Monkey Man
Simultaneously kinetic and thrilling, and long and drawn out, Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man is a study in contrasts, both succeeding wildly and falling short and frequently within the same scene. Diving into the world of gratifying vengeance, Patel is an instantly accomplished action director and star, keeping his and our eye on his end goal no matter how dizzingly his camera and stuntmen move across the screen. But he also wants to dwell on the grief and suffering which drove Bobby to such desperate ends, and the Hamlet-esque inability to decide how far he is really willing to go. It’s a rubber band stretched tight, not so much in the manner of building tension as it is keeping either end from really moving. Like the Monkey Man he is a director at odds with himself, attempting to appease multiple masters and getting lost within his own world.
But what a world it is! A kaleidoscope of color, from the green earthiness of Bobby’s (Dev Patel) childhood to the neon-soaked excess of Mumbai, Monkey Man whirls through a miasma of sights and sounds. Bobby straddles both of those worlds, fighting in a monkey mask at an underground mixture of mixed martial arts and professional wrestling to make a bare living, but also working at a swanky nightclub where the rich and powerful come to indulge every vice available. It’s all part of a long term plan to give him the skills and means to get near the corrupt police officer (Sikander Kher) who burned his village to the ground. Like the Danish prince, when the time comes he’s not sure if he can pull the trigger despite the torment of constant flash backs to his youth. Instead he finds himself chased through the streets and buildings of Mumbai fighting his way through hallways, bathrooms, the back of police cars – anything which might stop him from reaching Rana again.
That level of existential confusion makes a lot of sense in an extended character drama or tragedy where the fact of the indecision is the point. In an action film its more of an irritant, an excuse to push off the promised conflagration and keep wheels spinning until the third act begins. There’s not a build from the point of the initial offense; Bobby knows what happened to his parents – he watched it with his own eyes – and has spent an extended child- and adulthood hampered by the extended rage it has left in him. Bits and pieces of it are related to us as he befriends the local drug dealer (Pitobash) and begins working his way into the confidence of the police captains associates, but not as attachment to some sort of great emotional breakthrough. It is information withheld until the form says it is time to unload it.
The same reluctance to act makes it difficult for Bobby to communicate with the world around him. He shares a few spare sentences with Alphonso the one-legged dealer or Sobhita Dhulipala’s indentured prostitute but not in any way that exposes his inner turmoil or what it means to him, only because it seems like what you would do. Patel is a good enough actor to hint at deeper rivers running underneath and as flavor to larger goings on it could create just the right mix of character complexity and extended heroics. But much of the time it is all that is going on and that makes the seams show.
It’s only after being severely beaten in his first attempt that Bobby returns to the jungle and makes connection with his spiritual namesake – the demigod Haruman – to stand against the empty preaching of the guru (Deshpande) who has been behind all of his trauma. It’s only then that Monkey Man comes into its own, shorn of all confusion. Once it stops faffing about and unleashes Patel on his adversaries, it’s easy to forgive a lot of the early time wasting. As a debut, Monkey Man is often thrilling and shows real understanding of the genre and what it could do and never has. If only he’d get to the point a little faster next time.
6.5 out of 10.
Starring Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikander Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, Makarand Deshpande. Directed by Dev Patel.