By Ben Wheeler
Recently the debate around how to release new movies – in theatres or home streaming – has raged.
Doug Liman all but walked on his awesome remake of 80s classic Roadhouse when Amazon announced it would not receive a theatrical release some weeks back. He threatened to boycott the premiere, but then didn’t, and received a standing ovation for his muddled protests at SXSW.
These are truly confusing times.
We here at the Fiji Traveller are all about the cinematic experience: you enter the darkened theatre – a place of magic and mystery – and a mutually agreed contract begins between the film and the audience.
In Fiji, the line that separates movies from their audiences is more porous than I am used to, but this has made for some of my favourite film moments: bursts of anticipation, excitement and unbridled joy during Spider Man: No Way Home; a lady a few rows ahead of me loudly calling Princess Irulan a bitch in the final act of Dune 2; and in Halloween Kills, after innumerable acts of savage violence, the piercing scream that erupted when a gay couple shared a kiss.
I may not fully understand all these reactions, but they are part of the spell that is cast in the movie theatre – that willing suspension of disbelief that means we buy into the events unfolding on screen as if they were real, despite knowing it is all a huge and complicated fabrication.
On a good day, you emerge from the cinema dazed and blinking into the world like a new-born baby. You have been given a fuller sense of the width, breadth, and depth of human experiences in the world. You are enriched.
And so, for me, as much as I enjoy watching movies at home, the cinema will always be my temple.
****
Enter the fray, British actor Dev Patel’s first directorial effort Monkey Man, a film that was slated for a streaming release, but was deemed too ruddy cool for that when picked up by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and was shunted quick smart into theatres in North America and, thankfully, right here in Fiji!
Monkey Man is a lurid, brutal, hallucinogenic, violent, exciting, action-packed, and yet layered and contemplative movie. It is also the most fun I’ve had in the cinema in some time.
It’s been compared to John Wick – and there is even a knowing wink early in the film’s dialogue to this heritage – but for me there is a lot more to Patel’s cinematic palette than in that fun Keanu-led franchise. In Monkey Man, you’ll find martial arts classics like Bruce Lee and contemporary stars like The Raid’s Iko Uwais are referenced in equal measure; the woozy colour scheme and ultra-violence recall Nicholas Winding Refn’s and Ryan Gosling’s misunderstood Only God Forgives; the sight of the slight Patel’s frame taking punishing beatings due to his psychological distress is reminiscent of Ed Norton in Fight Club; and the monkey mask as a tool to stike fear into one’s enemies is a timely reminder of Joel Edgerton’s criminally underrated home invasion thriller The Gift.
And there’s more! Of course, the film’s location in the fictional Indian city of Yatana means we are treated to a broad spectrum of stars from Bollywood, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu cinema.
****
After a rip-roaring opening act, the film settles into a more philiosophical midsection. This is a standard part of the hero’s journey, but could be a little jarring for some as it dials down the action and seeks to address an ambitious number of issues. Ethno-nationalist persecution, social inequality and caste systems are addressed along with land grabs by greedy developers that are both the stuff of Hollywood legend, and part of the contemporary political landscape of the Pacific. There is also a celebration of third gender healers and warriors the hijra which calls to mind global LGBTQ+ struggles and the status of the MVPFAFF+ community in Oceanian cultures.
This may sit uneasily for some on top of the human trafficking themes already dominating the film. Personally I admire Patel’s attempts to unify disparate marginalised groups in this way.
The third act returns us to the genre we know and love: action! Here, once again it does not disappoint. The fight scenes are stylish, brutal, and wonderfully directed. I am not always a fan of the shaky camera, but here it is used sparingly enough not to distract, and adds to the frenetic and scrappy nature of the battles. Patel – working on a budget that is a small fraction of other blockbusters – relies heavily on some superstylised longer shots intercut with close ups that give the feel of a b-movie. He is clearly a cinephile who has been able to draw from the incredible directors he’s worked with (Danny Boyle, M Night Shyamalam, David Lowery and Wes Anderson to name but a few) and create a style all of his own.
The effect is intoxicating: a real rollercoaster of a movie that grabs you and drags you through its neon cinematic streets, from the dizzying heights to the gutters. And watching it at the cinema expands the experience tenfold.
Patel’s star, already in ascension, is becoming more and more robust, delivering a sophisticated directorial debut and an utterly convincing turn in an action feature.
Monkey Man is screening at cinemas across Fiji now.
