I’ve been a fan of films set in India for a while now. Sometimes, they are Bollywood movies, and other times, their films are made by Hollywood studios like Searchlight Studios and so forth. Monkey Man from Dev Patel was an action-set Indian film produced by Jordan Peele and distributed by Universal Pictures, for instance.  RRR, another Indian action film, was a Netflix movie. There are different ways to get a film seen by audiences. The latest Indian film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, and it is going wide on the 5th of July distributed by Lionsgate Films is called Kill. It’s another balls-to-the-walls action film.

An Indian military commando Captain Amirit Rathod (Lakshya) and his partner are on a train bound for New Delhi with their family and friends. While they are on the journey, a group of invading bandits take over the train. They rob, harass, and beat some of the passengers. In one instance, they go overboard as they stab and kill one of the commandos’ loved ones. This sets him off on a blood-filled rage for revenge. He won’t stop until he gets his vengeance on those responsible. 

While on his quest for revenge, the military commando thinks about a woman who he loves. The thoughts are imagined in the form of flashbacks. These flashbacks fuel his last to keep moving on under incredible odds. The invading bandits have knives, guns, chains, and other assorted weapons that tear through his flesh, which causes him to bleed profusely and harm many of the other passengers. These guys are vicious nasty characters. 

Part of why this is such an exciting action movie is that it’s set on a train. Yes, other action films or dramas have been set on trains such as Bullet Train or Snowpiecer, for example. Trains provide close quarters that allow for interesting fight scenes. This train has doors that separate the coaches and beds, and the living quarters make it hard to move. These quarters create some amazing fight sequences, which are the heart of the film.

I’ve seen my share of revenge thrillers, and this one is a bit different than others. The main character has an innocence of him. He truly loved his family and his finances. This love is a weakness in a way, but in other ways, it makes him stronger than anybody he knows. He brings up everything that has happened on the train and uses it to make himself mentally and physically impenetrable.  That’s how he faces this overwhelming situation. 

In recent years there have been a lot of revenge films. John Wick comes to mind as the standard bearer for this subgenre of action film. Kill has heart, and once the story starts to unfold you as a viewer, start to care about the circumstances of what is happening to the main character and the other passengers on the train. That’s the crux of the story. Even though I didn’t know these people, I felt bad about what they were going through at this time. Which makes all the killing and spillage of blood justifiable. It didn’t bother me at all. 

Kill is a very good revenge-filled action movie. The lead has a lot of love in his heart, and the flashbacks show that. The tight quarters provided some amazing action-fight sequences. Plenty of blood and guts were spilled throughout this revenge thriller.  As a revenge thriller, it’s pretty good. The main character is one that will grow on you as the movie progresses. He has a genuine reason for doing what he’s doing and I for one didn’t mind if every bandit on the train was killed. This film was well worth the time I spent on watching it and hope it is for others as well.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen