Kill Chain (2019)
Storytime with a chain of kills.
Saw another Nic Cage movie today. Figured hey, why not? Surely, with a name like Kill Chain it would have plenty of action in it, and I feel like some good action that I haven’t already done and is readily accessible without needing to drop a bunch of money for it. Now, let’s be honest - it’s a Nic Cage movie. He’s been in some good stuff, but just as many if not more not-so-good things. Set out expectations to low and save some budget for a few shootouts, tonight we look at Kill Chain.
I’ll be honest, I probably could have chosen wiser when it comes to a review context, but this is where we are and this is what we got - even if it ends up feeling a bit stretched out. The first line of things I want to put out there before I go too far into the normal plot process and all is that this is sort of like an incredibly executed anthology flick - so much so that it doesn’t feel like an anthology movie at all. See, the entire thing is made up of individual stories, but they are all interconnected such that each one bleeds directly into the next, as though the main character of one becomes a side character of the next (usually resulting in an extra body count and removal of the old character). I didn’t realize it was going to be this going in, but my penchant to enjoy anthology flicks does make me enjoy that aspect of it slightly better (even if we do a typical start at the end then jump back trope).
So what is the story? Well, we start off with a hotel owner getting a visit from a few hitman. They seem surprised that he’s done such a stupid thing like stay in one place for so long, but he offers them up a story and a few drinks before they go about business. This is when we rewind time and go to what seems to be an unrelated story of a man in the same hotel our first part takes place. We focus on a sniper setting up for a hit, and discovering that someone else is there looking for him. When it seems the other hitman is successful, we follow him as he goes to collect his payment. He grabs himself some diamonds out of a stripped out car, only to be picked up by some police. They seem like they might be a bit crooked, planning on taking his take - so he tries to turn them against each other. His plan does work, but unfortunately for him it isn’t until after he’s already dead. The next character followed is the victorious cop, who shows he’s trying to get some new life action for him and his love interest, but their meeting is cut a bit short by an angry woman and her crew of armed folks. The cop holds them off while the love interest escapes, and where does she escape to but the very hotel we started in.
There’s more story then that, and some final twist-like moments that aren’t really some M. Night style “oh my god I can’t believe it!” moments as much as things that tie all of this together into one chain of events that was mostly all planned out. It’s not the most involved - largely not staying with any one character for all that long, up until we finally rejoin our hotel owner from the start. His is the “wrapper” story that ties it all together, and his is the story that finishes the movie off. Character-wise, there’s a good deal of things that are just gathered about characters from the short time you see them - at least as far as motivations go. I wouldn’t say the characters necessarily have a lot of depth to them - most aren’t around long enough to get much more than a shallow puddle’s worth of establishment anyways. It’s enough for what the movie is pitching - you don’t necessarily get the feeling any of these people are great people, and in turn don’t feel that terrible with what happens to them in a comeuppance sort of way. That said, I don’t think you’ll be doing much of a character study off of this movie.
Could you see he was reloading…
Just because the characters are all pretty one-note doesn’t mean they cant be well acted though, and there’s some pretty decent acting on display here. Yes, at times it isn’t great, but it’s pretty decent for most of it and a few moments where it’s actually quite good. We have a pretty even-leveled performance out of Cage here as well, and although sometimes I really wonder if he picks movies out of a hat for fun, it’s never boring the types of movies you find him in. Not nearly as mind-warping as Mandy or as goofy as Ghost Rider, this one plays it pretty straight and even with its setup. Line deliveries are well done, although I can’t speak for any of the Spanish lines since I’m quite limited in the words I know in Spanish.
The action scenes are… well, they are there. It’s not as thrilling an action movie as one would have thought considering all the hitmen that are in it, but it does enough where it isn’t really boring either. This isn’t really John Wick levels of combat and choreography, but what they give you still looks good enough that it’s not painful. It can be a bit dark (as in lighting), but considering the lack of high-speed action it’s pretty easy to see what’s going on in everything except the car ride scene, where it’s hectic scrambled shooting shot at a longer range - but even then, it’s two dude shooting at each other in a car, so it’s not like there’s much to really witness and be lost by. Most of the effects are limited to the violence-side of things. Impacts are satisfying, and the gore levels remain at a reasonable amount where you shouldn’t find yourself with an upset stomach over people getting shot or stabbed - the only real part of the gore you see is the blood really. Yes, there’s a lot of blood, but it doesn’t feel nearly as graphic as it could have been all considering.
Costumes are nothing spectacular. I don’t mean that in a bad way though - again, when everything is so normal and modern, it’s hard to really make anything stand out in a wow-factor sort of way. The costumes seem fitting for the people they are on, and that’s really about all I can say for that. The audio department does it’s thing, adding to the scenes as it feels fit, and doesn’t really stand out either. That said, it does a good job of making things well balanced, and I didn’t really have any trouble hearing and understanding lines. The sound also helps make any of the action scenes a bit more full-feeling, having a good meat to match the oomph of the effects when they get used.
…or were you too distracted by the woman in the red dress?
Is it the best movie ever? No. Is it one you should go out of your way to watch? Probably debatable. If you like Nic Cage movies, is there worse you could do - certainly. It’s a perfectly serviceable movie, and honestly more so than any other part of it (intentional or not) I enjoyed the feel of anthology type story-telling set in such a single-run smooth way. It doesn’t run longer than it needs to, and it’s title is quite fitting for the movie without ever really needing to state the title in it.