Kill, 2024.
Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat.
Starring Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Raghav Juyal, Abhishek Chauhan, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Adrija Sinha, Harsh Chhaya, Kashyap Kapoor, Parth Tiwari, Devaang Bagga, Rupesh Kumar Charanpahari, Sahil Gangurde, Priyam Gupta, Vivek Kashyap, Sameer Kumar, Calib Logan, Moses Marton, Avanish Pandey, Shakti Singh, Akshay Vichare, Jitendra Kumar Sharma, and Reyazz.
SYNOPSIS:
During a train trip to New Delhi, a pair of commandos face an army of invading bandits.
The title card for Kill doesn’t drop until around the 45-minute mark, and it’s for a purpose. Don’t worry, though, as there is much visceral, knife-slashing, bone-crunching, close-quarters narrow train hallway action before that graphic. The point is that Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s film (co-written alongside Ayesha Syed) becomes, from that point on, much more personal, with an additional layer of rage, desperation, and fuming emotion radiating from Amrit’s (Lakshya) every physical movement.
Amrit is a special forces commando, which is apparent during the first half of defending this train invaded by thieves but doesn’t compare to the aggression he eventually unleashes. With that in mind, Kill is the rare modern action film that doesn’t peak early but escalates in inventive violence and suspenseful stakes. Its story is simple while also slightly rooted in cultural specificity; his girlfriend Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) is aboard that same train with her father (Harsh Chhaya), who is pushing her into an arranged marriage she doesn’t want. The mission is to prevent that from happening, although this isn’t a story about the ethics of fixed love.
To even say there is a story is a slippery slope in itself. Once the imposing criminals start brandishing their weapons and throwing around their weight, there are clear-cut good and bad guys. Amrit has also brought along his soldier friend Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan) for support in case everything goes haywire, trying to snatch and disappear with Tunika. Instead, his support also comes in the form of cracking skulls.
There were also so many passengers and thieves on this train that keeping track of who is who, where the criminals draw the line, and what is wanted from some of the wealthier individuals aboard becomes a blur. Everyone here appears to be a mother or uncle to someone. Tunika’s younger sister is also kidnapped, and the ruthless leader, Fani (Raghav Juyal), believes that they can make a fortune from using the lovebird as a ransom.
It’s all an excuse for stylish pandemonium, with characters evading and attacking with their hands tied while hopping between train beds, slamming slidable doors onto exposed body parts, fire extinguishers smashing heads in a manner that might make Irreversible blush, blades peeling away skin, and hammers smashing into skulls with the same force as the played up romantic motivations for its heroic lead. There is no question that some will find the damsel in distress approach reductive. Others will bask in the refined and barbaric crowd-pleasing machismo of it all. By now, I’m sure you can tell which camp I’m in, although there is no denying that emotional impact and storytelling are more effective in altering the characters’ physicality and headspace rather than narratively compiling. This is as familiar as action movies get.
Naturally, it adds to the experience that the brawling is superbly cut together, smartly focusing on the impact of each blow or the sight of each fatal wound. Nikhil Nagesh Bhat has enormous creative ideas to utilize the confined space and, for the most part, doesn’t let up on the pleasantly sick carnage (its 105 minutes move along at a breakneck pace.) A dark and brooding score also matches the story’s unblinking ability to get dark where Hollywood blockbusters wouldn’t dare go nowadays. Kill more than lives up to its name; it’s a savage action flick with increasing ferocity and a broad emotional punch to its gruesome knife fights.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
