Kill review

Image Source: IMDb.com

Movie: Kill

Production Company: Dharma Productions, Sikhya Entertainment

Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Producers: Raunaq Bajaj, Prasanna R. Coondapur, Aiya Curmally

Main Cast: Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Tanya Maniktala, Abhishek Chauhan

Release Date: 5th July 2024

Running Time: 115 minutes

Certificate: 18

Introduction: This extraordinary Hindi actioner is one of the most spectacular and bone crunching displays of violence in cinematic history – and it is not for the squeamish.

Synopsis: A pair of army commandos must survive and defeat a train full of thieves and bandits.

Analysis: Bones are broken; skulls are beaten; faces are smashed; body parts sliced and diced and fire extinguishers used to turn heads into piles of slush. ‘Kill’ has more than earned it’s place among the best action films ever made and should (hopefully) bring Indian action cinema into the spotlight. Despite going unashamedly full throttle for almost the whole entirety, the film still remembers to relish in recognizable and cheesy Bollywood aesthetics; overdramatic uses of music and slow motion shots.

You are pulled into a false sense of security as beginning plays out like a schmaltzy rom – com and then descends into an unforgettable bloodbath later on. The balance is well done and it is if there are two films within one. Various types of weaponry are used to splattery and flinch inducing effect, made even more effective by the best sound design I’ve ever heard within this genre; you can feel every single punch ferociously land. The choreography proved to be everything I hoped it would be. The soundtrack consists of a thumping electronic score that elevates the action which I gleefully grinned at all the way through. Very rarely have I been this enthralled by fight scenes.

Every time yet another fight would break out, I braced (both excitedly and nervously) for where and how far the film would dare to go; this is now on par with the goriest piece of action I have ever seen, rivalling Netflix’s ‘The Night Comes for Us’ which achieved such a nasty level that it may well have been a horror in disguise. In terms of how you could pitch this to a mainstream crowd, I would confidently describe this as ‘Bullet Train’ meets ‘The Raid’; the only difference being that this somehow has more splatter than the latter (which was already one of the bloodiest action flicks of all time).

The film uses it claustrophobic setting to absolute perfection with each set piece outdoing the one before, knowing exactly how to utilize what it has got. The worse the scenario and situation our hero finds themself in, the better entertainment it makes and it knows it. As a diehard fan of action and martial arts cinema, this is everything I want. ‘Kill’ eats most mainstream choices for breakfast; an wildly enjoyable and staggering well executed balls to the wall offering. Bring me more.

In cinemas now.

Overall Rating: 10/10 – Perfect

Target Audience: 18+

Content Warning: strong bloody violence, injury detail

Recommendation: Yes