In most stories about obtaining justice for the oppressed, viewers will meet with the message of “turning the other cheek,” or forgoing vengeance to end a constant cycle of violence. In a violent and visually stunning — but thematically messy — display of righteous anger, actor-turned-director Dev Patel bucks the trend of pacifism with his directorial debut and performance in “Monkey Man,” which opened in theaters on Friday, April 5.
Set in the fictional, bustling and spectacularly unequal city of Yatana in India, “Monkey Man” takes on rampant corruption, religious nationalism and even the ongoing dispossession of marginalized Indian communities. The film follows Kid, played by Patel, a fighter in an illicit ring that combines the theatrics of WWE and the martial arts savvy of UFC with even more copious amounts of blood. In fact, in addition to being paid to throw matches for betters, Kid receives a “blood bonus” from Tiger (Sharlto Copley), the ring’s white emcee and organizer, if he bleeds during matches.
But Kid did not find himself in this sordid position in a vacuum. The film follows Kid’s ascension through Yatana’s criminal enterprises to seek revenge against Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher), a corrupt police chief who, at the behest of the demagogic, right-wing religious and political leader Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande), razed Kid’s childhood village and killed his mother to produce real estate. Kid’s quest for retribution has him infiltrating — as a dishwasher — the headquarters of Queenie Kapoor (Ashwini Kalsekar), the cocaine and prostitute-peddling businesswoman whose VIP nightclub Rana frequents.
Through his own criminal underground bona fides, Kid makes it to the upper echelons of Queenie’s company by the first act of the film, where he sees firsthand the depravity of the city’s rich and powerful figures. The remainder of “Monkey Man” sees Kid endure punishing action sequences, intense physical training — featuring a cameo from the legendary tabla player Zakir Hussain — and numerous emotional catharses before the film’s climax.
The crown jewel of “Monkey Man” is its gripping, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fight scenes, choreographed by Brahim Chab. Patel, who himself studied martial arts as a teenager, gives a convincing performance that strikes a balance between strained and effortless. The earlier fights in “Monkey Man” are brutal wars of attrition, in which Patel’s character sustains nearly as much injury as he doles out to the gangster underlings of the film’s main antagonists. The stakes are life and death, but not unbelievably so. The film is gory, but it’s tastefully done.
Though Patel’s penchant for shaky and chaotic establishing shots during heated expository moments becomes somewhat tiresome, the film’s camerawork matches the elevated caliber of its action sequences. Paired with thumping sound design, viewers watching in theaters have every reason to wince through each flurry of blows.
“Monkey Man” is an unapologetic love letter to “John Wick,” a pioneer of the “vengeful man with a dog brutalizes his way through the opps” subgenre. However, it takes on a markedly more political posture than its action-thriller contemporaries, to the point where the commentary Patel wants to make is greater than the film’s capacity to properly communicate it.
To its credit, the film holds space for political issues that rarely, if ever, receive attention among western audiences. The film’s emphasis on the dispossession of land from villagers parallels real-world land grabs from Adivasis, or tribal Indians, by the Indian government under the pretense of development or conservation. The film also broaches discrimination against the Hijra, a group of people in India that identify with a third gender, distinct from “man” or “woman,” who are pushed into the margins of society and become especially vulnerable to violence and exploitation due to intense social stigma — both in the film as well as contemporary India. The film goes beyond portraying the Hijra in a paternalistic, sympathetic light; it outright empowers them, depicting them as spiritual leaders, healers and fighters, who directly resist — with sickles, no less — the corporate and ideological actors responsible for their oppression.
Though the film’s commentary appears potent on the surface, it falls short in several crucial areas. The ascetic political kingmaker Baba Shakti (shakti meaning “power” in Hindi), whose othering rhetoric and populist appeals to the “working man, the poor, the sick” mirrors the rise of Hindu nationalism in India, as well as communal violence by Hindus against religious minorities.
Yet, despite the Hindu character of the problems it’s referencing, “Monkey Man” shies away from calling out Hindu nationalism outright. Shakti is not even stated as belonging to a particular faith; rather, he is the religion. The social messaging of the film shrinks into a tamer critique of cults of personality and populism. In “Monkey Man,” the real-world critique is reduced to individuals rather than systems, which disappoints the film’s earlier emphasis on corruption, inequality, gendered exploitation and more.
For Patel’s directorial debut, “Monkey Man” is an extremely ambitious project — especially given its relatively modest $10 million budget. And though its technical chops are remarkable, the story and message that these techniques are used to tell collapses on itself with political contradictions and writing cliches. Despite this, “Monkey Man” is a must-see in theaters, and even a cynic such as this author plans to see it again soon.
Rating: 3.7/5
I read down to your final paragraph of this article. I could see where you’re coming from, but I believe you’re searching for a message that you want, rather than using what is presented. I think this movie manages to spark new energy into the tired genre of action/revenge movies. This movie focuses on a single man’s story, not a corrupt system. It always lightly brushes by how other people are affected, but never goes into their stories- the main character is merely within their presence. Much of the movie depends on a viewer’s prior knowledge to fully understand the cultural aspects. However, monkey man’s story is fully understood and developed. The movie highlights the use of religion to gain power, whether it is empowering “good” or “evil.” While the monkey man sees religion being exploited by the corrupt system to gain power, he chooses to motivate himself with religious figures and begins to see himself as one. His revenge is successful, but since he’s not truly an all powerful being, he dies, and the movie ends with the end of his perspective. From this, I took the movie’s message as using religion as a form of power is dangerous to any individual, even if it gives you hope. This theme was more about individuals. I think the movie successfully spread some awareness about using religion to exploit people, which was important, but I do not think that was its number one goal, therefore not really a priority.