A feature debut is a filmmaker announcing who they are, and what they’re passionate about. In the best cases, it’s an untamed encapsulation of the strengths they’ll play to throughout their career. Dev Patel’s Monkey Man, a sprawling hardcore fairy tale, is one of the finest examples of this in recent memory. Inspired and unhinged, it’s one of the best action films of the decade.
Some years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the concept of Jugaad. As explained to me, it’s a colloquial word that loosely means finding ways to innovate with what you’ve got. A broken piece of furniture requires only inventiveness to set straight. A broken system just need someone who is willing to bend reality to the new rules.
That kind of thinking permeates throughout Monkey Man. It’s a film that makes most of every little thing it has going for it. You can tell where the budget is stretched to a breaking point, and where the invention comes at the cost of coherency. Neither of these things is a demerit. Instead, they breathe life into what has long since felt like a stale genre.
The story is inspired by the legend of Hanuman, a monkey deity from Hinduism. In myth, Hanuman accidentally swallows the sun, thinking it’s a fruit. The gods punish him by stripping Hanuman of his powers, and he suffers greatly. Only to rise again, more powerful than ever.
In Monkey Man, Patel takes the role of a young man who, at the hands of the powerful and the corrupt, loses all he has in life. His enemies are not literal gods, yet in a society built on money, they might as well be. Working his way up from the gutters to the hellish skyscrapers towering above Mumbai, Patel’s nameless hero must slowly regain his power and sense of self before he can find revenge.
In the process, he’ll come across other travellers. Some who have lost their way, others who’ve found means to survive on their own terms. As those on the bottom rungs of society’s ladder bound together, they form a roaring tide that can reshape the landscape.
There’s a lot of plot in Monkey Man, and the film feels it. At two hours, it’s a bit long, and could do with some trimming. But I couldn’t tell you where it needs to lose anything. As it plays, Monkey Man is an intoxicating thrill ride that captivates every sense. It’s only after that you feel spent.
Likewise, I could have done with less shaky cam. Patel is a smart visual storyteller, and the hyperkinetic camera movements highlight the intensity of life in a megalopolis. As a first time filmmaker, Patel isn’t bound by tradition or expectation. There’s a joyous exploration to see what he can get away with. Towards the end, as he slows down and allows for scenes to play out more in full, you can see the emergence of a prominent new voice. One that, hopefully, will continue taking the world of action cinema by storm.
Not least because Patel isn’t here just for visceral carnage (though Monkey Man delivers on that, too). In a dense middle section of the film, Patel’s rampage detours into the lives of the hijra, disenfranchised third-gender people, living ostracised from society. It’s here the film finds even deeper conviction, delivering a searing indictment over the treatment of minorities and genders, and the terrifying rise of violent nationalism. A lot of the finer details regarding Indian culture and politics went over my head, but the emotional core remains. Patel’s rage over injustice is universal, as it should be.
Patel is in almost every frame of the story, and he carries it with the elegance and magnetism of a global star. He’s always been the best thing of every film he’s in, and Monkey Man proves him to be a mighty force behind the camera as well. It never feels like a vanity project. Instead, Patel imbues his tragic hero with immense humanity and warmth. You get the sense that in another life, his quiet humour and decency would find him friends, even love, easily. Those are only hinted at here. Like a vague longing for someone else, who isn’t driven by vengeance.
I’m not sure if Monkey Man is for everyone. It’s startlingly violent and bleak, and deals with extremely disconcerting topics bluntly. But for those willing to explore darker depths in their action cinema are rewarded with a spectacle unlike any we’ve seen in the west before. A socially conscious, smart, and politically attuned revenge thriller that never talks down to its audience. Patel’s calling card feels like the work of a seasoned filmmaker, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Monkey Man is in theatres April 5, 2024.
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