Monkey Man Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Monkey Man Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Justin Dekker June 21, 2024

Director/Actor/Producer Dev Patel's 'Monkey Man' arrives on Blu-ray disc courtesy of Universal. Produced by Jordan Peel's Monkeypaw Productions, the film is a grim, gritty (and occasionally funny) tale of revenge set in India which features several impressive and punishing fight sequences and tense chases. This Collector's Edition features over 55 minutes of special features including behind-the-scenes segments, an alternate opening and ending, and a richly informative commentary track with Patel, Producers Jomon Thomas and Sam Sahni, and Co-Producer Raghuvir Joshi. A DVD disc, an embossed slipcover, and a Digital Code are also included.

On its surface, Dev Patel's Monkey Man is a simple action film following one man's quest for revenge. The film focuses on a man known only as The Kid (Patel) a member of one of India's lower castes who manages to scrape out an extremely hand-to-mouth existence by participating in underground fights. In the ring, he dons a realistic monkey mask and is known as Monkey Man, a perennial loser who seems to exist purely to take abuse. Serving as both ring announcer and fight organizer, Tiger (Sharlto Copley, Powers, District 9, Chappie) never misses an opportunity to belittle The Kid/Monkey Man and short his already marginal pay. Orphaned at a young age when a man named Rana (Sikandar Kher, Monica, O My Darling and Sense8)murdered and set fire to his mother, The Kid has lived his life on the fringes of society in abject poverty. However, now the time seems right for him to attack the elites and exact his revenge for the cruel killing of his mother.

Looking just below the violent, grim, and gritty surface, though, lies a story filled with symbolism, social commentary, and humor to compliment the nearly non-stop action. In the film's opening moments, we observe The Kid and his mother in a beautiful wooded setting as we hear the tale of Hanuman, the half-man half-monkey who was always hungry. Looking up through the branches of a tree, Hanuman spied a mango that appeared to be very ripe and juicy. Leaping into the skies, however, he soon discovered that it was the sun he saw and subsequently consumed. When the gods heard of this, they stripped him of his powers as punishment. Hanuman symbolizes the virtues of strength, perseverance, and humility all traits which The Kid demonstrates on his his own "hero's Journey". The burns on his hands recall Hanuman's pursuit and ingestion of the sun, as well as Icarus' ill-fated flight as his pride drives him to fly too close to the sun. Aside from providing background for The Kid and, by extension, Monkey Man, religion resurfaces periodically as an evil that must be confronted when it is weaponized and used to oppress, divide, and instill fear. It's the outcasts here that are the most holy, embodying and living critical tenants like helping those in need, acceptance, and charity while the recognized and appointed national religious leader lives opulently, is consumed with hate, and lusts for power no matter who or how many are hurt.

Class also factors into the film as well, further positioning The Kid as an unlikely hero. Clearly impoverished, he does not have an abundance of resources, saving as much of his earnings as he can to purchase a single revolver to aid in his revenge. He leverages his low position to secure a job as a waiter to obtain access to the elites he believes are behind his lifetime of suffering, people who, without securing a service position, he would have no access to. When forced to flee, the economic disparities come into play again, and while his pursuers have cars and motorcycles, he only has access to a small three-wheeled Tuk Tuk. His only assistance throughout his quest comes from others of the lowest class, and while their motivations may vary, even the most pure, righteous, or talented have little hope of bettering their position.

As serious and hopeless as Monkey Man can be, thankfully Patel applies liberal doses of humor to what would otherwise be an overly dark film. The aforementioned Tiger and his over-the-top announcing skills as he works the crowd underground fighting den provide a much-needed break from the unrelenting and graphic violence on display in the ring. The preposterous car chase that sees The Kid behind the wheel of his comedically outclassed vehicle and the drum-driven training montage also provide some welcome respite from what often seems to be a suicide mission. For all of the bloodshed and broken bones, the violence itself is often a source of comedic relief. Not because it isn't well done - quite to the contrary, the fight scenes are innovatively lensed and choreographed, and superbly executed. Rather, the volume of violence, how quickly things escalate, the overwhelming level of destruction, the sheer excess of the mayhem on display is what illicit chuckles here. Patel's cinematic influences are easily spotted, from John Wick, to Bruce Lee, and the films of Jet Li and other Hong Kong actioners, but the film never feels derivative. They seem to serve more as touchstones or sources of inspiration.

The fact that Monkey Man exists at all seems to be something of a miracle in and of itself. COVID scuttled initial shooting plans forcing the production to move to a small island in Indonesia to stand in for India where they would essentially live and work in a bubble for much of the shoot. During one of the film's brutal early fights, Patel broke his hand requiring him to eventually take a medical flight to a hospital to have a screw put in to mend the break so that he could keep shooting without working around a proper cast. He would later break several toes and suffer a variety of infections due to the significant amount of time he would need to spend in some very waterlogged sets. Financers and producers would come and go, and critical to any film of this nature, the fight choreographer had to be replaced as well. Cameras would break and were difficult to replace leading Patel to shoot scenes on his phone and with GoPro cameras. Despite the volume of work, dedication, and persistence that went into the film, Netflix, the production's original home, shelved the project, it perhaps being a bit more dense and layered than the simple action film they potentially thought it to be. It wasn't until Jordan Peele became involved that the film's future finally became more certain and the film would eventually debut in theaters instead of the small screen, a much more fitting venue for the story being told here.

