[Monkey Man Official Trailer]
Monkey Man, Dev Patel’s directorial debut, is in theaters now! The film follows the long and grinding journey of one man for revenge, starting with his lowly origins as an underground fighter scripted to lose each fight with as much blood and drama as possible.
[Monkey Man Official Clip]
You may know Dev Patel from a variety of work ranging from Slumdog Millionaire to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. His acting spans across genres, and it’s no surprise that his first film as a director brings originality to the action movie scene.
[Monkey Man “Elevator” Clip]
Originally slated to release as a Netflix Original, the movie was passed on multiple times before arriving in the hands of Universal Studios. And, the production company behind the film is none other than Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions1. You may know Jordan Peele from horror hits like Get Out or Nope.
[Monkey Man Official Trailer]
Personally, I loved the movie. While the gory fight scenes and dramatic chases evoke parts of a John Wick movie, Monkey Man also dives deep into conflict over class divisions in India, transgender and non-binary representation, and an all-out criticism of authoritarianism. What seemingly starts as a revenge plot for the murder of a loved one turns into a campaign for the oppressed. No plot device feels forced, and development is carefully laid out over two hours of incredible build up to a phenomenal finale.
[Anushka] I thought it was really well done. And, I think, like he said, it makes a lot of important statements without those being the focus of it completely.
I interviewed some fellow audience members, Anushka and Sanjay, after the movie. I really agree with Anushka. Sometimes the presence of certain characters or themes in a film can feel reductive or simply for a cash grab, but Monkey Man takes the time to carefully consider each of its characters and underlying concepts without breaking the natural flow of the movie. Sanjay was a fan as well.
[Sanjay] I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think the action was really good. And, I think it made a lot of powerful statements on politics in India, which I don’t know how intentional it was, and I don’t know how many people who don’t have context will get the message, but I like that.
Some of the largest villains in the movie all support or participate in a rising authoritarian political party responsible for the deaths of countless people in the name of power. The kid, Dev Patel’s character in the movie, works to bring them down with the help of the hijra, a third-gender community of South Asia.
[Sanjay] I think I loved the bit about the uses of Tabla. It was like an advanced Karate Kid kind of scene. And I thought Zakir Hussain who was playing the tabla—he’s a legendary player and won a bunch of Grammys—and I think that was one portion I really enjoyed.
Hussain plays a member of the community in the movie, and Tabla is a pair of twin hand-drums. In the scene Sanjay describes, Hussain syncs Tabla drum beats with Patel’s punches on a punching bag, making one of the coolest training montages I have seen in a while.
[Anushka] He does good work in general, and I think this was definitely one of the best I’ve seen of his. I also think, like, the psychedelic journey and the way they did that was pretty interesting.
I’m trying not to spoil too much of the plot, but there are definitely a multitude of creatively shot sequences in the film.
[Sanjay] Yeah, I like his work, generally. I think this was visually, like, very in modern India meets John Wick inspired—which I kind of liked. And I thought the aesthetic kind of captured well. And I think slightly hyper-modernized, like, what looked like Bombay (Mumbai) was kind of nicely done, but in a very different tense. I think it’s still for, like, an audience outside India in the way it’s shot, but I appreciate that.
If you’re a fan of action movies like John Wick and the like, definitely check out Monkey Man. It goes above and beyond with the genre, and I was glued to the screen the entire time.
For WNUR News, I’m Max Milo.
Music from YouTube.com
