Dev Patel introduced this preview himself (remotely - he's not pitching up in Cannington!) and he says he's been sitting on this story of the Monkey God, Hanuman fighting against the demon king for about a decade. He covers all the bases here - star, (debut) director, co-writer and co-producer under Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions banner. It's a fairly rudimentary tale of revenge which plays out in Yatana, a pumping metropolis somewhere in India. I guess not naming the city (cough...Mumbai...) kept things a bit less problematic, considering 'yatana' means something like torture or serious pain in some languages. A rose-tinted tourist video this is not.
The film opens in a scummy, crowded boxing arena where a dude in a monkey mask is taking a pounding from a snake fella, both part of Tiger's (Sharlto Copley) stable of fighters. Kipling-influenced characters, Shere Khan and Baloo are introduced in later scraps. Kid, (Patel, AKA Monkey Man) is taking these constant lickings to save money for a greater purpose - the reason unfolds as the blood flows. While its pared down revenge core is age-old, the spiritual angle and exotic setting give the genre a bit of a spruce up. The brutality is full on but comical enough not to be repelled. On more than one occasion, Kid is forced to use his teeth mid-brawl, and there's an oddly out of place axe fight that felt pretty spurious.
As Kid works his way up the ladder of Kings nightclub, inching towards his target(s), we get more info on why he's on this path and how this society has been irrevocably rent asunder. It's the usual rich scum at the top, poor maligned folk at the bottom but the whole caste system twist adds layers here. An interesting/modern take on this is the introduction of a group of transgender people who side with Kid, what with the authorities displacing them too. The coming federal election and likely victory of the right-wing nationalist leader (Modi, in all but name) shines a critical light on the BJP in India, but not too starkly.
Monkey Man is shot by Sharone Meir (Whiplash) in a very dingy, frenetic style, though there are a few moments of great poise - slow motion tracking past the boxing ring, a zoom down the side of the nightclub, one superbly choreographed kitchen fight, as well as the climactic battle when Diwali enters the cocktail bar. The music here (by Aussie Jed Kurzel) seems out of place, but in a kooky way. It sounded to me like peacefully plinky sitar behind a lot of slicing and whacking, followed by Indian-style thrash metal. But music's not my strong suit.
This has been called a sub-continental John Wick facsimile (they even name check that franchise is one scene) and while there's some accuracy to that, it really takes more from films like The Raid and even Kurosawa's classic Yojimbo. It's a desperate revenge tale that doesn't go easy on the victims, but also doesn't reward the avenger. There are no winners in this murky bloodstorm.
See also:
For similar up and down story beats, check out the peerless, Yojimbo (1961), directed by legend Akira Kurosawa. And for a less violent but equally bonkers film set in India, try Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan (2001), an 'epic period musical sports drama' film (according to Wikipedia). Just a heads-up, about half of this film is a cricket match. Great fun.
(Film stills and trailer ©Universal, 2024)
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