Bollywood's action movie Kill (Good or good?)

Kill is a new Indian action film that is wildly violent, as the name implies.

During a train trip to New Delhi, a pair of commandos face an army of invading bandits. So this might be the first Indian action film I've seen that didn't employ slow-mo, which then also may account for the relatively short runtime of just less than two hours. Now, the premise for this is fairly simple, and the narrative thrusts us into the plot rather quickly.

We meet Amrit and Viresh. They're two captains in the army. They both travel to meet Tulika because Amrit wants to marry her.

Now, as her family is traveling by train within Amrit and Viresh in another section of that train, thieves take over in hopes of scoring big with all of the passengers as valuables. Now, because this is a limited location and close quarters, the action sequences, they're tight and hampered by the physical limitations of the space. But I don't mean hampered in that they aren't good or exciting, it just means that the characters, they don't have much room to throw their punches or maneuver themselves. And this creates a lot of chaos and frenzy.

And while there are a lot of quick cuts during the fights, we also get to see a ton of gnarly, uninterrupted action that is just going to make you wince and or cheer.

We've sort of seen this type of setting before, whether that be in a plane like maybe Air Force One or a train like Snowpiercer. I'll hold unto the action in just a minute. But for the story, the simplicity of it, it's fine, and it works to not overcomplicate the location.

Although, the beginning introductions of the characters and their dynamics, they are woefully rushed and thin. I mean, we have maybe one minute with Amrit and Viresh before switching to this hurried, emotional conversation with Thule. Then the next few scenes are in rapid succession before we get to the train.

Even then, the thieves, they're all rushed into the story as well. I mean, this seriously hampered my connection with the characters for a decent part of the movie, especially with the good guys. I mean, I'm supposed to be concerned for their outcomes or even just connected with them.

But outside of cool action and maybe a couple of charismatic moments, I was just watching a lot of people that I was disconnected from. Now, thankfully, as the story moves along, I did grow connections to some of them, which then made the brutal moments all the more harrowing and investing. Something strange the story does is that at points along the way, the tone comes across like we're supposed to feel sorry for the bad guys when bad things happen to them.

And we get a lot of emotional breakdowns from facets of the thieves. And while I totally get that they could be distraught by seeing friends or family just mowed down, they also chose to get on the train and then rob everybody. Now, the camera would just focus in on these outbursts, and it felt contradictory to a hero or maybe good versus bad story.

Now, there is a point about halfway through the movie that the shifts tone slightly in the action and the motivation of our heroes. But before this happens, we've had some wonderful fights with tons of throat punches, heads being beaten against walls or doors, and then numerous kicks to all sorts of body parts. There are even some bloody moments as people encounter some of the pointy ends of something.

But then, a switch flips and the violence is been cranked up well. We are talking rapid, stabby moments that just alternate between targets. So it's back and forth with three people.

But the one in the middle, they're the one inflicting all of the carnage. It is exhilarating to watch. It's one of those that will make you audibly gasp and then applaud the destructive creativity. Well, Kill, it also features one, and it was just as entertaining and satisfying to witness. I'm shocked at how the camera doesn't shy away from so much of the violence within this.

There are stabs, gouges, punches and smashes that showcase an incredible amount of gore. But somehow it never comes across as gratuitous. Maybe that's just because the first set of large action set pieces, they're not nearly as bloody.

So it warms us up for what's to come and then it unleashes hell. I did mentioned at the start of this that this might be the first Indian action film I've seen that didn't use slow-mo. Well, it also doesn't feature a musical or dance number, even though there is a celebration that could have employed one. And honestly, I don't mind those. I mean, even in the action movies. But here they chose a different path.

It was kind of refreshing to not have one. But that's not to say that they don't use a lot of music within the story to enhance emotion. Just not all of it works as intended.

When we get the brief flashback or maybe quiet moment between Amrit and Thuli, we get a sort of hallmarky score that just plays over all of their scene. It feels chintzy and off. And there's also this point where Amrit is gearing up for something large.

All of the sound just stops. At this point I thought something was happening, but now it seemed more like the music track was just taking a second to load before it jumped into this loud and driving house beat. Now, these are minor things, but they did stand out to me as the movie went along.

So I had a lot of fun with this. The beginning was a rough start and it did take a bit to get invested in the characters. But once we get more time with them, there's an emotional connection that builds, making the drive and their motivation palpable.

The action is frenzied with unflinching savagery, delivering bloodshed and mayhem through tight choreography and amazing stunt work. And while the additional time would be appreciated to develop characters further, the overall passion and rage of the characters makes for a thrilling adventure.

There is no sex or nudity accompanied with the movie. There's a little bit of profanity and then an immense amount of gruesome violence. I'm gonna give Kill 3 and half stars rating.

Images source: IMDB