Has there been a more satisfying actor to watch mature on screen in recent years than ? The endearingly earnest, scrawny kid of 鈥淪lumdog Millionaire鈥� has steadily grown into a singularly intense and sensitive leading man. It鈥檚 a transformation that, for anyone who missed 鈥淟颈辞苍," or may be especially jarring in watching Patel鈥檚 new film, 鈥淢onkey Man.鈥�
Like 鈥淪lumdog Millionaire,鈥� the film is set in Mumbai and has a touch of fable to it. But in tone and texture, it could hardly be more different. Bathed in blood and fury, 鈥淢onkey Man鈥� is one gory coming out party for Patel, who also directed and co-wrote the film. He kicks so much butt in this movie 鈥� at one point he punches a punch 鈥� that it鈥檚 enough to make you wonder if the search for ought to be redirected.
鈥淢onkey Man,鈥� produced by Jordan Peele, is aiming for something grittier, though 鈥� more in Bruce Lee territory or the neighborhood of Park Chan-wook鈥檚 鈥淥ldboy" 鈥� wild, kinetic places to be where martial-arts action turns mythic and feverish. At its best moments, 鈥淢onkey Man鈥� does that tradition justice. But at all its moments, the movie is a convincing display of Patel鈥檚 still-expanding power and tenacity as a performer.
鈥淢onkey Man鈥� is most explosive in its blistering first half-hour. Patel鈥檚 character, credited only as Kid, fights while wearing a gorilla mask in an underground boxing ring. Our first image of him is of his head, in that mask, hitting the canvas hard.
These scenes, presided over by Sharlto Copley鈥檚 ring leader, have a masochist edge to them, as does Kid鈥檚 corresponding efforts to get closer to a den of power and corruption housed in the high-rise King鈥檚 Club. We don鈥檛 know initially the reasons for his obsession; he鈥檚 a mysterious, single-minded figure compelled by hellbent revenge.
And we watch with curiosity as he works his way into the building as a dishwasher hired by manager Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar) and, soon thereafter, gains a promotion to waiter to get himself up to the penthouse. His focus is on the police chief Rana (Sikandar Kher) and the build-up to their brutal first encounter is a swiftly edited, kinetic swirl. It fails, sending Kid on a clattering cascade down the building and beyond. Out of the frying pan, into the prostitution den with the ax-wielding maniac.
But while 鈥淢onkey Man鈥� is thrillingly enigmatic at first, it鈥檚 overly leaden with exposition once it settles in. To its credit, the movie has other things on its mind. It opens with the Hindu epic poem 鈥淩amayana,鈥� in which the deity Hanuman mistakes the sun for a mango and has his powers stripped.
鈥淢onkey Man鈥� is sketched symbolically against the story of Hanuman but set in a sordid, contemporary Mumbai (technically it鈥檚 a fictional city named Yatana). The syndicate Kid is trying to infiltrate ultimately leads to a religious leader (Makarand Deshpande). 鈥淢onkey Man,鈥� which Netflix dropped before it was picked up by Peele and Universal, is pointedly political in its fictionalized echoes of
While Kid recovers with the help of the sage Alpha (Vipin Sharma) and a group of transgender women in hiding, these elements are slowly brought from a simmer to a boil. 鈥淢onkey Man鈥� makes room for cutaways to TV news reports (some footage comes from real demonstrations) and copious flashbacks to a violent land grab from Kid鈥檚 childhood, during which his mother Neela (Adithi Kalkunte) was brutally murdered.
The real-world metaphors and Hindu contexts of 鈥淢onkey Man鈥� add to the film鈥檚 potency but aren鈥檛 always smoothly incorporated. This is a movie that namechecks 鈥淛ohn Wick,鈥� too. And it鈥檚 more successful in its frenetic fight choreography leading up to a bloody third-act showdown imbued with the rage of class uprising.
But regardless of any incongruities, 鈥淢onkey Man鈥� makes for a forceful directorial debut from Patel. More than anything else, he brings a compelling gravity to a film that is quite serious about getting seriously brutal.
鈥淢onkey Man,鈥� a Universal Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for strong bloody violence throughout, language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug use. Running time: 121 minutes. Three stars out of four.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
