Fight Clip Club: Monkey Man
It’s time to become who you truly are.
I know a lot of you were waiting for my opinions on this brand spanking new film, and I was on tenterhooks waiting to see it myself. I really liked it, you guys—I’ve seen some online reviewers say it should have been edited down more, cutting out a lot of what happens in the latter half especially, but I disagree completely. Its dreamlike aspect is what makes it stand apart from the John Wicks and Bournes we all know so well, and it makes the central character compelling. The Monkey Man protagonist doesn’t even have a name in this movie, let alone barely speaks aloud, so all the dreamy moody cinematic versions of his inner world is that much more essential if we’re to be rooting for this guy by the end.
This is an unusual situation, though, so I’m not doing my normal paywall. Follow me below these clips and you’ll see why.
This movie doesn’t have the full fight scene that I want to talk about, clipped out and easily shareable, I assume because the movie is so new, or maybe because it’s so indie. Here’s a trailer that has a large-ish chunk of it:
But, as that’s not the whole fight, and as this is an indie movie that deserves all the monies from all of us, here’s the place where you can rent or buy the whole film. I very highly recommend you do so, as the whole fight is brilliant, and the whole movie is quite enjoyable. If you choose to watch the whole, be sure you do so before reading my analysis of this penultimate climactic fight scene. Here’s the link to the whole enchilada:
…and this is why no paywall today. I can’t show you the whole fight, so let’s talk about it anyway, for free.
Scene: Monkey Man (Kid) [with several hijra as support] vs. several henchmen, Monkey Man (2024).
Actors: Kid: Dev Patel Henchmen & hijra: various & sundry actors & stuntpeople
Stuntpeople: Not many of the stuntpeople are listed in my resources, and I have heard that Dev Patel did perform many of his own fights. His stunt double is listed as Wut Kulawat. The stunt coordinator is Udeh Nans, and the fight choreographer is listed as Brahim Chab. I have also heard that Dev Patel choreographed or coordinated some of the fights in this movie too, though—probably in his capacity as director I’d assume.
Setting: present day India
Style & Weapons: slick, John-Wick-like combo of gun-fu and unarmed fighting.
Scenario: Monkey Man (an anonymous character called Kid) has worked his way slowly into infiltrating the sleazy and powerful organized criminal world, as a waiter, in order to get to the Evil Guru who was responsible for killing his mother many years ago, and whose ruthless reign continues to exploit and murder the poor. This is the penultimate battle, where Kid, with the help of his hijra allies and a sex worker named Sita, gets past the secondary boss and her henchmen, to access the inner sanctum where Evil Guru hides in corrupt safety.
Genre: 2 (expressionistic), c (swashbuckling)
The expressionistic aspect of this fight is not only in the choreography, but in the camera shots themselves. The backlit bar-top combat, the bird’s-eye view of the groups going at it, with the additions of the hijras’ masks and sparkling garb, is elaborate and gorgeous. The choreography itself is reminiscent of a John Wick style (the movie even mentions those films in a cute meta-moment earlier, as an obvious homage): slick martial arts moves with just the right touches of strange found objects as weapons and strategically placed blood, sweat, and tears.
Let’s go through Kid’s Rules, since most of the other fighters here are nameless and in a group. Obviously, as usual, if I were any of these actors with their nameless characters, though, I’d do these Rules for myself. For now, here’s Kid’s 3 Rules;
Objective: to get through this crowd and room, defeating everyone, and get to the inner sanctum where Evil Guru lurks.
Tactics: having to dispatch not only many henchmen, but the desperate and tough (and armed) Queenie herself. All the fight moves and the tactics here are to mow through the bad guys and get access to that inner room. Kid (well, his friend Sita) ends up dispatching Queenie, most importantly, and uses her severed finger’s print as a key through the door to his next task. Secondary tactics are his friendships with Sita and with the hijra, in that they arrive both at crucial times and their help is essential for Kid’s success. Can we say his making friends with them earlier is a tactic for their help now? I’m a say yes.
Obstacles: the sheer numbers of the henchmen are obstacles at first, until our hijra friends arrive on the scene as badass backup. Queenie’s firearm is also a big problem, until Sita similarly steps in to save the day. As far as the other fighting goes, Kid is an accomplished ring fighter, gritty unarmed underground club style, but when he’s against higher level weaponry, that can be an obstacle as well.
Other Questions: This fight is elaborate in the delightful way that many of the John Wick fights are (as I’ve mentioned before), while keeping with its own unique flavor at the same time it’s giving it many nods. A couple times, I did find it was cut a little too frequently or quickly for my taste, but that may just be that (my personal taste). The camera angles are unusual, too—it’s not every day you see a fight scene from directly above—and how wonderful is it to see trans women not only represented, but positively and strongly so. This fight kicks ass, and it’s a perfect contrast to the quieter, smaller, and deeply intimate final fight scene that comes right after.
Fun Fact: I saw on IMDb that they ran out of money a couple times during the process of making this movie and so had to shoot some things with GoPros and iPhones. Which. Holy shit, if that’s true I’m thoroughly impressed.
I chose this scene because: Dev Patel is brilliant in this movie, in all the central roles he plays in its creation (starring, directing, writing, etc.), and this fight scene is only one of many compelling bits of violence that propels the story along. This is another example of a big group fight scene that’s beautifully rendered and performed. Plus, it’s got a bunch of badass trans ladies kicking butt, so what’s not to love?
What did you think, @Honeygloom ?