Thank God, Dev Patel directed a movie where he gets to be a hot action star
Dev Patel writes, directs, and stars in Monkey Man, a new action thriller coming to theaters April 5
Film News Dev Patel
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, the culture needs more Dev Patel. For years, audiences have been fancasting Patel in all sorts of projects (please, Dev Patel rom-com… save us Dev Patel rom-com!), but it turns out Patel has been busy casting himself. He’s starring in his own directorial debut, Monkey Man, which premieres in theaters April 5. On Friday, we got our first look at the Jordan Peele-produced action thriller in the form of a first trailer.
“Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash,” reads a synopsis for movie. “After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.”
The new trailer is stylish and intense, with a heavy helping of Patel’s action-star physique. The actor has thus far avoided the Marvel machine, but here he appears to be crafting his own unique superhero origin story. There’s a Batman bent interwoven with Hindu mythology, as Kid witnesses the burning of his home in childhood and grows up to seek revenge by cultivating his physical prowess. There’s also a comparison to be drawn to John Wick (Beating lots of people up, wielding a gun, petting a dog, etc.). As serious and action-heavy as the trailer is, there’s a sense of humor there, too,
All this to say, it’s a promising look at his first directorial outing, which, by the way, he also co-wrote with Paul Angunawela and John Collee from his own original story. Monkey Man stars Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Sobhita Dhulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, Makarand Deshpande, and of course, Patel himself. Here’s to more Dev Patel in 2024!
30 Comments
I loved The Wedding Guest. Can’t wait for this one!
this looks sick as hell.
No idea whether the movie will be any good, but that trailer fucking rules
“We need a white guy who’s mere presence suggests that everything has gone completely to hell and that our main character has made terrible choices, can the casting director get someone like that?”Somewhere, possibly thousands of miles away, Sharlto Copley sits straight up in bed, grabs his phone and starts dialing his agent. He doesn’t even know why, he just knows he has to.
had that same reaction. happy he’s still working!
Damn, that is a perfect description for him.
The trailer looks very good, although for some reason, everyone speaking in English bothers me. Specially with the film being set in India with Indian characters. Other than that, it looks slick.
‘”The trailer looks very good, although for some reason, everyone speaking in English bothers me. Specially with the film being set in India with Indian characters. Other than that, it looks slick.”’I’m ok with this, even though it was set in UK with a predominantly indian cast Polite Society had the same aesthetic.
As an Indian who lived in Mumbai, it isn’t weird at all. Most do speak it, maybe not as fluently but well enough.
Lots of Indians speak English.A legacy of their colonial past, but also because it’s a common language that can be spoken between people with different native tongues.
Does Dev Patel master the art of Gun-Fu? Only then, does it get a comparison to John Wick.
New petty level of gatekeeping unlocked.
Petty! I trained with Navy Seals, Special Forces and your Mom to get that good at Wick-keeping!And Wick-keeping just sounds wrong, no matter what, even if it really does refer to keeping the candles lit!
I think I found Kinja Caffeine Spider’s main account.
Nope, can’t allow that rumor to circulate. I had the fighter jet and he had the kind-of Decepticon picture? I say **had** of course, as we’ve all lost our Kinja faces now.
You should look up the definition of gatekeeping, kiddo…
I didn’t see any guns in the trailer. Looks like knives out and throwing things. I don’t like violent flicks, but this seems better for that.
I’ll one-up you on throwing things and fun.
Haha! Was this an entire movie? It has puppets? Is that Chris Pine?
I still love this Club.
Ahhhh! I get to urge someone new to see Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves?
Rent it, find someone that has it, etc, just watch it. It’s insanely fun. If you’re familiar with D&D, it has plenty of Easter Eggs. If not, you’ll just be having way too much fun to worry about it.They did an outstanding job with this film.
Rewatching The Green Knight has become a holiday tradition for me. Enhanced by certain…holiday treats.
This movie looks crazy and I am in. It is also another reason why I think Patel should be the next James Bond.
I thought calling brown people monkeys was racist?
He infiltrates the elite. He beats them up.
I can see how these narratives will keep working becauese “Revenge is Primal” and breaking bodies makes viewers feel good. I’d have rather seen him find a buddy in IT. During his non mask-wearing hours he becomes a brilliant hacker and f*cks up his tormenter’s paper, rendering them and their future children poverty-stricken. But it’s very likely that his buddy can do all that so retribution and violence. yay.
Dev Patels is my JAAAAAAAAAAM! *blasts off*
There’s never going to be a more fitting time to share that I went to see Lion with a female friend, and when Patel first surfaced from swimming in the ocean as an adult, looking for all the world like Adonis, my friend and I concurred that his full name is Devinitelygonnahitthat Patel.
That is one attractive man. Also, that’s one fantastic trailer.
I am going to assume that before working in the fight club Dev Patel’s character looked like Squidward and was gradually beaten beautiful,
Now can we get Patel in Peele’s next film, please?
Jordan Peele bought the film from Netflix so it could have a full theatrical release (via Universal) and box office.That seems like a really big deal. Hopefully Monkey Man won’t just get buried on Netflix like They Cloned Tyrone.Source: https://deadline.com/2024/01/monkey-man-dev-patel-jordan-peele-release-1235805732/