Monkey Man is Dev Patel's directorial debut, which he also co-wrote and stars in. It is a gory revenge film set in a fictional Indian city.
The film follows unnamed 'Kid' (Dev Patel) who is filled with years of suppressed rage that we get glimpses of through the use of flashbacks to his younger life with his mother. He is first introduced as a underground fighter who wears a gorilla mask and gets brutally beaten up by more popular fighters for money. Using his anger and trauma to drive him he is able to infiltrate an elite club for powerful people in the hope of getting his revenge from the people that took everything from him.
Dev Patel is cementing himself as an action star, showing similarities to the John Wick film franchise, and as a director with vision and passion behind this violent action thriller. Patel is making a political commentary within this film, he makes a comment on the tribal land and how it has been destroyed and taken over, the division between rich and poor, and also shows the representation of the transgender Hijra community. Patel used these issues to be what fueled the Kid's anger and aggression towards the rich and political powers. However, the politics here feels a little clunky and I struggled to comprehend what it was about as I think some of these issues weren't too well explained. This made the story seem a bit muddling but as the film progresses it does start to find some clarity.
For Patel's first directorial debut this is a gripping action thriller with some incredible fight scenes which I think really drove the film. Patel uses some impressive camerawork to immerse the viewers into the action packed fight sequences, along with incredible choreography which felt natural and fast-paced. The initial confusion that I felt when watching the film was soon forgotten once the fight sequences started picking up the pace of the film. This film is filled with over the top violence which makes it a fun and enjoyable watch whilst also having some tense and engaging moments bringing out the thriller aspect of the genre. Even though this film isn't perfect you can really feel the passion that Dev Patel put into making his first film and I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for him as a director.
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