WFG RATING: A

Universal Pictures presents a Monkeypaw Productions/Thunder Road Pictures/BRON Studios production in association with WME Independent, Fifth Season, Lost Winds Entertainment, S’YA Concept, and Minor Realm.  Directed by Dev Patel. Produced by Jordan Peele, Dev Patel, Anjay Nagpal, Christine Haebler, Robert Beaucage, Ian Cooper, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Jomon Thomas, Win Rosenfeld, and Sam Sahni. Written by Dev Patel, Paul Angunawela, and John Collee. Cinematography by Sharone Meir. Edited by Joe Galdo, David Jancso, and Tim Murrell.

Stars Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Sikander Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Makarand Deshpande, Ashwini Kalsekar, Vipin Sharma, Adithi Kalkunte, Jomon Thomas, Pehan Adbul, and Brahim Chab.

Dev Patel makes one hell of a directorial debut with this intense thriller that can easily be compared to a massive franchise but is far from that.

Kid is a young man who makes a living purposely losing fights for local underground fight ring owner Tiger. However, something has been raging with him for years. And he determines now is the time to execute the plan. With help from some of his friends, Kid infiltrates and works as a busboy for a local brothel run by Queenie. One of the customers is Rana Singh, the local chief of police who, under the surface, is a corrupt official working for self-made religion guru Baba Sikhta.

When Kid attempts to kill Singh a while after getting on Queenie’s good graces, it fails and he narrowly fights his way out only to be later shot and left for dead. Awakening in a Nijru temple, Kid reveals the truth. When he was a kid, Singh was responsible for the destruction of his family’s village and he witnessed the evil policeman killing his own mother. Thirsting for revenge, Kid begins to train himself to become a weapon, finding inspiration in Haruman. Now armed with the new skills and ready, Kid is ready to wreak havoc and avenge his mother’s death and discovers something bigger in the process.

Dev Patel has come up with a great story and makes his directorial debut on this action film that shows an evolution of his character, going from homeless man to avenging warrior. There are those who are going to feel John Wick vibes with the tone of the film and will most likely compare this to the action franchise. However, this is definitely not “John Wick in India”, but a story involving social and economic class meshed with religion. 

Patel not only proves himself to be a great director, but his lead role as “Kid” is amazing in every way. We see he has had all this pent-up anger in his for years and in an ironic twist, gets his rage out by getting his butt kicked in the ring. Sharlto Copley is the guy in-charge of the underground fight ring, Tiger, who only sees Kid as more of a lost cause. We see glimpses of Kid’s past, bringing to mind the classic kung fu film The Secret Rivals, where we see bits of a flashback from Northern Kick Shao Yi-Fei’s parents’ murdered. We see that with Kid as a child only to reveal everything in the third act like we see in the kung fu film.

The scene where we see the beginning of Kid’s full transformation, where he is nursed in a temple and becomes inspired by the Monkey God Haruman, brings to mind Chow Yun-Fat’s Jeff in Full Contact, where he trains himself to become one not to mess with as he seeks revenge. We see Patel train himself to become an able-bodied fighter and not having to use guns, but knives and his fists and feet as they become lethal weapons.  

Kudos must go out to Brahim Chab, who serves as the film’s action coordinator and even has a role as one of Kid’s opponents in the ring. Utilizing Patel’s skills in taekwondo along with his brand of action, which made him a force to be reckoned with internationally and in Thailand, we see Patel unleashed not only in the ring, but in two fight scenes in the brothel where he goes undercover. For the first two acts, we see him as one of those who will fight and get beaten to pulp but the third act brings out the warrior within him. 

Monkey Man is definitely far from being a John Wick clone, but more of a revenge seeking story that looks to draw inspiration from Hong Kong cinema with Dev Patel proving himself both in front and behind the cameras. He definitely should do another action film of this caliber again.