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either getting beaten up or walking around covered inwounds. None of these are negative aspects of the film. Instead, the “from zero to hero” character development causes a massive problem in the storytelling structure and the film’s pacing. After the film’s first action sequence, “Monkey Man” takes a visible dip in quality as the pacing slows down to a crawl in order to provide backgrounds to Kid, his deceased mother, their community, themain villains, and the Hijra group. It seemingly takes forever before Patel checks off the grocery list of backstories and regains control of the film’s direction. This ramps up to the final action sequence in the last 40 minutes or so, and it is a tightly shot and choreographed climax that more than makes up for the entirety of “Monkey Man’s” slowmiddle section. The film has its flaws, but as Patel’s first directorial and writing attempt, these will walk the same road as his acting: theywill get better. “Monkey Man” was shot in Indonesia, and the location change is very visible. Many of the extras in the film were Indonesians, and the film tries to pass them off as North Indians because the film takes place in a fictional Indian city called Yatana. For Southeast Asians, this can be jarring to see. Not the perfectmonkeymovie Kid is not an atypical Indian action hero. He is a flawed man; in one sequence, he tries to use a gun and is immediately disarmed, with the pistol falling into a toilet bowl full of blood and feces, which he takes out and then loses again. He spends most of the film trying to find his identity and purpose in relation to his pursuit of getting revenge on Rana and Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande), the men responsible for his mother’s violent death. For two-thirds of the film, Kid is By Mark Mathen Victor A breath of fresh air for Indian action films, Dev Patel’s “Monkey Man” is both exhilarating and frustrating. The film is devoid of tropes that plague Indian cinema, but it is also subject to the pitfalls suffered by first- time directors andwriters. There are no forced love interests, no gravity-defying action, no love songs every 30 minutes, and no happy ending where the Indian hero walks off into a dalcha-colored sunset. Going by several monikers with his real name lost to the tragedy in his childhood, Kid (Patel) spends his nights fighting in an animal-themed underground fight club. Inspired by the Hindu deity Hanuman, Kidwears amonkeymask in the ring. During the day, he spends his time tracking down corrupt policeman Rana (Sikandar Kher). At the time that “Monkey Man’s” storybegins,hehas foundaway toget closer toRanaby infiltrating theKings Club, an exclusive club that is the convergence point of businessmen, politicians, and the police in the city of Yatana. Focused entirely on his mission, Kid is single-minded inhis attempt to avenge his deadmother. Inspired by many, told by one An action film produced under rather grueling circumstances, “Monkey Man” takes its inspiration from other Asian films, along with the more popular ones fromtheWest. Patel is a cinephile, and he proudly wears it on his sleeves. The story draws parallels to Japan’s “Lady Snowblood” from 1973, while the action is inspired by Indonesia’s “TheRaid” films and the “JohnWick” franchise. Patel’s injection of humor into the action is reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” films. Theshakycamera techniquewhen filming action sequences was lifted from Paul Greengrass’ “Bourne” films. Though the film’s influences are broad, “Monkey Man” is not a facsimile of them. Patel liberally weaves in his own Indian identity, culture, and commentary with how the film was written. At its forefront is the Hindu religion. Side dishes also include the music and the Hijra community. There is also the discourse of India’s class warfare between the rich and the impoverished. Not contentwithhowmuchIndian culture he has weaved into the film, Patel also shows his anger towards India’s current prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his ruling right- wingparty, theBharatiya JanataParty (BJP). He does this by transplanting Modi and the BJP’s extreme right- wing religious discourse and marginalization of minorities with “Monkey Man’s” main villains, and likeaglove, it fits sowell inthecontext of the film’s themes and story. On the topic of shaky cam, which other modern action films have left, Patel’s incorporation of it into “MonkeyMan” is understandable. Filmed during the 2020 pandemic, the production crew could not fly in the necessary equipment and had to resort to using phones and GoPros, which, in other words, meant the filming was largely handheld. Initially planned to film in India, 09 MARCH 2024 Entertainment Behind the Mask ‘Monkey Man’ Blends Action, Culture, and Commentary