Kill — John Wick without guns or suits
Post-interval, the audience was hooting and cheering at every killing
History of action in Indian cinema
Indian movies never had realistic action choreography, except for some recent movies starring Vidyut Jammwal. Even though martial arts have been used by some actors (Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Vidyut Jammwal come to mind), the main purpose of action sequences was mainly to create and uphold the god-like brand image of the movie star. Slow walk, dust flying around, slow motion punch that sets a bunch of goons flying away, and many more stylized sequences made for an amusing watch but felt superficial. Over the years the visuals and action choreography have improved, but it still holds on to the stereotypes and formulaic tropes and hence fails to deliver a nail-biting edge-of-the-seat intense engaging experience that one expects from an action sequence. Vidyut Jammwal has done some commendable work in his Commando and Khuda Haafiz movie series to serve us these experiences, but the overall movie's quality dampened the effect.
This is why the movie I watched a few days ago feels like a landmark action film in the Indian film industry. It serves the euphoria that hard-core action genre fans want, with a familiar but fresh take on violence and action choreography, pushing the limits of one’s imagination, yet packaged under a boring title, “Kill”.
How we watched it
We liked the trailer of Kill, it was intriguing. But the hype of the movie Kalki 2898 AD got the better of us and we watched that movie last weekend. The next two weekends were already planned for other commitments. We decided to maybe watch Kill on OTT whenever it comes. But overwhelmingly positive reviews from my wife’s colleagues and our favorite YouTube movie reviewers (and many American YouTubers) ensured that we watched this movie on a weekday after office. We both left the office early and fortunately made it to the cinema hall ten minutes before the 7:55 pm show. After the movie, we felt the satisfaction that helped us get over the disappointment of Kalki 2898 AD.
Why Kill feels different
Indian kids born in the 80s and 90s, who are the main audience of this gory action flick, have many fond memories of train travel during their childhood. This movie can wipe out the nostalgia and happy memories with the gruesome action sequences such as smashing someone’s face against the washbasin again and again with intense fury. The victim doesn’t survive (obviously), nor does our innocence. You can’t unsee the brutal (and creative) ways in which the hero kills each member of the gang of dacoits inside the fast-moving passenger train, often amidst the passengers.
The movie is structured in an interesting manner such that it keeps getting more intense. It spends little time on setting up the story or characters, it gets into action quicker than any film I’ve seen. It is during the breaks between the action scenes that the characters are explored and the story moves forward, which helps the audience also get a break so that they may enjoy the next action sequences. The movie surprisingly scares at some points — before the interval for the lives of passengers, and after the interval for the lives of the dacoits. No scene is wasted and the emotional triggers for the hero (and the audience) are sensibly positioned in the movie. The movie takes you on a euphoric ride but ensures you return to normalcy by ending the movie on a calm note.
Favorite scene: The one in which the dacoits walk in terror through one bogie without any passengers while on their way to find and kill the hero. Why were they terrified, you’ll have to watch the movie to find out.
Fun fact: The production house that made the John Wick franchise has bought the rights to the Hollywood remake of this movie. The low box office earnings of this movie in its first week indicate that perhaps this Hollywood deal might have paid the producers more than the lifetime box office collection of this movie. I hope the Hollywood folks give the remake a better title.
Conclusion: A must-watch on the big screen
Overall a splendid cinematic experience. The audience went wild with hooting and cheering at every kill post-interval, something I’d never experienced. The last time I remember such energy in the cinema hall was while watching KGF-2. A dream come true for every action genre-loving person. Book your tickets now, or else you’ll regret it when you watch it on Disney+ Hotstar a few months later.
