Film: Monkey Man

He’s waited his whole young life to work out how to protect the weak

Monkey Man tells us the present and back story of a kid determined to avenge his mother’s murder. He faces a corrupt police chief who works for a corrupt self-styled religious leader.

Of course, they are rich and hold all the power as they defend their right to status and money. The kid eeks out a scrappy living from having the life kicked out of him while wearing a gorilla mask in a dingy, well-attended fight club.

Monkey Man does not shy away from the violence but it is, I hesitate to use the word, handled with class. If Monkey Man, based around the legend of Hanuman, is aping (sorry) John Wick, then it has succeeded but with a much more worthwhile story. They managed to make 4 JW films when there only needed to be one about avenging the wife's life and one about taking revenge for the dog. With Monkey Man, we have storylines covering the rich and the poverty-stricken, the high society and the forgotten and the corrupt and the kind, thieving to survive.

Anyone who forgets their place, it does not work out well for them

He decides the only way he can achieve his dream and get close to the people responsible is to be among them. He is hired by yet another criminal boss to work in the kitchen of a hotel, which earns him money, teaches him what he needs to know and leads to a new friendship. Plus, there is a stray dog, in case we weren’t clear on the John Wick connection.

When nobody becomes somebody

I love the spiritual group of fellow outcasts that help him when he is found close to death, and never tired of the timely flashbacks to a short childhood with his mum. All the time, I’m waiting for the inevitable telling of how she died.

Monkey Man is as fresh as John Wick was but bolder and more important. I wonder how this film went down in India, where it is entirely based. The film plays homage to many other films, probably more than I recognised.

I don’t think Monkey Man did a step wrong*. Immense effort was made into those Bruce Lee-esque fight scenes and then also directing them.

I’m astonished at how this can be Dev Patel’s directorial debut and his first action film. Just achieving one of those would have been incredible. With help from producer Jordan Peele, I’m grateful this reached the big screen masses it deserves.

At the moment, Monkey Man is the best film of the year.

8½/10 (bordering on 9. This may change as the year unfolds)

*If I had to pick one thing, wearing an ape mask may be misleading when the film is called Monkey Man and is neither about monkeys nor apes