3.5 stars
Starring: Dev Patel, Sobhita Dhulipala, Sikandar Kher
Rating: MA15+
In Cinemas: Now
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man might just be better than John Wick, and not just the later films in Keanu’s popular franchise, which had jaw-dropping action but nonsensical plots.
We’re talking about the original John Wick movie, where his missus kicked the bucket and his dog died, justifying the righteous vengeance that ensued.
The OG Baba Yaga John Wick, which is lofty praise for Patel, who makes his directorial debut with Monkey Man, a film he also co-wrote and got absolutely shredded for.
The Slavic folklore of the Baba Yaga is actually an interesting parallel to Monkey Man, which leans heavily into Hindu mythology, specifically the legend of Hanuman, the revered deity who is half monkey, half man.
Hanuman must endure brutal punishment, but proves his worth in a titanic battle against the evil demon king Ravana.
Monkey Man is far from a strict adaptation of the ancient Ramayana text, one of the two epic poems of Hinduism, but there’s enough in here to add a significant cultural element to what could easily have been another blood-spattered action flick.
That said, there’s plenty of blood spatter, including one memorable scene where Dev Patel’s nameless character pushes a knife into a villain’s throat — using just his teeth.
Amazingly, unlike other films of this genre, where such a moment would feel gratuitous, this one might make you want to applaud.
And that’s because Patel has done a masterful job of making the audience earn the violent retribution, by incrementally loading up past trauma.
Patel’s character, like Hanuman, endures a lot, like getting beaten up for money as the heel in an underground boxing organisation, run by an unscrupulous promoter (Sharlto Copley).
But that’s nothing compared to his childhood, in which his mother was tortured and killed in front of him by the chief of police (Sikandar Kher) of the unnamed Indian city where the film is set.
That killing was under orders from Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande), one of India’s holiest gurus, but who is also a Machiavellian figure, pulling the strings of Indian politics from the shadows.
Combine significant inflicted suffering with a powerful conspiracy and you have all the ingredients for a old-fashioned rampage, which Patel’s character eventually embarks on.
Eventually, after one of the best montages this genre has seen in years.
One of the key reasons this film works so well is the departure it represents from previous films Patel has starred in — he was in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, for Pete’s sake.
Forget all of that, though, because Monkey Man establishes Patel as a bona fide action star, and a worthy contender for the 007 crown.
Failing that, this critic would settle for Slumdog Killionaire.