Monkey Man review – a ferocious, rough-hewn directorial debut

“You like John Wick?” an arms dealer asks the Kid (Dev Patel) as he pulls out a Glock, the same gun used in Chad Stahelski and David Leitch’s movie – not just as a part of his eccentric sales pitch, but as a self-aware acknowledgement by Patel, the director, writer and star of Monkey Man.

A stoic figure in a black suit enacting stylishly captured vengeance will no doubt invite such comparisons. But part of the fun of Monkey Man is observing how Patel has looked a lot further afield for inspiration, studying and assimilating the building blocks of the stylish action that has become closely associated with Keanu Reeves’ spectre of canine revenge.

In the case of the Kid, his motive for the infiltration and execution of the corrupt, Modi-inspired ruling party relates to his mother. But the complete picture is fragmented, doled out in periodic flashbacks, beginning with a tender scene where she tells her young son a fable about the Hindu deity Hanuman. The fuzzy dreamlike quality of the scene gives way to the viscerality of an underground fight club, and the film often oscillates between those two tones.

In the present, Kid wears a monkey mask in homage to that heroic tale, advertised as a lowly beast by a snivelling compare played by Sharlto Copley (more or less giving the performance you’d expect from Copley by this point). From here Kid goes on an odyssey that contextualises his struggle amidst the Indian caste system and finding kindred spirits in other marginalised groups, at one point sheltering with a community of trans women in a moment that pushes Kid’s mission from personal to intersectional.

The political slant of Patel’s script is well-meaning, though imprecise in its sprawl, which at times approaches stream-of-consciousness through the various digressions, myriad visual ideas and inspirations that seem to spring forth directly from his brain.

In interviews leading up to the film’s release, Patel has enthusiastically pointed out influences in Korean action cinema as well as the films of Bruce Lee and Sammo Hung – some vicious knife fights bring to mind The Man From Nowhere, and the Hong Kong influence is evident through its pursuit of graceful, impactful fights full of improvised weaponry (the solidarity that Kid finds with invisible underclasses is vaguely reminiscent of Pedicab Driver).

Perhaps there’s also a figment of Lee through the presentation of Patel as an action star: his frame is lithe and athletic rather than hulking, Kid favouring fancy kicks as often as he does punches. He doesn’t take himself too seriously either, showing a similar willingness as Reeves to break up high-stakes battles with some physical comedy, such as a gag where he bounces off a window after attempting to jump through it.

The action sequences are framed through some rather chaotic handheld camerawork, and Patel gets in even closer still through the intermittent use of POV shots. The willingness to play with the form is admirable but it’s hard not to wish for a clearer view of its choreography, with that balance between chaos and clarity realised by both The Man From Nowhere and The Raid (another film Patel has cited as an inspiration).

The scrappiness eventually gives way to a greater sense of control as Patel moves into longer takes and slightly more balletic sequences in the film’s big finale, and with that, comes the wish that the rest of the film had the same focus. Maybe his next film will, if it happens: despite its scattershot approach, Monkey Man is an energetic and thoughtful debut feature that leaves one excited about what Patel’s future as an action star might look like.

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