Kill (2023) is an unabashedly brutal Indian action flick directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhatt, which delivers exactly what its title promises. The Hindi-language actioner follows Amrit (Lakshya), a commando who plans to rescue his girlfriend Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) from being married against her will. The two lovers meet on a train bound for New Delhi, but when a gang of ruthless, knife-wielding bandits arrive, Amrit must turn into a killing machine.
Expect brain-splattering R-rated kills. For a movie titled Kill, it's hard to focus on anything other than the action. Co-writer and director Nikhil Bhat sets up a somewhat convincing romance between the leads, even though debutant Lakshya's acting might charter some emotionlessly romantic territory. But Lakshya's lock-jawed expressions and physique suit the part when matters turn bloody. The characters might be thinly written, but as a midnight genre fare, Kill has everything that the bloodthirsty audiences for such a film would demand. Knives fly in thin air, toilet bowls become head-crushing devices, and a fire extinguisher pins a bandit to the ground and snuffs him to death.
A technical marvel in claustrophobic action. With Kill essentially playing out as "Die Hard on a moving train," Bhat ambitiously utilizes the claustrophobic confines of an average Indian train — complete with its bunk beds and cramped washrooms — with sadistic results. The on-screen violence treads dangerously close to torture porn territory. Still, cinematographer Rafey Mahmood's 360-degree spins and frequent crash zooms perfectly complement the poetic carnage orchestrated by stunt coordinators Se-Yeong Oh (Snowpiercer, Avengers: Age of Ultron) and Parvez Sheikh (the Bollywood offerings War and Fighter). With epic "boss battles" and Amrit hopping from one train coach to another, Kill flaunts the fluidity of a thrilling side-scroller video game. So, even though the nearly 2-hour duration might get exhausting after a point, the camera tricks and practical stunts are enough to keep the viewer on board this bloody ride.
Kill lacks a little in the emotional department. As for the characters on their own, Raghav Juyal's sleazy antagonist, Fani, is still convincing enough as a khukri knife-wielding agent of chaos. And while Lakshya fits the part, it's hard not to laugh whenever he attempts to smile or act like a lover-boy. He's best when he sticks to hand-to-hand combat. As for his love interest Tulika, Tanya Maniktala — she's sadly reduced to a damsel in distress for most of her runtime. It's exciting to see the train's other civilian passengers occasionally help our Indian Rambo, occasionally steering Kill away from its one-man army routine. But emotional investment isn't this film's greatest strength. Perhaps, if Kill clocked at a crisp 80-minute runtime, the endless punching and stabbing would have felt even more appeasing. But still, for all its shortcomings, Kill can't be ignored as an action genre game-changer, not just in India but globally.
Kill is a no-holds-barred action ride with a relatively simple narrative but creatively impressive stunts and combat. It's easy to compare it with contemporary action trendsetters like The Raid or John Wick, but Kill is a feral beast of its own.
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