IR Film Review: THEY WILL KILL YOU [New Line Cinema/Warner Bros.]
The aspect of homage pictures whether paying kudos to "Kill Bill" like "Pretty Lethal" did or building against the snares of the devil like a number of other films recently, the issue in doing style for style's sake with a lack of stakes (even though they try to build one in) becomes flat the longer the scenery chewing continues on. With "They Will Kill You", the movie starts off with a prologue meant to establish what Asia Reeves (Zazie Beetz) is fighting for. The trailer for this movie was bonkers and pretty much only teased the first twenty minutes which is a good trick. But the reasoning for the residents of their situation is never quite given the mythology it should given that Barbara and Andy Muschietti were shepherding this. Beetz as Asia is a force to be reckoned with simply for her prowess as we see but again and again but the heightened gore plays to a certain tone. Heather Graham and Tom Felton as residents up the camp with their different personalities as much as they can (to fairly good avail). Patricia Arquette as Lilly, the madame of the house, as it were, gives some of the idea depth but, unlike John Wick, it seems like a concept that was built around some good set pieces and not necessary an uber solid foundation. "Ready Or Not" does something similar in a way with both its original and the sequel but with much more panache and something more vivid underneath. As one ballroom sequence here seems to show, it is just the effects people looking at it and saying "That looks cool" more than "This pushes and enhances the story". Granted the resolution makes a lot of sense and the bedlam is fun...but at a certain point it comes off like noise.
The hotel/building (The Virgil) seems to originallyu have been based on the seven levels of hell but besides alluding to one level while just teasing it, there is not a sense of the journey up and down like there should be. Asia just wants to save her sister Maria whom she abandoned per se 10 years earlier...and Maria has a reason for being there. And while there is all kinds of symbolism, none of it really sticks. The best parts of the film is when stylistically it becomes ensconced in catacombs with the visuals adjusting to that in an interesting way, which makes one think more of certain stylistic choices in "Hellraiser" than anything else. Asia is an absolute monster with the bloodletting but unlike say Alice in Resident Evil, it doesn't quite mean anything. There are references to Samurai and the Phoenix and while that has its point, it never seems really earned. The jump for Asia in ten years is sort of explained away. The most interesting aspect only spoke of in one scene along with some interesting photos is the life of Lily and her husband Paterson Joseph and the times they lived through with the building. That sounds like a fascinating story and perhaps one for the small screen if this film is successful. But "They Will Kill You" is a little too on-the-nose. Kirill Sokolov directs with a certain kineticism and eye that is vivid and the film was shot in Cape Town (even though it is all interiors) but it does have that world built within a world quality that feels lived in. And yet for a story that has existed for ages, there is less empathy than one would think because it seemingly wants to get to the next fight scene. Beetz gets bloodied but her resilience does stretch a lot of credibility and yet the movie itself throws the book out the windows so it needs to be looked at with that eye. "They Will Kill You" has some fun aspects to it and never quite lets up but it also comes off more as a camp outing masquerading as a horror thriller with a bit of levity. C
By Tim Wassberg
