Monkey Man

Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man is a gritty, nasty piece of work. While there’s direct influence from recent franchise epics like John Wick (which is even name-dropped in the film), Monkey Man bears a melting pot of influences from South Korea to Indonesia (and in particular The Raid). Action sequences are messy, but visceral, showreeling not only Patel’s skillset as a director to watch, but an action star in the making.

The opening sequence of Monkey Man showcases Patel’s physique: towering, lanky, with a lean muscle that’s unassuming – a perfect mask for blending in, which is his goal. Patel plays a mysterious young man on a revenge mission who infiltrates a very affluent sex club to uncover the person who murdered a loved one. The setup is a little slow, but measured, building the mystery of Patel’s character’s motivations.

But when the action hits, it cranks. Heads are bashed in, limbs are chopped off in creative ways, and blood gushes left and right. The fight scenes are filmed in frantic close ups and medium shots, giving the audience a front row seat to the vicious violence. This is where the film’s South Korean fingerprints really radiate – there’s a certain kind of messiness that’s thrilling. Patel’s direction is very smart here: breaking up the intensity with comedy, often in the form of a child’s reaction to the fighting around them.

The film’s only flaw – the kinetic energy stops the moment the fighting does. When Patel’s character begins to go through the resurrection portion of the hero’s journey, Monkey Man slows a tad too much with dense backstory and mythos (and muscle) building. (Patel co-wrote the script with Paul Angunawela and John Collee.) But when the action ramps back up again, the movie roars back to life – most especially so when Patel rams a knife into a man’s throat using his teeth.

Watch this one loud and with a crowd if you can.

A version of this review previously ran during the 2024 SXSW Film Festival.