“Monkey Man” (2024) is an origin story of an unnamed vigilante (Dev Patel)—credits call him Kid, and a character calls him Bobby, who wants revenge. His vengeance is more than a personal vendetta, but an epic fight between good and evil, the oppressed versus their oppressors, an exorcism of corruption from religion with Baba Shakti (Makrand Deshpande) as the mastermind behind the abuse of minorities and the poor in his effort to grab resources and destroy nature. After seventeen years of acing, thirty-four-year-old Brit Patel makes his kinetic directorial debut finally making the movie of his dreams as an action hero; thus, marrying his real-life passion for martial arts and his vocational calling.
Kid has very few lines, and he does not need them. Patel wordlessly conveys everything in his acting and direction. At Tiger’s Temple, he earns money as a fighter in a monkey mask, but he is not very good at it though he is good at taking a beating. He gets another job serving the elite after arranging a human Rube Goldbergian ruse to meet the no-nonsense Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar) who owns Kings, an establishment that entertains the elite with drugs, fine food and high-end sex workers, whose consent to the arrangement is debatable. Queenie hires him after he displays proof of his willingness to do whatever she needs. This job gives him access to the building. He impresses Alphonso (Pitobash), a big talker and hustler who moves freely through the club, to get a promotion from just working in the kitchen. The more access that the Kid has to the higher floors, the closer he gets to his target, Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher), a chief in law enforcement who rolls deep when he arrives at the club but does not really need to since he has the weight, experience, and wealth advantage on his wannabe assassin.
Despite being a focused young man, Kid is his own worst enemy. Even if it is not directly related to a tragic childhood event, anything could trigger flashbacks so as he gets closer to his objective, he fumbles and attracts unwanted attention, which could blow his cover and ruin his plan. Without the help of Sita (Sobhita Dhulipala), one of the women that works at Kings and one of his many triggers, he would get fired or his true motives would be discerned. Thankfully the film leaves their attraction unexplored though it is undeniable.
The narrative for “Monkey Man” seems basic and unoriginal. Kid seems like another “John Wick” derivative character but making him vulnerable from the onset shifts the story from being a standard retribution movie with an indomitable lead to a wounded underdog who must heal his trauma and become his best self to kill the bad guys. Healing past wounds does not take violence off the table but sharpens violence’s effectiveness. It is a countercultural message which delivers many surprises, including an embedded story of faith in Hindu gods which inspires him to wreak havoc on the blasphemous elite who use the trapping of religion to dehumanize the poor and minorities and only use their public position to benefit themselves.
While it is not required to understand “Monkey Man,” knowledge of Hindu gods, festivals and politics in Mumbai (it was filmed in Indonesia) may elevate the story further than the ignorant can appreciate—I’m including myself in that category. The second act never drags and offers a much-needed pause to recover before the penultimate battle in the final act. It is a beautiful way to depict what the Kid was missing in his life: a community to support him. Without spoiling the identity of the devotees in the Ardhanarishvara temple, the hijira, which is viewed in a different way in the Western world than South Asia, they are casually referenced in the first act during a news broadcast, and when the leader, Alpha (Vipin Sharma), is introduced, it is the most impactful moment of connection between the Kid and another person besides his mother. Alpha guides him on a spiritual journey to his higher self so he can be the perfect tool for destruction, and the Kid experiences a relaxed, cheerful community for the first time since he left the forest of his childhood. One scene between Alpha and the Kid feels reminiscent of therapeutic cutting edge alternative medicinal use of psychedelics to help PTSD sufferers process their memories. An ancient banyan tree reconnects him to the past. Hindu gods play pivotal roles in the Kid’s healing journey and restores his faith and almost seem to imbue him with power. Hanuman, which means disfigured jaw, has the appearance of a man with a monkey’s head and is an unintentional Achilles figure—in his hunger, he mistakes the sun for a mango. Ardhanarishvara appears to be half-male and half-female for combined consorts Parvati and Shiva. After he has made peace with the gods and his past, he is ready to train his body for the big showdown. These are not ordinary training montages, but almost like fighting musicals. The most realistic scene in the movie occurs when The Kid takes his shirt off, and bystanders start cheering because if Patel did that in real life, the result would be the same. The Tabla Maestro (Zakir Hussain) wordlessly tutors him.
In the third act, the devotees serve another function as the Kid’s backup, which makes the film feel so fresh. Usually the hero has to stand alone, but the devotees become formidable henchmen, and the cheering at the Boston screening was loudest for them. Disguised as masked dancers celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights when good defeats evil, their colorful clothes, ornamental scythes, and jewelry transform into a way to distract armed guards and openly carry of weapons. Diwali further influences the Kid’s weapons of choice in the final showdown. The paintings that decorate the club act as silent witnesses to their descendants’ downfall, and the final painting serves as a backdrop showing his titular inspiration giving him added strength.
Patel’s first film was not always perfect. When some characters like Alphonso side with the Kid, it seems unrealistic. He is a disabled character who gets ridiculed, and the Kid jeopardizes everything that he achieved yet he cheers him on because of degradation. If he was new to the life or a younger man, sure, but that man, no. What happens to the dog? (It does not get killed so don’t worry.) One line is too close to a pivotal moment in “Black Panther” (2018). These are minor, forgivable flaws. Also with the activities at the club, and the casual misogyny of the chief, when the childhood trauma fully unfolds, it is a relief when no sexual violence is included or implied.
If you are not a fan of chaos cinema, you may not like “Monkey Man,” but if you can appreciate it as a reflection of a character’s emotional state, then you will still enjoy the movie though not as enthusiastically as others. In the first act, the Kid’s discomfort with himself leads to extreme close ups that only show fractions of faces and objects in a frame. The second act offers more time to contemplate and appreciate the entire scene. People relate to each other by sharing space within the frame as opposed to barely being able to stay in a frame together for more than a few moments before the Kid runs away. The final act is the most conventional because it is an extended action sequence, but still feels fresh because the story makes the stakes feel high with the potential to impact the nation.
By coming out later in April, “Boy Kills World” (2024) may suffer in comparison to “Monkey Man” since they both address young men devoting their entire lives to avenging their families and being physically impacted. Patel’s film feels more epic in scope without sacrificing the personal story. Congratulations to Jordan Peele for backing Patel’s vision. It is wonderful how Black filmmakers, who are not the establishment, continue the tradition of supporting other underrepresented communities by using their moderate privilege to uplift others.