A ruthless story of vengeance, Monkey Man takes some familiar ingredients to craft the kind of bloodthirsty action movie that audiences deserve. In his directorial debut and also as the protagonist Bobby, Dev Patel is in overdrive from start to finish. This pulsating movie is an intoxicating, colourful, and deeply personal dive through one man’s torment and punishment at the hands of his oppressors – and how he summons the strength to fight back.
The haziness with which we uncover Bobby’s past shrewdly mirrors his fragmented, haunted self, Patel disconcertingly throwing us into the very centre of his panicked, frantic state of mind. It is an extraordinary performance; on the surface, he may appear to be calm. But peel away the thin disguise and Patel is seething with a white-hot rage that burns through almost every shot. Patel turns what could have been a fairly ordinary revenge flick into a fascinating tale of trauma, passion, and politics.
Monkey Man is inspired by the slick majesty of the John Wick films (even directly referencing them at one point), and this is most obvious during the scintillating climax. But there are moments where Patel manages to ascend beyond even those lofty heights. Patel has crafted a thunderous, deliciously stylish breed of thriller that thinks nothing of getting its hands dirty. Perhaps most remarkable is how the film proves visually irresistible without ever fetishising or glossing over the inequalities at the core of the story. Monkey Man is a rip-roaring story of adversity and inequality, not to mention a rousing, blood-soaked work of art that stands as one the new great classic action movies.
Monkey Man is out in cinemas now.
