Dev Patel stars in “Monkey Man.” Credit: Akhirwan Nurhaidir | Universal Pictures (via TNS)
“Monkey Man,” directed by and starring Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Skins”), is an intrinsically cliche movie: a hit-man action story whose appeal lies in seeing its main character inflict increasingly violent acts of revenge on the organization that hurt those close to him.
It’s only appropriate, then, to use cliches to discuss the film; the first being “less is more,” an adage “Monkey Man” certainly doesn’t subscribe to, and the second being “style over substance,” an admonishment that has never been more accurate than in the context of the film.
“Monkey Man” — which debuted at the media festival South By Southwest to largely positive reviews, likely due to Patel’s star power — sees the actor-director portray an unnamed MMA fighter who works his way up through the ranks of an elite nightclub in India. He does so with the goal of getting close enough to assassinate the corrupt police officers and politicians responsible for a tragic event in his childhood, which is revealed throughout the film via a series of vague and convoluted flashbacks.
On the whole, “Monkey Man” is highly reminiscent of the “John Wick” series in a way that teeters between inspiration and direct rip-off. At least the film seems self-aware of these similarities, seeing as the franchise is directly mentioned in one of the movie’s early scenes.
The movie is notably reliant on fancy cinematography tricks to keep viewers engaged, including a nauseatingly mobile camera as well as framing shots within the neon lights of streets and nightclubs.
While the shots themselves are undeniably impressive, the film indulges in them to the point at which it’s either difficult to tell what’s really going on in action scenes or completely distracts from more heartfelt moments.
For instance, in a scene during which one of the protagonist’s loved ones is brutally murdered, the film just can’t help itself from showing off its next glamorous shot design, effectively compromising audience members’ emotional investment in what was intended to be one of few genuine moments of character development in the entire film.
Beyond not knowing when to hold back with its cinematography, “Monkey Man” is a grossly and gratuitously violent film. While it’s true that over-the-top and cartoonish kills are an attraction for some action films, as the movie goes on, filmmakers stop being creative and start being simply disgusting for the sake of shock value.
Additionally, there is a weird dissonance between characters’ gritty, dark brutality and the glossy, modernist camera work that doesn’t work as well as it did in similar neon-bathed fight sequences seen in the 2022 “The Batman” or the 2023 “John Wick: Chapter 4.”
Watching “Monkey Man” feels like being a kid distracted by rattling keys dangled in front of their face. Patel’s charisma, glitzy camera work and exaggeratedly vicious action sequences may be just enough to divert the audience’s attention from the extremely weak and one-dimensional characters, but it won’t do anything to make “Monkey Man” earn a place among the classic action films it so desperately wants to fit in with.
Rating: 2/5
