow this translates into rapid development of incredible fighting skills, and he’s ready for another shot.
It should be noted that this film was inspired by the tale of Hanuman, a mythic half-monkey figure with supernatural strength and speed. As a youngster, Hanuman is a bit prone to mischief, and he even gets in some trouble with the boss gods when he mistakes the sun for a fruit. Later in life, though, he learns to use his powers to help others. Patel’s character has a similar arc and doesn’t really find success until he shifts his focus. It’s also in leaning into the myth’s theme that “Monkey Man” sets itself apart from other revenge flicks. It shows us not just the main character’s pain, but the pain of all those trapped in wretched circumstances due to pervasive corruption among the powerful, and it emphasizes the importance of fighting for them, not just for oneself.
It’s also very well done as a visual spectacle, leveraging low-key lighting, India’s amazing array of colors, and deft camerawork to give it an epic feel. The action scenes are choreographed as well as any Jason Statham vehicle, and they provide plenty of blood-spatter for fans of that kind of thing.
This was clearly intended to be an action movie with some heart, not a heart movie with some action. So it’s okay that the bad guys are uncomplicated and the fighting is unrealistic. The panache with which this was assembled, folding in a few political elements, some Hindu mythology, and lots of stylized violence, makes this a very successful debut for Patel as director.
