THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
In life, you always have to stick to your morals and fight for what you believe in. If Monkey Man taught anything, you have to stick to them no matter how dire it’d make you feel.
PLOT
The 2024 film follows a young man credited as Kid who grew up in India inspired by his mother Neela’s tales of the Hindu god Hanuman. In his childhood, she and her village would be savagely destroyed by corrupt police chief Rana Singh, who was ordered by spiritual guru Baba Shakti to evict and acquire the land. In his efforts to protect his mother, Kid would only result in getting his hands burned & scarred. Now as an adult, he makes ends meet as a masked heel jobber for the underground fight club Tiger’s Temple. He still vows revenge against Rana and plans to follow through in confronting him at the luxury brothel he frequently visits dubbed ‘Kings’. He’s able to persuade manager & pimp Queenie Kapoor (Ashwini Kalkunte) to get him a job as kitchen worker. This paves the way for him to befriend Alphonso (Pitobash), who works for Queenie, to promote him as waiter after rigging a fight in his favor. With this promotion, he buys a gun and trains a stray dog to sneak it in to avoid security. In his first attempt to extract revenge, it backfires in his effort to kill Rana privately in a bathroom. When getting made, he has to retreat but gets shot by the police in the chase of his life, being left for dead when falling into a canal. He would surprisingly be saved by Alpha who leads a Hijra temple targeted by Baba’s nationalist & ultraconservative movement. When recovering, he practices the hallucinogenic ‘Soma’ to confront the trauma on when Neela (Adithi Kalkunte) died. With the sanctuary being threatened, he puts a large bet on himself and beats two face opponents to win enough money for Alpha and the temple. During the celebration of Diwali, Baba’s nationalist party chooses to celebrate at Kings after his candidate is successfully elected. With the help of Alpha and the Hijra, Kid fights his way inside with improvised weapons. Queenie tries to shoot him, but gets killed by one of the exploited prostitutes Sita (Sobhita Dhulipala). Kid does get his long awaited revenge when beating Rana to death in a fistfight, but decides to pursue Baba before leaving. When he reaches him in the penthouse, the guru fatally wounds him with a hidden blade, but Kid uses the same weapon against him to kill him before he could dare retreating via helicopter. The film ends with Kid collapsing to his injuries while reminiscing of his mother for the last time.
THOUGHTS
There are a lot of films where actions speak louder than words. Producer Jordan Peele knew this better than anyone and is able to ensure this vision by debuting director, co-writer Dev Patel was brought to life. What we get in the long run is a visceral experience of an action film. With an impressive combo of editing and cinematography, each scene equally packs a punch literally and metaphorically. The fights are so surreal of an adrenaline rush you don't want it to end. The whole runtime is so damn captivating because Patel is showing a tale where it's justified to fight fire with fire, violence with violence because we live in a world where there are many areas people have to either fight to survive or fight to live. Considering how difficult it can be to thrive when leaders abuse their power on the weak, it's easy to root against them. Patel also plays a unique protagonist who goes on a perspective where he goes from the former to the latter. Kid stands out from previous leads in this genre because he is one who seeks healing and believes he can only get that by avenging what was taken from him. He was someone who acted with patience but his perspective blinded him on how he can fight for others and not just for himself. When he met the Hijra, he saw how voiceless they were the way he felt because he had to grow up in a poor environment and no one chose to save him. Knowing he can do that for them helped him be whole before he could conclude his quest. Vipin Sharma was so raw in his performance as Alpha because he portrayed the character as an outcast discarded for being different, a situation he and his trans community were undeservingly going through. He went out of his way to save Kid in the first place because he was lending a hand the way he wished he was. And from that, they helped each other have their voices be heard in gripping fashion. Seeing Kid dye his mask symbolized the growth he never thought he'd have. I don't believe on the idea of Kid surviving the ordeal after all the blood he lost but if he were to pull off the odds, whether or not it'd be for the sake of a sequel, I'm sure he'd be content with the new chapter of his life. Since we got a hero to root for, we definitely get our fair share of villains to hate to the bone. You can hate on the wrestling host Tiger with ease since Sharlito Copley enjoys ripping off his talents, leading to an easy comeuppance when his top face loses. The big impact comes from figures far more corrupted than him. Sikandar Kher and Makrand Deshpande were a great dynamic in the villainous pair of Chief Rana and Baba Shakti because they act different in how they abuse their power. Kher shows Rana as the shameless one while Deshpande makes Baba a hypocrite who excuses his behavior and acts as false hope to those who desire the real deal. These are the people who need to be revoked of what they got if they're not gonna make the change everyone wants to improve as a whole society. Luckily, Kid kicked them out just when they needed to be. This film surprised me in more ways than one, but good stuff like this ain’t perfect story wise. For example, Kid is a smart protagonist for the most part but there were some things he could’ve done differently. Like he could’ve just shot Rana from behind rather than soak it in, rig a fight sooner if he wants higher pay, and ration his bullets for target practice if he wants one bullet to do the trick. Hell, he wasted a firework when aiming for Rana from afar and not sneaking another gun in in the climax. At least one of things could’ve benefitted him more than what he actually did. Also, no one saw the pick pocket snatch Queenie’s wallet in broad daylight? I mean there was a couple seated next to her so it’s crazy how blind people are when the plot demands it. And I did say Kid symbolizes his growth when dying his mask, but I don’t see the point in him doing it if he ain’t gonna bring it in. Lastly, I don’t think the media is digging enough dirt on Baba when it came to confronting him on the communities he pushed out. If they really want to believe what he’s saying, they should’ve done background checks on past residents. Ignore this, then this remains a magnetic ride. In short, Monkey Man is an incredible action film for speaking louder than anticipated. You want something that is able to surprise you? See this now.
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