Kill-Fist (2022) Movie Review – A below-average Malaysian thriller
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Loading... - Qian Huang
- 01 Sep 2022
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A below-average Malaysian thriller
There have been a number of big movies depicting a deadly game played in exchange for money or a big prize. In 2019 we had Escape Room. 2016 saw us graced with Nerve, a neon-drenched mediocre thriller. Further back you’ll find the psychologically twisted Exam (2009), the craze of the Saw franchise and 1997’s fantastic The Game, to name but a few. The point I’m trying to make here is that this idea of a protagonist thrown into a series of deadly games or fighting for money is nothing new in this space. And that’s, unfortunately, part of the problem with Kill-Fist.
This Malaysian movie essentially combines the plots of both Warrior and Nerve, with a sprinkling of The Game for good measure. The plot is then played out across a rather predictable and rapid 90 minute run-time that fails to live up to expectations.
Our protagonist here is Zhang, a middle-aged man struggling to excel in a crippling economy trying to sell insurance. He’s about to get divorced and he’s losing custody of his daughter Didi too. If that wasn’t enough, Zhang’s misery is compounded by the fact his father is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Talk about a bad break!
Thankfully, Zhang receives an invitation on his computer one night to a strange game called Kill-Fist. The rules are pretty simple. After receiving a parcel with a uniform and a watch inside, Zhang is to show up at an underground parking lot, fight a combatant, knock them out and sync their watches to progress on. Winners gain money, losers gain a black eye, and the higher ranked fights coming against much more skilled combatants. Read More...
