Time: 121 Minutes
Age Rating: R16 – Violence & offensive language
Cast:
Dev Patel as Kid/Bobby/Monkey Man
Sharlto Copley as Tiger
Pitobash as Alphonso
Vipin Sharma as Alpha
Sikandar Kher as Rana Singh
Sobhita Dhulipala as Sita
Ashwini Kalsekar as Queenie Kapoor
Adithi Kalkunte as Neela
Makarand Deshpande as Baba Shakti
Zakir Hussain as a tabla maestro
Director: Dev Patel

I was very surprised when I first learned about this movie, I didn’t know that Dev Patel was not headlining an action movie, but also directing it. It turns out that this movie was made for Netflix many years ago, but has been kept on the shelf. Thankfully, Jordan Peele watched the movie, bought the rights, and now we actually get to see it in cinemas too. I’m glad that happened, because it really delivered.

Monkey Man at its core is a simple tale of revenge, and while the plot is fairly familiar, there is a lot of emotion, heart and sincerity put in it, and I was invested. It is infused with culture, with particular emphasis on Indian social and political issues. As for issues I have, the pacing around the middle is a little slow, but it really picks up in the second half, and pays off in the third act. While I enjoyed the plot well enough, it is definitely thin. Also, Dev Patel’s character is really the only character that gets some development or fleshing out, there isn’t really a ton of attention focussed on the other characters.

The acting is solid. Dev Patel is great in his part, delivering a raw and brutal performance, one of his very best. While the revenge premise has definitely been done many times before, Patel gives so much humanity, passion and drive to his character that you really buy into him. The supporting cast is also pretty good including Sharlto Copley and Pitobash, and the villains are also played very well by Sikander Kher and Makarand Deshpande.

This is Dev Patel’s directorial debut and this is such a confident first movie, his work really is exceptional. You really feel the passion and the energy throughout the whole film. It is a bit rough around the edges at times, but even the messy and scrappy cinematography and the untidiness really added to the experience. The action sequences are visceral, inventive and ferocious, and has some very over the top and brutal and bloody violence. The choreography is great with some incredible stunts, especially with the impressive fight scenes. Not everyone will be into the close ups and shaky cam, but again it helped add to the overall rough feel of the movie.

Monkey Man is a familiar yet energetic, scrappy, and well made action movie, with impressive and brutal action sequences. It’s a great directorial debut from Dev Patel, and I’m looking forward to seeing him direct more movies.