From Oscar® winning Producer Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us, Nope) comes Oscar® nominee Dev Patel’s (Slumdog Millionaire, Lion) astonishing tour-de-force directorial debut, inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage. Patel stars as a man with no name, scarred by a brutal childhood, who ekes out a meager living in underground fighting rings. But when he finds a way to rise up and infiltrate his city’s corrupt elite, he kicks off an explosive campaign for retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him as a boy. Channeling the rage of the poor and powerless, an unexpected hero emerges in this fight-filled action epic.
What We Thought:
I am floored that Monkey Man is Dev Patel’s directorial debut. It has the look, feel and action elements of someone who’s been directing for years or at least has a stunt background like the 87North crew. It’s one of my favorite films of 2024 and I look forward to whatever Patel does next.
It’s not exactly the film I was expecting it to be from watching the trailer, but I’m fine with that. It has a lot more backstory and exposition which explains why Patel’s character does what he does. It’s a revenge flick through and through and combining that story with some fantastic violence worked for me. I’m sure others expecting a non-stop actioner might not like all the backstory (especially us Americans who probably don’t have a clue what the geopolitics and religious confrontations of India are), but the film never feels bogged down by its exposition. It smoothly intertwines story with blood and violence.
I mentioned 87North because they made John Wick 4 which this film reminded me of in many ways. The score is fantastic and adds an audio intensity needed in this type of movie. Plus the cinematography is gorgeous. The backdrops are full of color like JW4 which you don’t expect in ultra violent flicks.
It is that violence that works best in the film. Patel fights as a masked character in a ring. He fights off bad guys in multiple settings including hand-to-hand action, knife work and mixed martial arts. The combination of the score, coloring and violence is an onslaught of the senses which I really dug especially the third act chaos that leaves you exhausted in the best way possible.
Monkey Man does two things for Dev Patel, it throws his hat into the action hero scene and as a new go-to director. He got into great shape and handles the action extremely well for someone not really known for it. Plus if this is his first film out of the gate as a director I can’t fathom what he does next. Monkey Man is a fantastic gem and I can’t see it not staying in my Top 10 Films of 2024 by the end of the year.
BONUS FEATURES:
- ALTERNATE OPENING
- ALTERNATE ENDING
- DELETED/EXTENDED SCENES
- True Shakti
- Mother’s Death
- Training Montage
- Lucky Kid
- Alphonso Death
- Post Credit Button
- A LABOR OF LOVE – First-time director Dev Patel shares how this project came about as well as some of the obstacles he and his crew faced along the way. Cast and crew highlight Patel’s unique scope of skills and contributions to the film as well as partnering with Monkeypaw.
- MONKEY MAN OF ACTION – In MONKEY MAN, Dev Patel transforms from underdog to hero, establishing a style of action that is uniquely his own. This piece goes behind the scenes into Patel’s stunt and fight training, taking a closer look at how the movement in these scenes was captured.
- FATEFUL ENCOUNTERS – Throughout our hero’s journey, Kid comes face to face with many individuals. Some embody good and others evil, but each encounter shapes Kid’s actions. Cast discuss their characters and what drew them into the light, or darkness, that their roles required.
- ROOTS EXPOSED – MONKEY MAN explores the story of a beloved folktale and its place in our modern world. Writer, director, producer, and star of the film, Dev Patel, shares his passion for bringing this story along with the representation of his culture to life.
- FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director/Actor/Writer/Producer Dev Patel, Producers Jomon Thomas and Sam Sahni, and Co-Producer Raghuvir Joshi
The Nerds Templar 