‘Streaming This Summer: “Monkey Man” Packs a Punch!’
When vengeance is properly honed, it can be a deadly force to anyone who harnesses it as fuel. Dev Patel’s Kid, honed his in Monkey Man, and his fury was felt by those who had hurt him. Patel directs and stars in the film, which was initially primed as a Netflix project, before being scooped up for a reported $10 million by Universal. Monkey Man is produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele (Get Out, Nope), and draws inspiration from the Indian legend of Lord Hanuman, a simian figure whose virtues include strength and courage. The action-packed thriller drew comparison to the John Wick-esque franchise as it followed Patel as Kid, a young man donning a gorilla mask to fight in an underground fight club in the fictional Indian city of Yatana. Toughened by years of taking punches for cash, Kid soon turns his pent-up rage against the city’s elite, and those in positions of power who stripped him of all he had as a boy, including his mother.
Bloody and intense, Monkey Man was clearly “a passion project” with action that is “staggeringly impressive,” according to Collider’s own Perri Nemiroff in her review. The level of passion put into the show’s development is highlighted by none other than Patel himself, who revealed, “I broke my hand in the first big action scene, broke some toes, tore a shoulder, eye infections, bruises.”
Despite very strong reviews, comparisons to John Wick, and intense online buzz, Monkey Man struggled to live up to those expectations at the box office. With Peele’s endorsement in toll, Monkey Man still struggles in theaters, grossing a worldwide total of around $28 million in three weeks. Monkey Man’s joust at the box office was not without stiff competition, coming up against the likes of Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Universal’s Kung Fu Panda 4.
After a limited box office run, Monkey Man is set to debut on Peacock, capturing audience attention with intense action. Alongside Patel, the movie also stars Sharlto Copley as Tiger, Pitobash as Alphonso, Vipin Sharma as Alpha, along with Bollywood stars such as Sikandar Kher as Rana Singh, Sobhita Dhulipala as Sita. Further rounding off the cast are Ashwini Kalsekar as Queenie Kapoor, Adithi Kalkunte as Neela, Makarand Deshpande as Baba Shakti, and Zakir Hussain as a tabla maestro.
Monkey Man makes its streaming debut on Peacock Friday, June 14.
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