September Review: Monkey Man (2024) (Patreon)

We as a society need to allow Dev Patel to lead in every genre of film. He has the range and is continuously proving it. In his directorial debut, Monkey Man (2024), Patel takes some big swings. While they may not always land, at the very least it never pulls its punches.

Following Kid (Dev Patel), a fighter with a tragic past raging against the powerful who beat him down, Monkey Man (2024) is a classic underdog story. Kid's crusade, emotionally driven, is made unique by its cultural context. Monkey Man (2024) infuses Indian social issues and perspective to a familiar story, adding depth to the violence. There is a real, tangible sense of struggle and solidarity. Kid finds allies in the working class, the children of the streets, the hijra targeted for persecution. He becomes a force for the many, struggling against the few.

This struggle however, at times is too complex. While Monkey Man (2024) has at its core a straightforward arc, little guy rising to defeat his bigger fish foes, the film's structure is much less clear. Patel suffers from a similar issue to many first-time writers, knowing too much. It is clear that he knew his characters, their motivations, and their histories, but did not account for his audience needing an introduction. As a result, the first half of the film feels choppy, as you struggle to understand why Kid is on his crusade. Perhaps the clearest moment of this is his first encounter with the man who killed his mother, Rana (Sikandar Kher). Kid immediately recognizes him as the man who killed his mother, but for those of us in the audience, he is just another terrible man. This problem is largely rectified in the second act, as the film slows down for a moment to allow Kid to train and rest under the guidance of Alpha (Vipin Sharma), but by then we had already been trying to keep up with his efforts for an hour. This phenomenon results in an audience distracted from the real star of the show, the action.

Every bloody, violent hit in Monkey Man (2024) lands. The action sequences are when this film shines. Creative and brutal, they grab you by the collar and never let go, setting a breakneck pace that elicits constant cries of, "oh hell yes!" Dev Patel's Kid is scrappy, fighting in a style reminiscent of the monkey the man wears a mask of. His visible effort sells the extremely stylish action. As much as there are literal smoke and mirrors messing with perception of the space, there is at the core of every chase, brawl, and duel a bloody-knuckled Kid anchoring the sequence. Patel's performance is brilliant across the board, but these action set pieces show off a breadth for the actor that make me wonder why he hasn't been a Bond or Wick before.

Monkey Man (2024) is far from perfect, its pacing needs work and the writing could use another pass, but for a directorial debut it shows immense promise. Patel has managed to take a passion project and create something not merely competently executed, but thoughtfully constructed. There is a real style and flair to this film. Even as it has slow moments, there are the bones of something truly great. I appreciate that for all the flaws of this film, those flaws are the result of taking a big swing, rather than creative restraint. In any first-time foray into directing, you have to show the world what you bring to the table, and with his inspired action, personal cultural influence, and visual interest, Dev Patel presents a tempting appetizer of work to come.

7 caviar-fed dogs out of 10