Monkey Man is Dev Patel’s first feature film as a director. He had already tried the director’s chair twice in short film work, but it is in the role of actor that he is best known. His great rise to fame came in 2018 with the Danny Boyle film Slumdog Millionaire. Now we have him twice as he is not only behind the camera, but he also fills the shoes of the main actor in this action epic which is Monkey Man.

In Indian mythology, Hanuman is a monkey who, after experiencing many misadventures, becomes the leader of the monkey army and, together with his soldiers, embarks on an epic adventure that is recounted in the great Hindu poem Ramayana. If we simplify it, Hanuman’s path is the classic hero’s journey. On that basis, Dev Patel develops his story and Paul Anguawela and John Collee build the script for Monkey Man.

We are facing an ultra-action-saturated revenge thriller. The path that Monkey Man travels has been well traveled in recent years. Since John Wick revived pure and simple action cinema in 2014, many have followed in those footsteps. It’s impossible not to think of the Keanu Reeves saga when we see Patel as the nameless boy who forces his way to accomplish his revenge. But really, this modern Hanuman is fed by many other sources such as Bruce Lee’s films, Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, and even the fabulous The Raid: Redemption (2011).

Patel’s character is never referred to by a proper name, we only know his motive and that is enough. In his memories, we see the tragedy, trauma, and pain that drives him. Their allies and enemies do have names and we only need to know which side they are on. What matters in Monkey Man is the form and the narrative, the action is the catalyst, and the script is entirely due to it. The genre’s characteristic plot shortcuts for the audience to connect with the story work perfectly. The film never takes what it presents to us too seriously and this becomes a great strength.

The intense action sequences, chases, and fight choreography are captured through the lens of Sharone Meir (Whiplash, The Last House on the Left). For the most part, Meir must play in narrow spaces such as stairs and hallways, but in each of them he shows total control and after achieving the best frames he leaves the work in the hands of the editing team who do not disappoint. We can think of sequences such as the bathroom, the prostitution den, or the final battle, and in all of them we will see the combined work of cinematography and editing.

If there is another element that we must highlight in Monkey Man, it is the production design. Some scenes are already fighting to find a place among the most memorable in action cinema and in this, the composition of those settings plays a fundamental role in which excessively saturated colors and neon lights are always in time with a rhythm predominate. exquisite soundtrack. This revenge odyssey is a frenetic ride that puts the pedal to the metal and doesn’t let go until the final credits roll.