Weekend Watch - Monkey Man
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man that released in theaters this weekend. Patel took on multiple roles in this film, directing, starring, writing, and editing the revenge action thriller. He is joined in the cast by Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Adithi Kalkunte, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, and Makrand Deshpande. After initially being slated to premier on Netflix, Jordan Peele screened it and jumped on-board as a producer to release the film in theaters because he thought it was so good. So far, audiences and critics seem to agree with him. Let’s get into it.
Letter Grade: B+, it’s a phenomenal debut film, but it still definitely has some of the rough edges of a debut film as well.
Should you Watch This Film? Yes! This is the kind of action thriller that we need more of – passion projects that involve underrepresented groups in Hollywood.
Why?
What Patel has given us in Monkey Man is a thrilling blend of homage, passion project, and original film, and it works beautifully. His love of action films from around the globe and throughout film history comes to life in every action sequence (of which there are many); his decision to cast almost entirely South Asian actors and to tell a story set in that region that is steeped in its culture speaks to his desire to be true to himself, and what few missteps there are simply serve as a reminder that he is the one who basically singlehandedly made this film happen. It’s not a perfect film or even an entirely original film, but every inch of it is stamped with its filmmaker’s passion and his desire to make something epic and memorable.
To start with a few nitpicks, the film does have a few places where scene continuity breaks down and where you can tell that different cameras were used probably out of necessity rather than choice. There’s one fight sequence in particular where the setup occurs in one location before the fight happens in another that he’s sent back to where the transition between locations feels just a bit clunky and doesn’t flow as smoothly as the chase that led up to it did or the fight that ensues after it does, which isn’t huge, but as someone who doesn’t always notice these things, I did this time, which I think speaks to the excellence with which most of the rest of the action sequences were cut more than it speaks to Patel’s shortcomings in making the film. It’s also been widely shared that multiple cameras broke during filming, which resulted in the use of Go-Pros and iPhones to capture some footage, and, while it’s not easily noticeable in any action sequences, there are a few of the film’s more dramatic moments that cut between two shots repeatedly where it feels like watching two separate definitions, most likely due to the cameras’ reception to light or something along those lines, but again, it’s one of those little things that could take you out of it if it wasn’t for the excellence going on around it.
Story-wise, it’s a really well-executed revenge thriller. It never tells you more than it needs to, hinting at pasts so you know who’s important until it becomes time for them to receive their comeuppance. The supporting characters are fairly memorable, if occasionally underutilized. Pitobash plays a street-level drug dealer named Alphonso who acts as the Kid’s (Patel) gateway into the world of his enemies, and it’s arguably the film’s funniest role, but he gets sidelined for basically the entire back half of the film despite being integral to the Kid’s entrance and exit in this world of danger. Sobhita Dhulipala’s Sita makes for a beautiful and mysterious potential romantic partner for the Kid, but we never quite learn enough about her to make her a fully compelling secondary character. The villains, played skillfully by Sikandar Kher and Makrand Deshpande definitely have the most to do of the supporting cast, with Kher’s corrupt police chief Rana being the ideal heavy for Patel to face off against in the film’s final act and Deshpande’s overzealous spiritual leader Baba Shakti acting as the man behind it all who you do in fact love to hate. Together, they provide a compelling set of obstacles for Patel’s leading man to overcome and defeat on his way to making a mark on those who destroyed his home and killed his mother. The film’s most compelling subplot comes in the form of the transgender acolytes, led by Vipin Sharma’s Alpha, who save the Kid after his first run-in with Rana and his men. They comprise the focus of the film’s political and religious messaging, offering a look into modern political and religious issues in India for a Western audience with an issue that’s prevalent in this country as well. It’s a smart move by Patel, and Alpha and the other acolytes make for compelling supporting characters that keep the audience engaged in the slowdown that comes in the leadup to the film’s climax.
Obviously, though, even with a perfect story, this film couldn’t succeed without excellent action sequences, and Patel delivers those in abundance. From the jump, we are given brutal hand-to-hand combat, starting with the underground fight ring run by Sharlto Copley’s Tiger where the Kid dons a monkey mask and faces down and loses to a slew of opponents. The action then takes off fully with a combination fight and chase sequence after the Kid’s first attempt on the police chief’s life goes sideways, giving us a glimpse at Patel’s skill in crafting action scenes that look original, feel brutal, and sound great with consistently well-timed and catchy background tracks for all of the action in this film. After a slowdown and training/healing montage that itself has some great musical cues, we are thrown into the film’s climactic series of action sequences, starting with a great underground fight with a classic massive opponent for the Kid to overcome before he sets out to disrupt the election night party where Rana and Baba Shakti will be. The sequence of fights that lead to the film’s conclusion are some of the best in the business, with a well-earned and even better choreographed kitchen fight, a brawl in a dining room, a showdown in a club, and a faceoff in a penthouse capping the film off. It’s one of the most intense and engaging climax sequences that I’ve seen in an action film in a while. I know it’s a bit reductive, but it really is right up there with the John Wick films in terms of its final act’s execution.
With Monkey Man, Dev Patel has shown us his capabilities as a well-rounded filmmaker, offering a fresh take on the story of the revenge thriller while providing some excellent action sequences to top it all off. Some of the characters might fall short of their potential, and certain editing errors certainly exist, as should be expected from a rookie filmmaker, but overall, it’s a great time at the theater, and I really encourage you to go see it. We need to let producers know that these are the kinds of films that we want to see more of.
