Nerdly » ‘Kitty the Killer’ Review

16th May2024

‘Kitty the Killer’ Review

by Alain Elliott

Stars: Ploypailin Thangprapaporn, Denkhun Ngamnet, Somchai Kemglad, Nara Aniwat, Sutina Laoamnuaichai, Vithaya Pansringarm, Keetapat Pongrue | Written by Sorawi Alapach, Teerat Vanavongtanate | Directed by Lee Thongkham

I can’t say I have a vast knowledge, or much knowledge at all of Thai action films, but I was excited to check this latest one out – Kitty the Killer.

Now, of course, action movies have never gone away. They’ve been around forever but it feels like ever since John Wick, the revenge action film has been more popular than ever, and therefore, more and more are getting made. And Kitty the Killer has some similarities with John Wick and plenty of other popular action movies.

There is a revenge story here (although no dog this time), and there is a ‘Guardian’ of the killer (or killers) – another thing that has been popularized lately, see Killing Eve, The Kingsman, etc., and there are plenty of fight scenes.

The action and fight scenes are definitely a highlight, as they should be in this type of movie, and there are plenty of them. Although most of them are in the first and last sections of the movie. Featuring guns and swords and plenty of blood; there are decapitations, swords through body parts and bodies flying everywhere. The final twenty minutes or so delivers several fights that have been built up throughout the movie and none of them disappoint.

Kitty the Killer is separated into chapters, and each chapter almost feels like a different movie… but in a good way! They are clear points where the story takes a different direction, or where the filmmakers wanted to show the viewer something new. But it is still very clear how it is all connected. This is not really a confusing story.

There is some entertainment to be had in the storytelling too. I enjoyed the transformation of the new ‘Grey Fox’. The use of a montage just about worked, even with the more sillier elements of the script. And this is not the only part of the movie that gets a bit silly, Kitty the Killer doesn’t always take itself very seriously – maybe with a title like that I shouldn’t be surprised. That said, it does create drama very well, even if I would have liked the build to that scene given a bit more time. This is a shame because the film may go on a bit too long at just under two hours. It did feel like there was a bit of filler in the middle that could not have been included and nothing much would have changed.

The main problem with Kitty the Killer is that it’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. There’s nothing much here that you won’t have seen before in the many action films of the last ten years or so. Despite some haircuts and wardrobe choices that maybe try too hard, none of them stick out and the characters are a little bit generic and stereotypical. As I mentioned before, the action is entertaining but you will have seen it all before.

Are you a fan of action movies? Then you’ll no doubt enjoy this. Unfortunately, there’s just not much new here to get overly excited about.