Kill

Kill
Starring Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Tanya Maniktala, Abhishek Chauhan
Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Back in 2022, the Hindi film "RRR" revolutionized American cinema, giving audiences a Hindi film unlike any they've ever seen before. Filled with intense action, dazzling effects, a bromance never seen before, and even some singing and dancing (the song "Naatu Naatu" even won the Academy Award for Best Original Song), "RRR" was a spellbinding endeavor and a major hit for Hindi cinema. Since then they've tried to break out again with lackluster results, but "Kill" might be a sleeper hit for the Indian nation. In what seems like a mashup of "John Wick" and "Bullet Train," "Kill" is an intense, fast-paced action spectacle taking place on a train as one man is literally pit against forty in his quest to survive and save the other passengers.

Amrit (Lakshya) is in love with Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), but she's been thrown into an arranged marriage by her wealthy father, and the family gets on a train to go to the wedding. Amit and his fellow commando friend Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan) get on board to try to stop the wedding, but there's other passengers on board as well - a gang of forty thieves led by the ruthless Fani (Raghav Juyal) who intend on robbing everyone on board. When Fani discovers Tulika and her wealthy father, he decides to hold them ransom for more money, leading Amrit on a quest for vengeance as he and Viresh lay waste to the thieves in hopes of saving the passengers and Tulika.

"Kill" is a fun, lively action film that supplies the action, blood and violence in equal measure, while supplying a few surprising twists and turns along the way. It's not a perfect film storywise, but stylistically it's as intense as anything you'll see in American cinema. Taking the confines of a train to new heights, the action is compact and tight, leaving your head dizzying watching all the action take place. It's impressive in its choreography, and the music gives a pulse-pounding intensity to the proceedings.

The performances themselves are alright, but not the film's strong suit. You don't really get to know any of the characters outside the major three, and even they aren't really developed. Amrit is a commando with intense military training who loves Tulika, who exists merely to spur Amrit's violence forward. Fani is the over-the-top villain who thinks he's two steps ahead of anyone and the smartest person in the room, and is overall an annoying character whom you can't wait to see get his comeuppance (no spoiler here, because even though there's some surprises, the film ends in the natural progression).

If there's any real negative aspect of the film, it's that it's a bit too long. At 105 minutes it's a lot shorter than other Hindi films, but there's several moments of lull in the action that began to take me away from the film before hurling me headfirst back into it. Still, despite this, "Kill" is a fun action ride that might not meet "RRR's" historic rise to fame, but is still enjoyable nonetheless.

The Score: A-