Dev Patel shines yet again in new film Monkey Man

Dev Patel may be best known for gentler performances like David Copperfield or The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, but he has quietly been working on a dark side to his filmography. After impressing in thriller The Wedding Guest and surreal fantasy The Green Knight, Patel directs and stars in a gritty new action-thriller Monkey Man.

He stars as the anonymous Kid, who wears a monkey mask to lose rigged fights as a means of getting into the criminal underworld. However, he’s soon on a bloody path to revenge as he kicks, punches, and stabs his way to the men responsible for killing his mother. On the way, he becomes a symbol of hope for those oppressed by the corruption he battles.

It’s clear that the Slumdog Millionaire star is a student of the action genre, with not-so-subtle nods to John Wick and the blood spattered chaos that made 2011’s The Raid a cult hit. The enjoyment is the execution, with Patel as a director taking familiar themes and giving them new life in an unfamiliar setting. Using aspects of Indian life and giving them an action movie twist, Patel shows that many of the film’s decisions are more carefully thought out than they initially appear. There’s mythology woven into the premise, and a pleasing use of characters who are Hijra, an Indian transgender community, who come to the aid of Kid and help him evolve.

Visually, Patel seems to try everything. There is a computer game influence as action scenes switch from first to third person perspectives, with quick disorientating camera work requiring the viewer to keep up. The fights are just as relentless, with bones crunching and skin tearing in a way you won’t see from many mainstream films this year. Not every risk comes off, but it’s clear to see why Patel was championed by Jordan Peele, who bought the distribution rights to the film from Netflix  as he felt it deserved to be seen in cinemas.

Anyone doubting that Patel could hack it as a revenge machine will have their minds changed quickly. The sweet, soulful presence that featured in so many dramas gives way to a cold, calculating stare, similar in some ways to Keanu Reeves’ vengeful action hero. The one outlier in the mostly Indian cast is Sharlto Copley as grubby fight fixer Tiger, reuniting with Chappie co-star Patel in much darker circumstances.

With Monkey Man, Patel has said he wanted to bring some feeling back to the action genre, and he has succeeded in every way that counts. Yes, there may be missteps like one too many flashbacks, but this is the kind of untamed, exciting debut that makes you eager to see what the London-born filmmaker does next.