"Monkey Man" - Review

At night, in the grimy, bloody flea pit fighting arenas of India, a man wears a monkey mask and works as a jobber (Dev Patel), earning money by allowing others to beat him in these games. He waits, he focuses, he dwells on the past, hoping to cross paths and seek vengeance upon the ones who wronged him. But like the hero Haruman himself, he shall have to conquer pride, and become the underdog champion that is needed, his vengeance and wants be damned. Where there is injustice, one must fight it.

Fuck yes.
Fuck, yes.
Taking the standard revenge movie tale, Dev Patel honestly had no choice bu to subvert it, adapt it, change it in some way so as to leave his own mark, and boy did he succeed.
A stunningly edited, visceral, primal, ferocious tale of the underdog, rooted in faith, redemption, rebirth and justice. It feels like a "John Wick" movie but where the guy has no money, and is a claustrophobic, anxiety inducing nightmare to boot. It's grimy, brutal, grim, bloody and feral, a primal angle of film making. The editing is God-tier, and even the shaky-cam (normally I dislike it, fuck Greengrass for popularising that shit) actually serves a purpose here of jamming us in this spinning, out of control world of our protagonist, and the fight scenes are awesome enough on their own that they aren't trying to "Iron Fist" it and hide shit. The movie is honestly a lot slower paced than one would expect: focusing a lot on spiritualism, rebirth, and the myths and power of faith, unashamedly so. And it tackles the root idea of (refreshingly) not that the cycles of violence must be broken, but that one must channel that rage, that fury, that violence into changing things, into a righteous cause and being just: using one's fury and rage and justifiable hatred of the systems and cruelty around us, to destroy that which binds and ruins us. It is unashamedly political (saying, essentially, fuck conservatism and religious extremism, fuck Modhi, fuck the cruelty of the rich, and until all of us are free none of us are free), and uses the grimy, sleazy underbelly refreshingly starkly without being pornographic. There's no sexual assault either, kudos! Patel devotes himself heart, body and soul into making this.
Seeing a hench Dev Patel is fucking weird, not going to lie, but I love it.
There's a stunning final act fight sequence making use of a kitchen and (weirdly) Boney M, and a brutal chase through the slums, and in between we have a journey of rediscovery, and the power of faith.
Also, trans rights motherfuckers.
Trans fucking rights.
Oh, and Sharlto Copely is in this and fucking rules, as he always does.
Dev Patel has offered us not only a delicious main, but a delectable course of hors d'ouevres, some lavish sides, a sumptuous dessert and a palette cleansing cocktail to enhance. There is a righteous, divinge, raw and palpable fury and passion behind and in front of the camera here, but feels not like a screed, but a roar of triumph and just excellent cinema. (I cannot emphasise how good the editing is in this).
I am exceedingly keen to see where he goes next.
Presumably, if this movie is anything to go by, the fucking jugular.