Dev Patel has come a long way since his career started with television drama Skins, this film was his passion project as well as his directorial debut, I was looking forward to a good gritty film. Basically, an anonymous young man, known only as Kid (Dev Patel), earns a living in the city of Yatana, India, as a fighter, wearing a monkey mask, at the underground boxing club "Tiger's Temple". He is encouraged by ringmaster Tiger (District 9's Sharlto Copley) to lose fights while shedding blood. A series of flashbacks reveal that young Kid lived (Jatin Malik) in an Indian forest village with his mother Neela (Adithi Kalkunte), who inspired him with tales of Hanuman. Baba Shakti (Makrand Deshpande), a ruthless spiritual guru in Yatana, sends corrupt police chief Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher) to force out the villagers and acquire their land. The village was massacred, but Neela managed to hide Kid. Rana finds, rapes and kills Neela, and Kid witnessed her death. Neela's house is set on fire, Kid was trapped inside before managing to escape, leaving his hands badly scarred after the house was burned down. Years later, Kid wants vengeance for the death of his mother. Baba continues to gain followers and political influence, and Rana, who often visits the luxury brothel "Kings", run by Queenie Kapoor (Ashwini Kalsekar), who provides drugs and prostitutes to wealthy clients. To infiltrate Kings, Kid has Queenie's wallet stolen and returns it, and he asks for a job in the kitchen as a reward. Kid takes the alias "Bobby" from a cleaning product and befriends fellow kitchen worker Alphonso (Pitobash). Revealing his life as a fighter, Kid helps Alphonso win a large bet on a bout in exchange for a promotion. Kid is promoted to being a waiter and is able to access the VIP floor to reach Rana. Among Queenie's prostitutes is Sita (Sobhita Dhulipala), who advises Kid to give up working in such a place. Kid buys a gun and finds a stray dog who he cares for. Over time, he trains the dog and practises firing the weapon. The dog is trained to carry the weapon past security, and he spikes Rana's cocaine with powdered bleach to disorientate him. Confronting Rana in the bathroom, Kid tries to shoot him dead but is foiled and forced to fight his way out of the building. Fleeing in Alphonso's supercharged tuk-tuk, Kid crashes and is arrested, but escapes through the city. Nearly killed by an axe-wielding pimp, Kid is shot by the police during a rooftop chase and falls into a lake. He is rescued by Alpha (Vipin Sharma), the keeper of a local temple of Ardhanarishvara. Alpha's hijra community is being targeted by Baba's growing political movement. Alpha guides Kid through a hallucinogenic experience to confront the trauma of his mother's death. He is encouraged to train himself in combat, including a drummer (Zakir Hussain) who plays to increase his drive, and it gives him a newfound purpose. When their sanctuary is threatened, Kid returns to fight at Tiger's Temple again. He places a large bet on himself, and he wins the fight, gaining the support of Alphonso and the crowd, and emerging victorious with enough money to save the temple. During Diwali, Baba's candidate for the Sovereign Party, Adesh Joshi (Láng Balázs), is elected and they celebrate their victory at King's. Kid fights his way inside, surrounded by Queenie's men, defeating them with improvised weapons and fireworks. There is a point when Kid may be overwhelmed by the men, but Alpha and her warriors arrive to help. Queenie tries to shoot Kid, but she is killed by Sita. Kid severs Queenie's thumb to use her fingerprint to access the penthouse. Kid confronts Rana for a brutal rematch fistfight and beats him to death. Following this, Kid finally reaches Baba, who mortally wounds him with blades hidden in his footwear. Kid manages to kill Baba using the same blades, finally avenging his mother's death. Kid collapses from his injuries and reminisces about Neela and his devotion to Hanuman. Also starring Brahim Chab as King Kobra, and Joseph J. U. Taylor as Gerrard the Australian businessman. Patel gives a solid performance as the young man on a one-man revenge mission, and he proves himself a credible director as well with a good sense of pace, the performances of Copley and Pitobash are good as well. It is a film of two halves, the first being a slow burner to establish the character as he infiltrates the criminal underworld, and the second half is a bonkers John Wick (who is mentioned) style punch-up and gunfight, it is brutally violent and the Indian culture incorporated is well done, it is an impressive action thriller. Very good!
Review of Monkey Man
