Monkey Man * * *

Monkey See Monkey Do

I could have happily walked out on this at any time. I could have written my shopping list, or continued with a crossword, or played with my mobile phone.  That's how involved I was. Which is a shame as obviously a lot of work went into Monkey Man. 

I reckon Dev Patel has been influenced by the John Wick franchise and thought: "I can do that".

Well I guess you can, but John Wick set out to be John Wick so it's John Wick. But Monkey Man sets out to be kind of like John Wick but kind of like something else too which leaves it in limbo land. Actually, I think it's Mumbai.

Like John Wick, our hero favours the black suit, the minimal dialogue, the lonely life and the indifference to killing by the truck load. Oh, and the indifference to pain.

John Wick all started off with someone killing his puppy (Bastards!).  Monkey Man starts off with our hero as a child.  Dreadful people kill his Momma, and half the people in his village - and his puppy too probably.  (We don't see that, but he does adopt a street dog)

Cut to years later.  Monkey Man is someone who wears a monkey mask and gets the crap kicked out of himself every night in some shonky illegal fight joint run by a South African racketeer.  I don't know if he can't help getting beaten up or if he just takes the fall.  Either way, Monkey Man has an agenda. He wants another job.  Not because he is career aspirational, but rather because he wants to get to the people that killed his Mum.

He gets himself into a sleazy rich mans club where girls are exploited. This is where his targets hang out.  

He soon learns that revenge is not easy and Monkey Man ends up back where he originally came from with the people of the Village in the forest, where the elders remind him of who he is and what he is made of.  

And so he stays in the forest and learns to punch and kick very, Very, VERY! frigging hard!

Back to the nightclub and the sleazies that hang out there including some money obsessed, self proclaimed shonky guru who wants to be a politician or something like that.  I think he was behind the killing of Dev's family in the first place. (This really wasn't easy to follow. I'm just patching it together as best I can and I might be wrong.)

But I guess it doesn't matter because the final 45 minutes of Monkey Man is all about the fights and this where it really turns into a Hindi John Wick. 

It's okay. It's very glamorous. Serious money was spent here and some of the photography is very artistic. Perhaps too artistic  Tight frame and close quarter are the go. Irritatingly so. It seemed to be all about showing the stabbings and beatings and less about people. We don't get much more than a simple insight into anyone, ever.

Unsurprisingly you sense the door is  left open for Monkey Man II.  I hope that doesn't happen. 

Dev, leave John Wick to John Wick, go find something of your own. I'm sure it's in you.