When it comes to self-mythologizing vanity projects: Action Movie Division, even Sylvester Stallone takes a back seat to Dev Patel who not only stars, but writes, directs, produces and sweats his way thru loads of ‘wife-beater tees. (First ripping them apart to expose a fit hirsute bod for ladies in the film to ogle.) With government & military goons oppressing ‘the people’ (we know they’re bad since they mow down kids at a puppet show . . . they even mow down the puppets!), Patel lives out tales his mother read to him as a child about the legendary monkey-man of justice Hanuman in his own one-against-a-thousand martial arts battles; fashioned in the usual ‘Macbeth Action sequence’ style (full of sound and fury, signifying nothing*). Eventually confronting the officer he witnessed raping, then murdering his mother; and then in face-to-face conflict against the philosophically inclined Head of State. He takes a nail to the palm just in case you haven’t caught on to Patel’s Chosen One indulgences. Or whatever he’d be called in the Indian folkloric elements the film uses. Credit Patel with bringing this in at a price (he works cheap when it’s his own project!) and then finding an audience for it. But a depressing success.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *One odd touch in his fights possibly counts as original with Patel regularly using his mighty choppers (big, white, strong) not only to bite off facial features, but to twist short-bladed knives into the jugular. Yikes!
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