Revenge in film, as we sometimes see it portrayed, lacks a pulse. An eye… for an eye… for an eye… until the credits roll and it does not even seem to matter why an eye even needed to be taken in the first place.
In Dev Patel’s ruthless directorial debut “Monkey Man,” revenge feels rhythmic and primal. Like a heart about to beat out of a chest.
Our protagonist is unnamed, sometimes referred to as ‘Kid’ (Patel). An anonymous fighter paid to lose as he watches his mother’s murderers ascend into political power.
The film is set in a fictional city in India, rooted in Hindu mythology. Patel revealed in an interview the plot is derived from stories his grandfather told him as a young boy, particularly that of the half-monkey deity — Lord Hanuman.
As the story goes, a baby Hanuman attempted to fly up to the sky and grab what he mistook as a mango, but turned out to be the sun. Eventually, a retributive spell was cast upon Hanuman forcing him to forget his cosmic abilities. The deity’s epic journey of redemption and self-remembrance are detailed throughout the Hindu Sanskrit poem “Ramayana.”
According to Patel, pictures of Hanuman hang next to the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Indian gyms. A religious role model of strength, discipline and humility emblematized by Patel and his family.
Hanuman has poignant political implications as well, being one of the hallmark figures of the controversial Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a nationalist Hindu organization.
For “Monkey Man,” there is no B-story. There is no love interest. There is no unnecessary story supplementation. Anything unrelated to avenging his mother’s death is non-existent.
While it is a simple premise, the emotional weight of the character and plot is undeniable. Even claustrophobic. Patel paints this story with a kind of fire, his eyes aflame in every frame, even when stoic behind a monkey-mask splattered with red.
Shots are constantly obstructed, shaky, close-up and confined. At one point, a stuntman filmed an action sequence with an iPhone cowering beneath four men in an elevator. The audience is not simply watching the action unfold. Cinematographer Sharone Meir swings us around violently with every punch and kick, to a sometimes nauseating degree.
The blood, sweat and tears that soak the screen during its hour and 53-minute run-time mirror the making of the film itself.
“Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong,” Patel reiterated interview after interview during the film’s press tour. From his accounts, this is far from an over-exaggeration.
Production was stunted by the onset of COVID in 2020, forcing them to evacuate the original shooting location in India. Many crew members were lost along the way (including John Wick’s stunt team). A gaffer died of a heart-attack mid-shoot. The original studio dropped the film, and financing was an ever-ending dry well. Patel broke his hand in the first fight scene he shot, leaving him to execute the impeccable and excruciating choreography with a screw in his hand. Not to mention, he also had swollen foot syndrome due to a related injury while training.
Undoubtedly, this perseverance embedded itself into the DNA of the film. What the film lacks in finesse and technical ability it more than makes up for with an overwhelming feeling of purpose and unstoppable drive.
Just like the story of Hanuman, and Kid himself, the film remembers its abilities and mission as we enter into a stunning third-act. As Kid steadily rises from the rugged streets to the top floor of a highly-metaphorical building, the camera progressively stabilizes. Patel’s character and storytelling become acutely focused and cuttingly mobilized.
“Monkey Man” manages to marry Patel’s heritage and love for action filmmaking, giving audiences a viscerally raw story of vengeance. Not vengeance for vengenance’s sake, but destroying something with the intent of making space for a new beginning. For moving forward with purpose and honoring not just the person you are, but the ancestral roots that built you.
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