“Sacrifice and principles my ass!” That’s the level of discourse among bloodthirsty bandits in Kill, whose simple title barely hints at the almost tangible bloodlust its characters and balletic battle invokes. Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, with the help of Snowpiercer action choreographer Se-yeong Oh, pulls out all the stops on this high-speed organ of retribution, but not before establishing something that lesser bloodbaths sometimes ignore: characters.
The central figures here are Amrit (Lakshya) and his would-be fiancée Tulika (Tanya Maniktala). Amrit is an army commando—you know he’s a badass because when he first turns to the camera, an air-guitar worthy flourish embellishes the soundtrack. His beloved is the daughter of a wealthy transit magnate who has arranged that Tulika marries someone she doesn’t love. Not to worry, Amrit has made his own arrangements to meet Tuli on a post-nuptial train bound for New Delhi. The trouble is, a group of three dozen bandits led by the unhinged Fani (Raghav Juyal, a scrawny funhouse mirror image of the hero) are on board this express train, and they are determined to send the young lovers and their rich family to hell.
The film begins mildly enough, with an impressive but relatively low-key battle, and the first act chugs along admirably. But, as such movies like The Raid and Kill ‘Em All go, at a subdued pace, if we’re grading on a curve. But when a pivotal murder occurs around the 45-minute mark, and the title card finally flashes on the screen: watch out!
What happens after that title card, for the last hour of the film, is a series of battle scenes that make the best use of the constrained compartments of a moving train, the brutality keeps escalating; just when you think you’ve hit peak Kill, Bhat turns it up another notch, and viewers whose wont is to vocally participate in action movies are likely to shout and curse at each successive series of kills.
Though it may be years since one has seen The Raid, one may be surprised to hear that advocates of such hyper-violent cinema find Kill isn’t quite on that level of assembly-line flesh-tearing. What makes Kill seem more violent is the pacing and emotional beats, each meted out among a selection of humanity that includes a bevy of supporting cast members, from a nerdy tech guy to a seemingly unkillable strong man. Bhat and his charges go through the physical paces, sure, but they also go through the emotional paces.
What does all this carnage mean? One particularly brutal dispatch (potential spoiler alert) echoes a thematically resonant precursor: Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. Kill operates as more than just a killing machine, but fuels its visceral rancor with colorful heroes and villains, all of whom have had just enough of the other. With all that rancor played out in excruciating combat, it’s fascinating to see the political dynamic at play: the figures in Kill are on opposite sides of the law and also on opposite sides of a deep class divide. Bhat was inspired to make Kill by stories of roving bandits attacking passenger trains in India, and while one doesn’t exactly have to hand it to the bandits, the script does to some extent convey the class resentment that can rise from a slow burn to a devastating conflagration.
Besides the moral and class divide at play, there is also a generational divide in Kill, typified by Fani’s arrogant dismissal of his elder bandit’s belief in sacrifice and principles (the aforementioned “my ass!”). How do our young people handle adversity and conflict? Is it possible for us to acknowledge differences of opinion without resorting to ad hominem attacks? Or does the divisive climate around the world lead to an escalation that’s ever more volatile?
For all its superbly crafted fighting and devilishly inventive altercations, Kill inevitably makes you think. It could have been just another exhausting display of fight choreography, but this is more than just an incredibly gory revenge thriller.
Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions / Lionsgate
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