By Connie Lee July 4, 2024
In a summer full of animations, sweeping Sci-Fi's, and horrors with very high promises, Nikhil Bhat's Kill stands out. The shockingly graphic and vicious vengeance flick is reminiscent of some of the most well-loved action movies like Under Siege 2 and Speed, proving that old-school combat and a simplistic storyline can still provide maximum entertainment. It's a very welcome change of pace, and with its energy and courage to go against the current of other recent Hollywood action movies, Kill might end up being the best one this year.
Synopsis
Kill features Lakshya in his first movie role as Amrit, an extremely tough and skilled army commando. When he finds out his significant other, Tulika (played by Tanya Maniktala), has become engaged against her will, he secretly boards a train heading to New Delhi with his closest friend and fellow soldier to try and stop the wedding. The journey for love quickly turns into one for survival when Amrit has to fight against dozens of merciless thieves who take over the train and harm the passengers who get in the way of what they want.
Review
Within the first few minutes of the opening scene, I was taken right back to all the late summer nights I was up watching 80's and 90's action films on local television. Like them, Kill isn't dependent on strong dialogue and exposition or major character development – just pure violence and thrill. But what it does much better than many is carry out a balanced-enough, engaging story to the end without trying too hard. All throughout, it didn't waver in confidence, feel too disjointed, or as if the fight scenes were compensating for very weak writing. It was always sure of itself, and how good the ride was it took viewers on.
Bhat balances out the blood-raging masculinity with raw emotion, and not just with the sticky-sweet flashbacks between Amrit and Tulika. At just the right times, heart-wrenching moments are shown: the protectiveness of a son by his mother, the anger of a father after losing a daughter, and the fear of a young girl alone are just a few examples. These raise the stakes infinitely: Kill isn't just a story about love but also about sacrifice for the greater good. And it's all these moments together that make the cataclysmic violence feel completely justified.
Stating that this one is the bloodiest movies out currently is an overstatement, and that's a good thing. Any more blood would've made it cheesy. Instead, the squeamish levels are ramped up to 100 by heavily leveraging sound with sight. The noises from the cracking of broken bones, the squishiness of blood and innards, and heads splitting open are so intense that they shake you deep into your core. And paired with the visuals, your senses are forced to go into overdrive. It's all painful and cringing to see and hear, but you can't turn away.
The one thing Kill could have benefitted from is being trimmed down just a bit. Though excess is king here, the almost two-hour runtime is a little too long for such a simplistic plot. Within the first 40-45 minutes, it's easy to see where the rest of the story is headed. And because of this, that additional hour or so might feel repetitive or like things weren't tightened up enough for some. If the runtime had been cut down by 10-20 minutes, there still would've been more than enough room to tell the entire story and keep viewers hungry.
Kill is packed with brawny, gritty fun and is something that deserves to be seen in a packed theatre with the largest screen possible. And as for Lakshya and Bhat, the former is an action superstar in the making and I can't wait to see the other deranged masterpieces the latter will cook up in the future.
Star Rating
Kill releases in cinemas July 5
Comments