“Kick On” is the kind of movie you finish watching and immediately want to text someone about because it’s such a fun damn ride.
Director Nick Kozakis knows how to squeeze every bit of tension out of the genre, and if you like your action fast, nasty, and straight to the point, you’re going to love this one.
Eden (Markella Kavenagh) is stuck between looking after her sick sister and going out with her friends (Ras-Samuel, Nikita Chronis, Kaitlyn Boyé), but she eventually gives in to a night of partying. After too many drinks and a brawl at the local bar, the gang heads out in search of harder drugs. This leads them to a sketchy drug den run by Ray (Nikolai Nikolaeff), a volatile mobster’s son who isn’t actually such a bad guy. He’s unpredictable, but there’s enough personality there that you might even find yourself rooting for him. The problem starts when a violent accident leads to an all-out bloodbath. And when Ray’s father shows up to clean up the mess, that changes things considerably.
This movie gets completely crazy with the violence. It’s a combination of “Green Room” and “The Raid” in terms of both story and action. The confined location is turned into a pressure cooker, and there’s a great physicality to the storytelling that will keep action fans happy. Once everything kicks off, there’s barely a moment to catch your breath. Doors become barriers, rooms become traps, and everyone is suddenly trying to figure out who they can and cannot trust.
It’s a great looking movie, too. Slick and polished without ever feeling overly glossy, and production values that make you forget you’re watching indie horror. The visuals are styled with a grimy neon feel, and the clever sound design is the icing on the cake. But the real superstar of the film are the practical effects, which are gnarly, bloody, and wonderfully tactile. There’s none of that weightless CGI splatter that can suck the fun out of a horror movie. Instead, you get gruesome prosthetics, broken bones, shattered glass, and more than a handful of wince-inducing moments.
The stunt work is just as good. The fights are tight and physical, and you can tell the filmmakers put a lot of faith in their stunt team. There’s a real sense of impact to the action as well, which makes the escalating violence all the more entertaining.
There isn’t much to the night-going-from-bad-to-worse story, but I don’t think there to be. You could even say this is a cautionary tale about drugs and bad decisions wrapped in a whole lot of ultra violence. The message is pretty simple: drugs are bad, kids. Just say no.
Bloody, scrappy, surprisingly slick, and a whole lot of fun, “Kick On” is the perfect midnight action movie.
By: Louisa Moore
