An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless.

Dev Patel’s directorial debut is a violent action thriller called ‘Monkey Man’, starring himself in the leading role as a man out for revenge against the people responsible for burning his village to the ground and killing his mother when he was a child. A long-time fan of the action genre, one of the reasons for Patel making this film was because opportunities for him to appear in similar movies weren’t forthcoming, so he decided to make one himself, and it’s a pretty good one.

‘Monkey Man’ begins in an underground boxing club where Patel’s character (known at various times as Kid, Bobby or Monkey Man) fights wearing a monkey mask, with incentives to lose and shed blood from the sleazy owner and compere (Sharlto Copley). The money he earns from fighting enables him to pay for information about the men he holds responsible for his mothers death, and this leads to him getting a job in the kitchen of a luxury brothel where the police chief Rana is known to frequent. From this point onwards, expect a lot of violence, some thrillingly choreographed and shot fight sequences, with a slight lag in the middle as ‘Kid’ gets ready for the final act. The obvious touchpoints are the ‘John Wick’ series and ‘The Raid’, both of which revolutionised fight choreography in Western cinema (noting ‘The Raid’ is not really a ‘Western’ film, albeit directed by a Welshmen), with the world building of ‘John Wick’ clearly an influence on how Patel constructs the fictional Indian metropolis where most of the action takes place.

I particularly loved the part of the movie when ‘Kid’ has to escape from the brothel having blown his cover, where he very quickly seems to get the full five star wanted level a la Grand Theft Auto, leading to some kinetic and stylishly shot car chases, fights and general action. As I mentioned, there is a pause after this, which is perhaps required, but I didn’t find myself quite as invested in the ‘story’ aspects of the movie as I perhaps might have been. I mentioned this is violent and when I say that, I mean really, really violent, so if you’re at all squeamish, be prepared to cover your eyes at times!

‘Monkey Man’ is a well crafted debut feature from Dev Patel, demonstrating that he may have as promising a career behind the camera as he’s developed in front of it.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Dev Patel

Starring: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikander Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte and Makarand Deshpande

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt9214772/