Monkey Man Movie Review – A Heartfelt Tale of Vengeance

Monkey Man is Dev Patel’s directorial debut and boy did it sure reflect the talent the actor holds. You’d think with how successful Patel is in his acting career that his first directed film would come easily, but that was not the case at all. Patel faced many challenges while trying to put this film together; from losing access to the set location, having to use his own cellphone to film, and even breaking his own hand – he almost gave up hope for completing his dream. Luckily, Jordan Peele really liked the direction this film was heading and decided to pick it up with Patel. Monkey Man is the action film of a young Patel’s dreams, and allows us all to see a hero within ourselves.

Monkey Man is now in theaters.

Looking for some other flicks to watch this month? Check out the top 5 horror films releasing in April. 

Story – Finding the Hero Within

This action film isn’t just full of cool explosions and fight scenes – it’s full of heart. The story follows Kid, a young man seeking vengeance for his childhood trauma brought on by the Indian political/spiritual leader Baba Shakti and his right hand man Rana Singh. Kid partakes in an underground fight club in order to make money to gather intel on how to work his way into the world of Baba Shakti and Rana to take them down. His stage persona is a monkey, which reflects on his ingrained faith to the spiritual figure of Hanuman – a monkey God from the Indian epic Ramayana that represents strength, honor, and courage. After sourcing a job working for the very crooked Elites, Kid begins to be promoted rather quickly to get closer to fulfilling his vengeful dreams. A failed attempt on Rana’s life leaves Kid nearly dead himself, but luckily he is found by an outcasted group of society and slowly regains his health and confidence.

Hanuman the Monkey King.

Again, this film holds so much more heart than the average action film and even includes political critiques. These critiques actually led to the film being waitlisted to release in India. 

During his time with the outcasted village, Kid is forced to face his demons and realize that he must seek purpose within his fight. He is now surrounded by a loving and supportive community, which I think is a huge reason why he finally seeks out his inner Hanuman. He transforms from a scared child seeking vengeance to a strong-willed man, determined to get justice and protect others from feeling the hurt he has endured – no matter the cost. Stronger than ever, he returns to face Rana and Baba Shakti, but this time he is not alone. He has the community with him, and he finds the courage within himself to finally take down the demons that have been wreaking havoc since his childhood. 

The outcasted community fighting by Kid’s side.

Characters and Performance – Really Good Bad Guys

Dev Patel stars in this film and does a stellar job portraying the character he has created. He represents finding the hero within yourself and using your inner demons to pursue justice. He truly proved himself to be a deserving action star. 

I wanted to create the film that young Dev always wanted to see…I wanted to be expressed like my hero Bruce Lee.

-Dev Patel

Rana Singh traumatizing Kid’s childhood.

The hero wasn’t the only well played character in this film. Sikandar Kher, who plays the role of the main antagonist Rana, did a phenomenal job portraying a class A bad guy. He was cocky, demeaning, and full of disrespect for those he deemed underneath him. The rest of the cast played alongside the main characters very well. Nobody felt awkward or out of place, and everyone played their own role to its full potential.

Cinematography and Sound – Hype Tracks to Get You Ready to Fight

The color scheme of the film is muted, but not necessarily dark which is a nice change of pace. Red, of course, is a primary color used throughout the film. It represents emotions like vengeance and passion – two main traits of Patel’s character. One of my favorite aspects of this film was the soundtrack. I figured it was longer than average, but the soundtrack for Monkey Man consists of around 44 songs in total and each song has a snug fit in the story. For every action scene, Patel chose to use high-tempo dance music which paired well with the pacing of the film. I noticed that after nearly every scene change, a new track would play entirely and the music didn’t transition over. This is my only slightly negative critique of this film – too much music was just a bit distracting from the potential of the dialogue. Nonetheless, the soundtrack flowed flawlessly and matched the tone of every scene. 

Kid back and better in the ring as Monkey Man.

Editing and Pacing – Fast and Furious 

The film starts off with a flashback before opening to a fighting scene where a bottle is thrown directly at the camera, making you immediately feel enveloped in the story. The flashbacks reoccur throughout the film constantly as Kid reflects on his past and the Hanuman ideology he believes in. It showcases that our past certainly does play a huge role in our future actions and who we become. During a few scenes, the camera goes into POV mode from Kid’s perspective. We get to see exactly what it’s like in the moment to be fighting for our lives. As mentioned before, there is even some footage in the film that was shot directly from Patel’s cell phone. It flows so nicely with the rest of the film that it’s hard to pinpoint.

Kid’s first sighting of Rana.

Patel likes to reference Bruce Lee as one of his action hero inspirations, but this film is highly reminiscent of the John Wick series. There is a literal reference to the series at the beginning of the film, and then towards the end of the film there is a fight scene that lasts at least 4-5 whole minutes with no dialogue and low backlight lighting. 

The film itself is very fast-paced and there is not really any room to look away. Luckily, you won’t even want to look away from what’s happening on screen. Every scene is vital to understanding what unfolds next, and there is no unnecessary fluff added in like some other action films include. There’s nothing boring going on, and the 2 hours long film ends up flying by.