KILL ORDER (2017)

Studio:       Raven Banner
Director:    James Mark
Writer:       James Mark
Producer:  Byron Kent Wong
Stars:     Chris Mark, Daniel Park, Denis Akiyama, Melee Hutton, Jessica Clement, Jason Gosbee, Reuben Langdon

Review Score:

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Summary:

Uncanny abilities awaken within a haunted high school student targeted for assassination by a mysterious organization.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

David Lee wakes from a recurring nightmare in which he kills several people in a laboratory setting to confront a vision of a demonic figure. Phrases including “remember the pain” and “you have no name, only purpose” echo in David’s memories. David’s concerned uncle administers an injection to calm David down.

David attends school at William Nicolas Academy with his romantic interest May. Armed tactical soldiers suddenly burst into the classroom demanding that teacher Mr. Henderson point out David. Instinctively, David’s eyes glow blue and he begins using martial arts to take out the soldiers after an internal voice instructs him to kill. David then flees the building.

Agent Collins arrives at the scene. He lies to Mr. Henderson that David escaped from a psychiatric facility one year earlier and he has been tracking him ever since. Mr. Henderson informs Collins and his men in black that David lives with his uncle.

Collins reports his findings to Yin. When Collins cryptically asks about “the organization,” Yin merely insists that Collins “stick to the plan.”

In a meeting with potential partners at Saisei Corporation headquarters, chief executive Shiro Fujitaka discusses a new energy source capable of replacing contemporary technology and revolutionizing the world. Fujitaka’s assistant Mr. Cross interrupts to report on David and inform him that ‘Initiative B’ is about to be executed. Fujitaka laments that Collins was not meant to know about their operation at the school and instructs Cross to keep an eye on Collins.

David finds his uncle at a grocery store. More men in black follow David. Before getting captured, David’s uncle instructs David to run back to the apartment as fast as possible.

David retrieves items from a hidden wall panel in his apartment when a swordsman suddenly attacks. David’s eyes glow, he sees another vision of the fiery figure, and a slit wound in his hand miraculously heals as David fights back and kills the assailant.

David escapes outside with men in black in pursuit. David falls unconscious out of their sightline and experiences a flashback. In it, he hears a scientist discussing reprogramming David because his ability to draw spirit energy into his adrenal glands doesn’t respond to the same trigger as others like him.

David remembers someone named Dr. Jenkins in a second flashback. In this memory, David is forced to reiterate that he has no name and his only purpose is to serve. Dr. Jenkins is shocked when David asks her what love is.

After recovering, David watches the video he took from the wall panel. In it, David’s uncle confesses that he is actually Dr. Andre Chen, a geneticist who worked on a secret research project that allows people to draw energy from alternate worlds into their own bodies. Chen reveals that his organization used teen orphans like David as test subjects and that Dr. Jenkins erased their memories. An additional voice note recorded by Jenkins adds that the program’s side effects were horrible, and David didn’t take to it like the other subjects did.

David goes to meet May in a park. David and May are forced to flee when another assassin arrives and begins shooting bystanders to get to David.

Although distracted by another vision of the burning demon, David defeats the assassin in hand-to-hand combat in a forest clearing. Two additional assassins arrive to continue the confrontation. David comes close to defeat until his eyes glow and he unleashes a destructive surge of aggression that takes down the other two opponents. May is able to snap David out of his trance.

Cross reports to Fujitaka that Initiative B failed. Fujitaka asks to see Yin.

Collins observes as Yin activates an empowered assassin like David and commands him to kill four men in a laboratory room. Fujitaka and Cross arrive to confront Yin and Collins. Fujitaka demands to know what Collins was doing at the high school. Yin responds that he didn’t feel the need to inform him. Fujitaka reminds Yin that his one purpose is to serve their organization.

Fujitaka also demands proof of Yin’s claim that his energy alone is sufficient to power the test subjects. Yin demonstrates his control over Subject #2, who can draw finite amounts of spirit world power. Fujitaka is upset to discover that he wasn’t informed of Yin’s experiments.

May and David retreat to David’s apartment. Assault rifle fire from outside suddenly kills May. Soldiers gas the room and infiltrate. David begins killing the intruders, but ends up captured by Subject #2.

A flashback shows Dr. Jenkins allowing David to have a name, for which she was severely reprimanded.

David wakes restrained to a chair opposite Dr. Chen in the research facility. Yin enters to torture Dr. Chen in front of David. Yin demands that Chen reveal the codes for the ‘Meza Project.’ When Chen refuses, Yin executes him.

Fujitaka instructs Cross to burn everything down to destroy the evidence. Fujitaka also expresses that they have everything they need to begin ‘Phase 2.’