Monkey Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As a film, Monkey Man moves through several visual worlds, and the MPEG-4 AVC 1080p transfer does a good job handling them all. In the idyllic natural world where the film opens, we're treated to lush greens on leaves and grasses. The colors of the vegetation and clothing are nicely saturated. The primaries in The Kid's picture book, though antiqued, pop adequately and there is decent pulpy fibrousness to the book's pages as well. Inside the fighting den, a more sepia-infused color palette saps much of the life out of most of the colors here, but this is clearly intentional. In this world, environmental blacks are not typically very satisfying though they fare better on costume elements when devoid of dust, dirt, and the like. Blacks can be deeper but occasionally swallow detail in the world the kid inhabits where darkened rooms and shadowed alleyways dominate, though neon signs offer some visual variety and some of the only vibrant colors down among the poor. Skin tones look realistic and authentic unless impacted by purposeful lighting choices in certain rooms in the club. For the most part, fine detail is typically very strong, with viewers able to pick out facial particulars and whiskers on Patel's beard, grimy and aged set and environmental pieces, and luxurious clothing accents on some of the women's dresses.

Monkey Man Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Monkey Man's English Dolby Atmos track is quite good. It's at its best and most immersive during moments of extreme violence when the sounds of the crowd in the fighting den or the general surroundings of other environments surround the viewer placing them perfectly in the center of the action. Music is occasionally allowed to dominate and demonstrates great fidelity and precision whether pushed to the forefront or nestled neatly into the ambiance of the scene. Regardless of the action on-screen, dialogue is always properly prioritized and is nicely centered. Directionality is impressive as bullets and other items move through the sound field. The substantial bass presence adds needed weight to punches, kicks, crashes, and gunfire throughout the film which features them frequently and nicely enhances musical elements as well, particularly in the club scenes.

Monkey Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Universal's Moneky Man offers an array of on-disc supplemental features as detailed below:

• Alternate Opening (3.58) - A different and darker start to the film.

• Alternate Ending (2.45) - In this slightly different and more ominous closing, the camera pans through the destruction left in the wake of the climactic final battle.

• Deleted/Extended Scenes (22.34) - Six scenes are included here, consisting of "True Shakti", "Mother's Death", "Training Montage", "Lucky Kid", "Alphonso Death", and "Post Credit Button".

• A Labor of Love (8.44) - Dev Patel and others from the cast and crew discuss the origins of the project, the impact of COVID, finding locations, costuming choices, and working with Monkeypaw to bring the project to completion.

• Monkey Man of Action (8.35) - Dev Patel, Jordan Peele, Jomon Thomas, and others cover building and working with the stunt team, shooting the action scenes, dealing with an unexpected injury, and the comedic Tuk Tuk chase, among other topics.

• Fateful Encounters (7.21) - Numerous members of the cast discuss their characters and their inspirations for their motivations and character choices in the film.

• Roots Exposed (3.02) - Dev Patel discusses the influences for this project, from the tale of Hanuman (which is recounted in the film) and the impact of seeing Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon at a young age, to the impact of embracing utilizing various parts of his Indian heritage.

• Feature Commentary with Director/Actor/Writer/Producer Dev Patel, Producers Jomon Thomas and Sam Sahni, and Co- Producer Raghuvir Joshi - Patel, and rightfully so, dominates the track discussing locations, casting decisions, various difficulties (including shooting during COVID) and workarounds, budgetary issues, homages, and nods to other films. He's rarely silent as he discusses the culmination of twelve years of work with an obliviously deep amount of passion and knowledge, and his work to keep various parts of India's society and culture at the forefront.

Monkey Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In the end, Patel needed as much strength, perseverance, and humility as the character he played in order to finally get Monkey Man to the screen, and we're fortunate he did. Those looking for a straightforward action film will find much to enjoy here. The film's cast is wonderful, though will be largely unfamiliar to many Western viewers, and the fight scenes are energetic and expertly captured. Those looking for something a little deeper will find that here as well as Patel's project tackles a variety of issues without ever feeling heavy-handed. Outfitted with a variety of special features, the most enjoyable and illuminating being a number of deleted scenes and alternate scenes and the commentary track the film, fans will find much to enjoy. Monkey Man, for all of the obstacles that could have brought it to a premature end, is an outstanding first directorial effort from Dev Patel and his work on-screen goes a long way toward establishing him as an action hero. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to see more from him in both of these capacities. Monkey Man comes highly recommended.