Dev Patel’s Excellent Action Epic Is Still Doing Great on Amazon Prime

Dev Patel’s Monkey Man is among the top ten most watched films on Amazon Prime and Peacock. The film is a striking passion project from the mind of its director, star, and co-writer. This kind of thing doesn’t make it to theaters often enough. Its journey to the screen was absurdly challenging. Anyone who hasn’t seen the film should check it out, but it’s better to be surprised. Monkey Man gets a lot of unfair summaries, but it truly speaks for itself.

Monkey Man Fights His Way to the Top Ten on Amazon

Monkey Man is a firecracker political polemic in the guise of a stellar action movie. I expected gorgeous action set pieces with impressive stunts, but it delivered much more. The film follows Dev Patel as the unnamed Kid, a charming presence who nonetheless brims with quiet rage. The Kid dives headfirst into a grim underworld that actively despises him. Everyone is ripping everyone else off, and the only way to survive is to learn how to get in on the game. Despite the Kid’s patter, he’s not there to make money. The Kid is a revenge quest in the shape of a man. He seeks to exact terrible vengeance upon the religious and political figures and forces that destroyed everything he held dear. On his journey, he becomes the avatar of the underrepresented, bringing an army to the door of his oppressors. This is more than Patel’s John Wick.

I don’t really want to say anything else about the plot of Monkey Man. Monkey Man is available to stream now on Peacock or for rental on Amazon Prime Video and elsewhere. I can’t recommend it highly enough, but I can unpack how it almost didn’t make it to the screen. Dev Patel pictured the premise a decade ago, but Neill Blomkamp, his first choice to direct, wasn’t interested. Instead, Blomkamp suggested that Patel direct the project himself. The production didn’t start for another six years, but the pandemic nearly shut it down. Patel broke a hand and two toes during stunt sequences. Then came the problem of selling the thing because Netflix backed out when they saw that the movie was about something. Finally, Jordan Peele stepped in as producer, Universal bought the project, and we all got the chance to enjoy this instant classic.

Monkey Man is a lesson in the difficulties of making anything original anymore. The project could have fallen apart at any stage, but Dev Patel believed in the story he wanted to tell. This is the kind of movie we all keep saying we want. It’s a stylish, ferocious action blockbuster with more heart than most of the genre. Don’t let Monkey Man pass you by. There’s no way of knowing whether they’ll be another one.