Is there a more satisfying actor to watch mature on screen in recent years than Dev Patel? The endearingly earnest, scrawny kid from “The Poor Man’s Millionaire” has gradually evolved into an extremely intense and sensitive leading man. It’s a transformation that for anyone who missed it “Lion”,“The Personal Story of David Copperfield” or The Green Knight can be especially jarring when watching Patel’s new film, Monkey Man.
Like Poor Millionaire, the film is set in Mumbai and has a touch of fairy tale. But in tone and texture it could hardly be more different. Bathed in gore and fury, “Monkey Man” is a bloody party for Patel, who also directed and co-wrote the film. He kicks so much ass in this movie – at one point he throws a punch – it’s enough to make you wonder if the search for the new James Bond should be redirected.
The Jordan Peele-produced Ape Man, however, aims for something grittier — more in Bruce Lee territory or Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy territory — wild, kinetic places where martial arts action takes place. mythical and feverish. At its best, The Monkey Man does justice to that tradition. But in all its moments, the film is a compelling demonstration of Patel’s still-growing strength and tenacity as a performer.
“Ape Man” is at its most explosive in its incredible first half hour. Patel’s character, known only as Kid, fights in a gorilla mask in an underground boxing ring. Our first image of him is his head, with that mask hitting the canvas hard.
These scenes, directed by Sharlto Copley’s ring leader, have a masochistic edge, as do the Kidd’s corresponding efforts to get closer to the den of power and corruption housed in the high royal club. At first we don’t know the reasons for his obsession; he is a mysterious, single-minded figure driven by a cruel revenge.
And we watch with curiosity as he works his way into the building as a dishwasher hired by manager Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar) and soon after gets promoted to waiter to make it to the penthouse. Its focus is on police chief Rana (Sikandar Kher), and the build-up to their brutal first meeting is a swiftly edited, kinetic whirlwind. It fails, sending the Kid on a clattering cascade down the building and beyond. Out of the frying pan, into the den of prostitution with the ax maniac.
But while The Ape Man is excitingly enigmatic early on, it’s too leaden with exposition once it settles down. To its credit, the film has other things on its mind. It begins with the Hindu epic poem Ramayana, in which the deity Hanuman mistakes the sun for a mango and is deprived of its powers.
The Monkey Man is modeled after the Hanuman story, but is set in grim, modern Mumbai (it’s technically a fictional city named Yatana). The syndicate Kid tries to infiltrate eventually leads to a religious leader (Makarand Deshpande). “Ape Man,” which Netflix dropped before being picked up by Peele and Universal, is pointedly political in its fictional echo of a modern, Modi-led India.
As Kid recovers with the help of sage Alpha (Vipin Sharma) and a group of transgender women in hiding, these elements are slowly brought to a simmer. The Monkey Man makes way for cuts to TV news reports (some footage comes from actual demonstrations) and copious flashbacks to a violent land grab from Kidd’s childhood, during which his mother Neela (Aditi Kalkunte) is brutally murdered.
The real-world metaphors and Hindu contexts of The Monkey Man add to the film’s power, but aren’t always smoothly incorporated. This is a film that also lives up to the name of “John Wick”. And it is more successful in its frenetic fight choreography, leading to a bloody showdown in the third act, imbued with the fury of class rebellion.
But regardless of any inconsistencies, The Monkey Man is a strong directorial debut for Patel. More than anything else, it brings a compelling weight to a film that’s serious enough to get seriously brutal.
“Monkey Man,” a Universal Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for intense gore throughout, language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug use. Duration: 121 minutes. Three stars out of four.
