The trailers alone are an absorbing experience. Jordan Peele, famously the director of Get Out, brought this movie from Netflix to his production[MonkeyPaws Production] because he believed this movie deserved a theater release. It’s Dev Patel’s new Action/Thriller, Monkey Man, and it is Patel’s directorial debut.
The Promo
The trailers are gripping and have been praised as an art of their own. After the top comment praising Patel, these are the following under the official trailer on YouTube.
Watch the trailer here for yourself:
Dev’s Fight
While every movie involves a team to make it happen, it shows a deep belief in a movie when someone is involved with each aspect. Patel was a part of it all. Patel came up with the story, is a co-writer of the screenplay, coproducer, the main star and the director.
Moreover, Patel went above and beyond when challenges faced the making of the movie. The movie was announced to be made back in 2018. Later on with COVID-19, the original production designer and cinematographer bailed. Patel begged the financers not to leave too.
Given these circumstances and COVID-19, filming took place on an island in Indonesia instead of India. Certain scenes were shot on phones and goPros and DIY camera rigs of rope were used. Scenes with tables breaking would follow with the gluing of pieces back together for retakes. Closed borders in India meant an inability to hire a full supporting cast, so Dev had the tailors, lighting guys, and accountants in the scenes.
The main character hits a blow more than a few times which left Patel physically altered as he states he did around 97% of his fight scenes. He recalls waking up with neck pain, breaking his toes, breaking his hand, and tearing his shoulder.
Patel said about the action genre,
“The action genre has been abused by the system. You know, a quick buck. Mindless shit. I wanted to give it soul. Real trauma. Real pain. You guys deserve that. I wanted to infuse it with a little bit of culture.”
Dev Patel on his thoughts about the action genre
A catchphrase from the movie used in its marking goes, “Are you ready to fight?” For this movie, Patel certainly was.
An Ode to Himself
It took over ten years for Patel to write this story with his friend, and it took two years to film. Patel notes turning down other amazing work to focus on this film. The story and this move, as Patel says, is
“An ode to everything I am.”
The basis of the movie is inspired by the stories Patel was told as a child of the Hindu deity Hanuman. Hanuman is a half-human, half-monkey hero in Hindu mythology. Within the mythology, Hamunan loses faith in himself and needs to be reminded of who he is. He represents strength, courage and devotion amongst other virtues. These were the traits Patel wanted in his underdog, main character.
Patel discusses how, as an actor, he was mainly cast as the funny sidekick or “the guy who hacks the mainframe for the lead dude.” Patel states he’s a huge fan of the Action genre, but having been this “gangly Indian dude” in Hollywood, he never had access to it. Therefore, to make it happen, he had to do it himself.
Growing up, Patel loved Bruce Lee and cited Lee’s work as his entry point to cinema. Taking a liking to martial arts himself, he grew up training in the martial arts style of Taekwondo. In Taekwondo, he competed nationally and internationally and gained a black belt.
Patel stated that this film was huge for him in terms of cultural representation. He wanted this action film to showcase his heritage. For instance, the common training sequence of an action film was supported by the music of the Indian instrument, the tabla.
John Wick in Mumbai?
One circulating remark about this film is that it appears to be a “John Wick in Mumbai.” For those unfamiliar, the John Wick franchise begins with Wick(Keanu Reeves) seeking revenge on those who attacked his home and killed his dog which was a gift from his late wife. Wick, a former assassin, then comes out of retirement. With a similar tune, Monkey Man is also about revenge as the protagonist seeks revenge on those who killed his mother. The trailers also show scenes of Patel in a black suit which is iconic as Wick’s “uniform.” Likewise, it’s also violent.
Is this statement reductive? Patel has addressed this claim saying that he loves the John Wick franchise but that this film has inspiration from a much broader range of cinema from action films starring Bruce Lee, Jet Lee, and Jackie Chan. With elements of Korean and Bollywood cinema.
Patel also intended his character to be a true underdog. The protagonist has a driving purpose, but he doesn’t know how to be in a fight. It is something he has to learn unlike the skillful assassin Wick. There’s a different struggle in that. There’s less charm and swiftness but a definite grit. The movie, Patel says, also addresses issues such as violence against women, police brutality and the caste system “wrapped” in the entertainment of a thriller.
Jordon Peele’s Involvement
Jordon Peele in this movie said, “When I watched the film, my mind was blown.” Peele felt the movie aligned with what he wanted his production company to support. When he saw an earlier cut of the film, he was impressed enough to buy it from Netflix because he felt like it deserved a theater release with the help of Universal Pictures. By helping revise certain scenes and edits, Peele got his name as one of the co-producers.
“It’s beautiful. It’s tragic. It’s violent,” Peele. Will you be watching MonkeyMan on April 5th? Let us know on X @VALLEYmag!
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