Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man opens with a mother telling her son the story of Hanuman. A half-man-half-monkey deity in Hinduism, Hanuman is persecuted by the gods when his hunger leads him to mistakenly devour the sun, which he mistook for a mango. The story serves as the perfect allegory for those who have been punished and forgotten by the government and the upper crust of society in the streets of the fictional Indian city known as Yatana.

Living in the slums of the city is Kid (Dev Patel), the grown-up version of the son, who has taken the Hanuman story to heart. Wearing a monkey mask while participating in an underground fighting circuit run by a shady South African promoter, Tiger (Sharlto Copley), he routinely gets pummelled in the ring for half the money he should be making. What the jeering crowd fails to realize is that the lumps he takes is part of his long game.

Kid is strategically saving up funds for a gun and setting events in motion events that would get him closer to people in power, such as restaurant-club owner Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar). Driven by a mixture of vengeance and sorrow, his goal is to kill those who were responsible for the death of his mother.

Securing a job as a dishwasher in Queenies establishment, after returning her purse which he stole but pretends to have stumbled upon, Kid sets his sights on the corrupt chief of police Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher) and religious guru Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshphande). The latter being a crime boss who uses religion to accelerate his political ambitions and overall quest for power.

However, pulling the trigger will not be easy for a man whose past trauma frequently immobilizes him in the present.

A labour of love for Patel, who also came up with the original story for the film and servers as producer, Monkey Man aims to be something deeper than “John Wick in Mumbai” as it has been affectionately dubbed by some. By layering the film with various cultural touchstones, such as the impact of religious and politically forced displacement and the treatment of marginalized groups like India’s trans community, the director ensures there is much to chew on in his action thriller stew.

The layered plot gives a deeper sense of urgency to Kid’s journey and helps to raise the stakes in the action set pieces. An audacious film, Monkey Man is not afraid to tips its hat to the action films that Patel is clearly taking inspiration from. There is the obvious verbal call out to the John Wick franchises, a showdown between Kid and Singh that takes place in a room filled with circular hanging mirrors, a nod to Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon, etc. However, Patel brings his own flair to the film, ensuring that regardless of whether fighting in a cramped police van or in the bathroom of a fancy club, the scenes are full of exciting tension.

The action set pieces are where Patel displays both his promise as a director and reveal where growth is still needed. On one hand, Monkey Man is a film that is dripping with style and visual splendor. Patel is an artist who knows how to paint a vibrant world in a single frame. His attention to detail makes scenes pop, an example of this can be found in the climatic battle where his camera takes a moment to overserve the flowing fabric of the saris that his transgendered allies wear while storming Queenies establishment. Unfortunately, these moments of pause are few and far between in the film.

Despite displaying the visual flair of a seasoned filmmaker, Patel’s incessant need to keep the camera moving and incorporate fast edits becomes distracting. While this stylistic trait has become standard in modern action films, with Paul Greengrass’ Jason Bourne films being an example of an effective use of the shaky cam technique, it feels excessive here.

Much like pouring a box of salt into recipe that only a required a pinch, the frantic nature of the camera takes away from the overall flavour of the film. The audience does not get enough time to appreciate the artistry being displayed onscreen. Regardless of whether it is the intricate fight choreography or the beauty of culture in a Diwali celebration, it is all present as a kinetic blur.

This frantic energy also hinders the overall story as well. Only slowing down during the flashback sequences, which are overly teased out throughout before fully showing the tragic night in question, the film leaves no room to develop its supporting characters beyond a one-line synopsis. A perfect example of this is Sita (Sobhita Dhulipala), a sex worker who Kid befriends, who has no real personality outside of being a vessel to remind Kid of his humanity. The same can be said for Alphonso (Pitobash), a swindler in the underworld whose physical disability ensures he will never be taken seriously in the criminal ladder.

The lack of character development also impacts the important messaging about the mistreatment of marginalized communities for political gain. What is left is an action film whose punches never feel as boneshaking as its wind up.

Patel clearly has the chops for a successful career as a director, he just needs to learn that sometimes it is more effective to let the camera sit and breathe in the moment.