Dev Patel’s directorial debut was a breakthrough showcase for him as an action hero. Now on 4K UHD, Patel’s vision holds up. The film highlights both sides of India, from the dense cities to sparse nature.
The striking figure Patel cuts in his suit ensures you can follow him through the most chaotic action. There is some pure 4K shadow in the walkways from the fight ring to the locker room, and the back alleys of the city. The lavender neon glows when the high end club explodes into violence.
The sound surrounds you with cheering crowds in the ring fights and bystanders scampering when gunshots go off at a party. The throbbing club music also envelops, as the lyrics echo in the rear during fights. Water floods from the broken aquarium and chandeliers jingle behind you after an explosion rocks the hotel.
Patel cut a lot out of Monkey Man to hone it down to two hours. An alternate opening shows The Kid as a kid reading about Hanuman, the monkey man. Patel was right to save that mythology for later. The alternate ending bookends that opening.
Deleted scenes show the villain Baba Shakti (Makrand Deshpande) overpowering gangsters, and more flashbacks to Chief Rana (Sikandar Kher) terrorizing Kid (Patel)’s mother. Those are good but unnecessary. Less is more with Shakti and we see most of the weight of the mother’s death with Kid in the present.
An eight minute training montage also delves deeper into the specific politics of India with regards to the trans women in the village.
Behind the scenes features go through the pandemic issues during shooting, changing choreographers, being dropped by Netflix (though the streaming service is not named) and picked up by Jordan Peele and Universal. Behind the scenes in the choreography reveals Patel broke his hand and kept filming the bathroom fight.