Jordan Peele has unveiled the trailer for an action-packed new movie called Monkey Man, written and directed by Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame.
Filled with hair-raising fight sequences reminiscent of John Wick, the trailer follows the story of a fight club brawler in an Indian metropolis hell-bent on vengeance.
Dev stars as the Kid, a poor man from the countryside who worms his way into the urban elite in order to avenge his mother’s death.
The story is shot through with iconography from Hindu scripture, centering especially on the widely worshipped figure of Hanuman.
An earthly incarnation of the god Shiva – the destroyer – Hanuman is half man and half monkey, a supernaturally powerful figure who appears in the classic epic The Ramayana in the war against the demon-king Ravan and his army.
Jordan Peele has unveiled the trailer for an action-packed new movie called Monkey Man, written and directed by Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame
Filled with hair-raising fight sequences reminiscent of John Wick, the trailer follows the story of a fight club brawler in an Indian metropolis hell-bent on vengeance
Dev stars as the Kid, a poor man from the countryside who worms his way into the urban elite in order to avenge his mother’s death
The story is shot through with iconography from Hindu scripture, centering especially on the widely worshipped figure of Hanuman
An earthly incarnation of the god Shiva – the destroyer – Hanuman is half man and half monkey, a supernaturally powerful figure who appears in the classic epic The Ramayana
Early in the trailer, hints appear of the Kid’s traumatic childhood, as gun-toting men storm his village and set it ablaze as his mother screams.
Flashes of artwork showing Hanuman briefly appear on the screen as the adult Kid’s voiceover narration sets the stage for the action.
‘When I was a boy, my mother used to tell me a story of a demon-king and his army,’ Dev’s voice intones over the mysterious opening footage.
An urban elite man swathed in a white kurta and matching shawl appears, with a phalanx of soldiers and a thug enforcer – clearly the villains of the picture.
‘They brought fire and terror to the land, until they faced the protector of the people – the White Monkey,’ the Kid goes on.
He is seen, musclebound and shirtless and covered in sweat, training for one of the fights presumably in his underground fight club.
The Kid faces off against grisly opponents in the no-holds-barred fights, including one who can be glimpsed swinging a mace at his head.
When he steps into the ring, the Kid channels the deity his mother told him about, concealing his face behind a giant monkey mask.
Early in the trailer, hints appear of the Kid’s traumatic childhood, as gun-toting men storm his village and set it ablaze as his mother screams
Flashes of artwork showing Hanuman briefly appear on the screen as the adult Kid’s voiceover narration sets the stage for the action
‘When I was a boy, my mother used to tell me a story of a demon-king and his army,’ Dev’s voice intones over the mysterious opening footage
An urban elite man swathed in a white kurta and appears, with a phalanx of soldiers and a thug enforcer – clearly the villains of the picture
‘They brought fire and terror to the land, until they faced the protector of the people – the White Monkey,’ the Kid goes on
He is seen, musclebound and shirtless and covered in sweat, training for one of the fights presumably in his underground fight club
The Kid faces off against grisly opponents in the no-holds-barred fights, including one who can be glimpsed swinging a mace at his head
When he steps into the ring, the Kid channels the deity his mother told him about, concealing his face behind a giant monkey mask
Surfacing from his life in the poorest environs in town, the Kid secures himself a string of menial jobs in a nightclub with a tawdry underbelly.
‘Give me the job no one wants to do, and I’ll do it,’ he vows, plunging into a regimen that includes scrubbing floors and washing away vomit.
‘In this city, the rich don’t see us as people,’ he explains, over a clip of the villain in a luxury car weaving through a crowd of hoi polloi knocking at his window.
The audience gets a few peeks into the shady underworld of the club, as one man gets his face smashed into an ashtray.
A line of girls is assembled for the delectation of the men, and as one of them informs the Kid: ‘This is not the place to work if you can’t handle that sort of stuff.’
‘Everyday, I’ve prayed for a way to protect the weak,’ says the Kid over an evocative shot of the skyscrapers looming over the slums.
He finds a man who can get him a car, only to learn the vehicle in question is an auto-rickshaw named after Nicki Minaj for its ‘big bumper’ and ‘nice headlights.’
With his trusty new auto, the Kid plunges into a string of blood-pumping fight sequences against a series of fearsome enemies.
Surfacing from his life in the poorest environs in town, the Kid secures himself a string of menial jobs in a nightclub with a tawdry underbelly
‘Give me the job no one wants to do, and I’ll do it,’ he vows, plunging into a regimen that includes scrubbing floors and washing away vomit
‘In this city, the rich don’t see us as people,’ he explains, over a clip of the villain in a luxury car weaving through a crowd of hoi polloi knocking at his window
A line of girls is assembled for the delectation of the men, and as one of them informs the Kid: ‘This is not the place to work if you can’t handle that sort of stuff’
‘Everyday, I’ve prayed for a way to protect the weak,’ says the Kid
He finds a man who can get him a car, only to learn the vehicle in question is an auto-rickshaw named after Nicki Minaj for its ‘big bumper’ and ‘nice headlights’
With his trusty new auto, the Kid plunges into a string of blood-pumping fight sequences against a series of fearsome enemies
Monkey Man used to be a Netflix project, but was snapped up by Jordan Peele, whose Monkeypaw productions is now releasing it in movie theaters
The movie marks Dev’s first time directing a feature film, coming six years after he helmed a short film called Home Shopper starring Armie Hammer
Monkey Man used to be a Netflix project, but was snapped up by Jordan Peele, whose Monkeypaw productions is now releasing it in movie theaters in collaboration with Universal Pictures on April 5.
The movie marks Dev’s first time directing a feature film, coming six years after he helmed a short film called Home Shopper starring Armie Hammer.
In flirting with Hindu iconography, the movie risks provoking controversy in India, where a Hindu nationalist party is currently in government and irreverence toward the majority religion has become an increasingly fraught topic.
Last year, outrage mounted online over Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer because a Hindu holy text, the Bhavagad Gita, is quoted in a sex scene.
In May, a furor erupted over the actress Deepika Padukone wearing an orange bikini in a sexpot musical number called Besharam Rang (Shameless Color), inasmuch as saffron is regarded in Hinduism as a sacred color.
