R | 2h 1m | Action, Thriller | April 5, 2024
In “Monkey Man,” which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and stars in, Mr. Patel has created for himself a part Bruce Lee, part John Wick character, who wreaks mayhem in a revenge-thriller clearly intended to smash his former nice-guy typecasting with a sledge hammer.
It would appear the same intention goes for America’s longstanding image of Bollywood and Indian speech patterns as being mildly comical, which has been the case since the comic-effect use of the accent escalated with the character Apu on “The Simpsons.”
Mr. Patel, newly six-pack-abs-sporting, martial-arts-skills-bristling, and ruthless, herewith plunks down for all the world to see—an India where the Indian-accented model-y babes are ice-queen cool, the Indian muscle and goons freaky-scary, and the club-music-packed soundtrack, gangsta. It’s clear that, much like “Bull Durham’s” rookie pitcher Nuke Laloosh, Mr. Patel has decided to “announce his presence with authority.”
The Doings
Set in a fictitious city in India roiling with sectarian hatred, Mr. Patel’s unnamed bottom-crawling survivor (listed in the credits only as “Kid”) fights in the underground, illegal mixed-martial arts fight circuit, run by sleaze-bag South African promoter Tiger (Sharlto Copley). These fights borrow a bit from professional wrestling—the Kid wears a gorilla mask in the ring, hence the handle “Monkey Man.”
Like Bruce Lee’s character in “Enter the Dragon” wishing to avenge his slain sister, the Kid is obsessed with avenging his beloved mother. As a child, he witnessed her death at the hands of a corrupt cop, through the attic floorboards. This is the reason Kid is taking dives in the ring—the money enables him to fund his real agenda against said corrupt cop (now the powerful chief of police).
Mr. Patel attempts to give his retribution tale some cultural context by showing how Kid’s obsession is also fueled by Indian society, where the caste system is still very much in place, and the privileged live at the expense of the oppressed. Which is why he considers a charismatic political leader to be complicit in the death of his mother, and whose eventual bloody demise we also anticipate.
And so in one sense, Mr. Patel is paradoxically not straying all that far from his roots as he here again plays a slumdog fighting the system—but this time with John Wickian-style extreme prejudice.
On Kid’s mostly solo revenge-romp, he acquires some rather bewildering allies, especially members of the face-painted, transgender Hijra sect. These trans-gurus bequeath him spiritual teachings. The sari-and-lipstick-wearing men also function as a sort of cheer-leading squad during a tabla-kanjira-ghatam-accompanied (Indian drumming) “Rocky” type get-in-shape montage.
Summing Up
“Monkey Man,” taking its title from the ancient Hindu legend of Hanuman the monkey god, which beguiled Kid, as a kid, is disturbingly in thrall of the creed of violence.Mr. Patel’s often talked about boyhood idol Bruce Lee (which I whole-heartedly relate to), so probably all these years he’s been champing at the bit while playing characters like the slightly buffoonish Sonny Kapoor, when all he’s ever really wanted to do was round-house and back-kick people in the face in his own version of “Enter The Dragon.”
But to present something so relentlessly bloody, interspersed with some of India’s most holy things, and then use a sentence at the very end invoking deities, feels like a bit like a blasphemous sellout of India’s sacred heritage. Now that he’s presented himself with authority as a high-caliber storyteller and as a Hollywood player, I’d love to see Mr. Patel redeem this soul-beat-down by presenting India’s spirituality in all it’s true glory.
