Nearly a year since the arrival of Polite Society, another South Asian karate movie appears in what is becoming an annual tradition of delight and blood. Glowing reviews for Monkey Man have been trickling since the beginning of this year, calling it the Indian John Wick with the directorial debut and featured actor of Dev Patel. I’ve never actually sat through more than the first John Wick, but I’ve really liked the think pieces of how he sure has a lot of friends who owe him, but something about the way that the full mustachioed masked female dancers stick their tongues out at full length while swirling their green skirts really got me in the feels (and the reality of what they’re doing is so so so much cooler). I’d read that Jordan Peele picked up this movie as a means of giving it a theatrical release, which seemed like a good sign. Ultimately, everything about this movie’s poetic anxiety, its send-ups to other movies in the aggrieved man gets revenge with kung fu action genre, its earnestness and emotional core, make this a timely, transgressive, empathetic story that transcends its genre limitations. Spoilers after the jump.
Friends filled in some blanks after the end credits started to roll. The drummer in the sanctuary is actually a pretty famous musician who does commercials. The province in India is made up but definitely Mumbai, just like the Sovereign party is a stand in for the Hindu Nationalist party. The trans/queer worshippers of the movie, hijras, are good luck if they show up at your wedding–“but you have to pay them,” which seems like it ought to be a movie right now if it isn’t already. The sex provider played by Sobhita Dhulipala starred in Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2! Sharlto Copley’s presence as the only speaking white man in the trailer all but assures that it is amazing, based on his previous work. The cast in general was, by Friends’ expert assessment, diverse by a range of measures (South and North Indian, Muslim/Hindu, Monkey/Snake/Human, Men/Women/Queer rep), and certain a lot of the scenes we get a surprising amount of Asian, Non-Indian representation which is fun. In keeping with the good guy aesthetic, by my watch, Dev Patel does not harm a single lady in the entirety of the film.
In some ways, the comparison to the Matrix might be more apt, trans allegory and the transgressive cinematic decisions to portray police as villains and raise their body count. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Friend glowed at the way in which the first hour of the movie develops false anticipation for a quick murder-by-stealth á la John Wick, but then develops into a Killer narrative with a botched assassination. The training sequence happens SO LATE in the movie relative to its genre kin! Once he’s fully trained by carrying buckets of water and punching bags of rice, I think he really only fights for like fifteen minutes before the end credits! There is an adorable puppet theater sequence of the Ramayana which is perfectly timed and the thud of the princess doll being tossed onto the stage is amazing. OH, and those long-tongued demon masked dancers that I talked about earlier? THE WAY THEY HELP Dev Patel OUT IS SO COOL! It’s an ensemble cast of fighters, who could’ve guessed! The conceit of the pro-wrestling, MMA role that the Monkey Man/Hanuman persona serves in the first act is carried effectively into the finale of the film with the twist of no longer taking a fall to generate gambling wins for someone whose trust he’s trying to win over, which is very cool! Also the snk-snk-snk sound the knives make when they slice flesh–I love it!
Maybe I just don’t spend a lot of time watching movies where guys beat the shit out of lackeys with serving plates or whatever, but this was the most soulful film about two guys who really need an ass kicking I have seen in many moons.
