'Monkey Man' is Rigorously Entertaining, But Its Political Heart Feels Lacking

Admit it, we’ve all been waiting to call Dev Patel a renaissance man. The incredibly affable British-Indian actor is yet another world-class talent to debut in the teen show Skins and has risen the ranks of respectability from Slumdog Millionaire through Lion, The Personal History of David Copperfield, and The Green Knight – all while harboring an urge to appear behind the camera. Monkey Man has taken five and a half years to get from announcement to premiere, with a pandemic and Netflix-cold-feet-affected production timeline stopping and starting its journey to a theatrical release.

A streaming-exclusive launch would have hampered Monkey Man – it’s a kinetic, visceral action film that deserves a shared viewing experience – even if the narrative of producer Jordan Peele rescuing the surprise smash hit of the year from the maw of streaming purgatory doesn’t exactly hold water.

Patel stars and co-writes his directorial debut, channeling an elemental charisma into a character only credited as “Kid” on a mission of unfettered vengeance through the higher tiers of corrupt Indian society. The Kid channels the power of Hanuman, a Hindu god with a monkey face and righteous courage, as he infiltrates a high-rolling luxury tower in pursuit of Rana (Sikandar Kher), the cop who murdered his mother Neela (Adithi Kalkunte). The Kid was violently displaced as a child from his Indigenous homeland by brutal cops, which shines a timely spotlight on India’s nationalist past and present as awareness of how ethnic cleansing is central to global history rises.