OK. That's a weird title for a post but I swear it is not what it sounds like. This will not be a guide on how to kill, it is simply a review of the Bollywood action movie Kill starring Lakshya and Raghav Juyal.
I have wanted to see this movie ever since I saw the trailer in the theater a couple of years ago. Although the trailer looked cool, there was one quote from a reviewer flashed on the screen that made it a must see. The quote read "... The Raid... on a train". That was it. I was convinced I had to see it. For the uninitiated, The Raid is one of the best and most influential action movies of all time. Without The Raid, there would be no John Wick. So as soon as I heard of the possibility of The Raid on a train, I had no choice but to see Kill.
I don't recall Kill being in the theater very long and I kind of forgot about it until I was scrolling through Hulu and I found it. I immediately grabbed my son and we sat down to watch. He had never heard of the movie. I said, "It's supposed to be The Raid on a train" and he dropped everything and sat down to watch.
Although it was nowhere near as good as the Raid (very little could be) we were both highly entertained.
Without giving away spoilers... although that would be hard as the plot is only there to give an excuse for guys to fight on a train, the story centers around a rich girl ,names Tulika, whose father is forcing her to marry someone she does not love. And it would be impossible for Tulika to love any man her father picked because she is already in love with Amrit... who happens to be an elite commando in the special forces. Tulika and her extremely rich family board a train (to somewhere to do something... don't ask me what, I have no idea)) with one body guard. Amrit and his fellow commando and best friend Virat also board the train (to somewhere to do something). While on board, bandits (comprised of 40 something members of an extended family) decide to hold up the train and robbed all of the passengers of their belongings. Its pretty simple until the baddest of the baddies, Fani, discovers that a super rich family i son the train. Fani wants to kidnap them. This attempt sets in motion a 90 minute action sequence that almost never lets up.
So here are the similarities between Kill and The Raid. There is a very basic set up and then nearly non-stop action. Much of this action is intense hand to hand combat. Both seem to take place in the same universe of John Wick, Nobody, and The Raid where concussions do not exist and people can take unbelievable damage and just get right back up.
Those are some pretty great similarities there. Unfortunately, the fight sequence choreography in Kill is nowhere near as good as The Raid or John Wick. Don't get me wrong, the fight sequences are better than about 80% of what is out there, but it is no The Raid. And that is OK. The Raid and John Wick are the absolute pinnacle of fight sequence choreography. Very little will ever reach that level. So being a notch or two below the best is still something to be proud of. Kill is just that. It is a mere one or two notches below The Raid. And this level means it is freaking awesome to watch!
At times the violence gets a little too brutal for me. There were times when I had to hold up my hand to cover the screen as a character delivered a fatality. But the movie is absolutely so ridiculous (in the most delicious way) that the violence took on a completely unrealistic and cartoonish quality. I mean that as a compliment as I am not into body horror movies. This over the top gore occurs despite the fact that the main character Amrit spends the first 48 minutes of the movie trying really hard not to kill any of the bandits. But at 48 minutes, that all ends and it becomes a kill-fest.
Although I truly enjoyed this movie, it would have been better with elite fight choreography. But there is great news! Apparently the team behind John Wick has bought the rights to remake Kill. I cannot wait to see what that team can do with this concept! Until then, if you like action, go watch Kill.
