Rent Monkey Man (2024)

A totally believable Patel creates a film with plenty of punch but some terrible creative decisions - Monkey Man review by TB

Dev Patel: action star. Whilst I have always been impressed with the projects that he has chosen, I never thought for a second he could comfortably slot into the pantheon of action stars. But this film, for all it's flaws, has a revelatory & stunning performance at its center. Patel, who also writes & directs this (his first film) is never anything less than convincing. It is a stratospheric & jaw-dropping performance. It is just a shame that the rest of the film cannot keep up and at times is scattershot & unfocussed.

Kid (his real name is never given,) is a nobody, a cipher. He spends his nights being beaten to a pulp & exploited by a slimy, smarmy fight promotor (Sharlto Copley, who couldn't be more greasy if he fell into a vat of cooking oil.) By day, Kid ducks & dives, making money through street scams. However, his driving mission in life is to avenge his mother, who was brutally murdered in front of him by the monstrous chief of police Singh, on the orders of Baba Shakti. Kid manages to get work in a hotel which the two men frequent & begins to plan his revenge.

There are some very powerful moments in this film, which absolutely drive the narrative forward, none more so than the murder of Kid's mother. In a genuinely distressing & disgusting scene, she saves him only to be brutally sexually assaulted & killed. There is also a strong focus on the legends/stories of India, which are fleshed out & add layers to the narrative.

Finally, for most people who are action fans, they came here for 1 thing: the brutal hand-to-hand combat shown in the trailer. And make no mistake, on that this film delivers. Especially in the final showdowns, Patel is incredible, fully mastering the extremely complicated & intrinsic choreography flawlessly. These scenes would give John Wick a run for his money (amusingly, not only does this film clearly owe a debt to the Wick series, it is also referenced early on.)

But unfortunately, this film also has a huge number of issues. The camera work is at times appalling. There are a couple of chase scenes where Patel feels that the best way to shoot this is for the cameraman to literally sprint with it in their hands, shaking & spinning it all over the place, so you not only get motion-sickness, but more importantly cannot see what is going on. And when this is done during a fight scene, it literally becomes unwatchable. I sat there thinking "This would be an incredible action scene if I could actually see it!"

Narrative-wise, there are also similar problems. Like with many action films, there will be some cutting back & forth, showing how the influence of a loved one powers the protagonist through the hurdles in their way. But these flashbacks are usually sparing, in order to not distract from the narrative. But here, it is literally back & forth, again and again and again, repeatedly derailing the momentum.

So when you have all this to contend with, what was marketed as a stripped-down action film is anything but. And although, as I said earlier, when the showdown arrives, it absolutely delivers, I almost felt like there was far too much periphery stuff I'd had to sit through to get to it.

Make no mistake, if you look purely at the combat & action scenes, this is incredible filmmaking and Patel could quite easily give up acting, seamlessly moving behind the camera to become a highly sought-after director. But leaving the cinema, I also felt that he desperately needed a good editor & scriptwriter to focus his many incredible ideas and hone them into what could be a stunning film.

But maximum respect for choosing this hugely ambitious project as your 1st film Dev. I cannot wait to see what you do next.

Monkey madness - Monkey Man review by cr

This film got excellent reviews and i am an action fan so had to see it.

Sadly it didnt connect with me in any way. the first hour is very slow and plodding and was heavy on indian folklore which i didnt relate to.

There are some action scenes but only at the end and its all pretty brutal.

Slow poorly shot and plodding i was surprised it got such a good review and is nowhere near as good as john wick IMO.

Violent Revenge Film - John Wick In India!! - Monkey Man review by GI

Written, produced by, starring and directed, his debut, by Dev Patel this is an over the top revenge thriller clearly influenced by the John Wick series with various homages to Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003), the films of John Woo and with it's dark, neon lit, and mostly silent anti-hero it echoes Only God Forgives (2013). It's a relentlessly grim, very stylish, occasionally a little meandering and narratively confusing and ultraviolent, indeed you need to be prepared as some of it is very realistic. Patel plays a nameless character who calls himself Bobby. He is haunted by the murder of his mother when he was a child and now is a masked cagefighter paid by a seedy crime boss (Shalto Copley) to lose fights thus ensuring big earnings for his boss but little for him. It's as the story develops that we learn 'Bobby' has deliberately infiltrated the corrupt and cesspool underworld of Mumbai in order to find and kill those he holds responsible for his mother's death and their ruthless exploitation of the poor and helpless. It doesn't go all his way though and eventually he has to hide and prepare to take on the bad guys and their hordes with some dedicated training and help from a group who have rescued him. The fights are very fast and bloody as you'd expect here because ultimately this is not that original a concept and scenes of gruesome fights in hotel kitchens for example have been done many times before. But Patel proves his action chops and the film is entertaining if you can stomach the bloody violence.