David is given shock treatment. In an unconscious vision, David faces a mirror image of himself. Although David expresses his desire to love, his aggressive double convinces him to take revenge for his suffering. The two figures embrace. Repowered, David wakes and begins killing attendants.

As Collins leaves the facility with Yin, armed men working for Fujitaka arrive to take them into custody. Yin’s eyes glow yellow. He then cuts everyone down at lightning speed using his cane sword.

David fights his way through the facility before confronting Subject #2. A flashback shows David that the fiery demon was Dr. Jenkins, whom the organization disguised to trick David into killing her. Dr. Jenkins used her dying words to tell David she loved him. His vengeance renewed, David kills Subject #2.

Fujitaka has a conference with five anonymous superiors of the organization. One of the superiors asks about ‘Mezameru,’ adding that progress has slowed since the loss of Yang. Fujitaka responds that Phase 1 was successful and he is about to proceed with Phase 2. The group speaks cryptically about Yin.

Cross reports to Fujitaka that the facility was wiped out, but they did not find Yin. Cross shows Fujitaka footage of David taking down operatives using his powers. Fujitaka comments that ‘Yang’ has awakened.

From a distance, David watches as the facility burns. David’s eyes glow blue.

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Review:

I’m not sure if the filmmakers want all of the following info to become common knowledge.  However, context is important for calibrating expectations before going into their movie.

“Kill Order” is essentially a passion project from brothers James and Chris Mark.  Seeking to trade his extensive stunt performance experience for a turn in the director’s chair, James made a crowdfunding appeal in 2013.  Called “Genetix” at the time, the project had its star set in James’ brother Chris, whose martial arts enthusiasm and abilities are rivaled only by his older sibling’s.  Sadly, “Genetix” garnered less than 10% of its goal, necessitating a return to the drawing board for retooling.

The project reemerged in 2015 with the title “Meza.”  2016 saw the finished film shopped around at AFM and, under its new name “Kill Order,” the movie had its public premiere at 2017’s Blood in the Snow film festival.

Perhaps by virtue of struggling to come to fruition at all, “Kill Order” turns out to be a high energy, stunt filled, nearly nonstop action film filled almost entirely with fights and very little filler.  But the important thing to accept is that we’re dealing with a homegrown effort afforded only a fraction of the resources of something such as “The Raid.”  So even though acting is iffy and the inessential plot is holier than Pope John Paul, if we take unreasonable expectations out of the equation to evaluate the movie on its own low-budget terms, “Kill Order” becomes a surprisingly solid, no frills fight flick.

David Lee seems like a stereotypically moody teenager, but his troubled past hides a haunted history involving a shadowy group’s secret experiment to create super-powered assassins.  When assorted soldiers and swordsmen burst into David’s high school to bring him back into their fold, his amnesia steps aside to unleash otherworldly physical abilities, and a battle over David’s identity begins.

If you need much more story than that, you’d better be able to replace vagueness with your own imaginative ideas.  “Kill Order” creates the kind of cryptically conceived setup where dialogue involves a mystery man behind a limousine’s tinted window telling a man in black to “stick to the plan” while the MIB asks, “what about the organization?”  Why would “Kill Order” flesh its fiction further than this when its greater goals lie in kicking, punching, and throwing people through walls?  Hopefully that’s where your interests lie too.

While many men and women go through said walls, rappel off bridges, and break plenty of additional scenery to boot, there aren’t any setpieces so memorable that jaws hit the floor.  More balletic than brutal, the live-action anime feel spars against a low-budget look whose CGI additions show their economy often.  And again, even though the stuntmen and stuntwomen are exceptionally athletic and suitably skilled at their stagecraft, viewers do have to get past the fact that these average-appearance actors don’t have that movie-star sheen you’ll see on stuntpeople in “Fast and the Furious” for instance.

“Kill Order” may double as a demo reel to show off what this cast and crew could be capable of given greater opportunities, yet their movie still packs in plenty of kick-and-punch eye candy entertainment.  Despite its filmed martial arts exhibition feel, “Kill Order’s” creators clearly know how to frame shots, edit for energy, and maintain momentum through singular fight scenes.  That alone is more than can be said for many big studio epics with cameras so tight and cuts so quick, no one can clearly see what is going on.

“Kill Order” has so little to it that to tell the truth, I let my screening notes sit over an extended holiday break and have been fighting to recall basic details while writing the above only a few days later.  But the film also has a great deal of independent filmmaking spirit and engaging visual violence to satisfy forgiving fans of quality martial arts action.

I can’t stress enough how your anticipation meter requires a precise setting.  You also don’t want to challenge the script with logic questions like, why is the hitman pursuing David with a silenced pistol such a lousy assassin that he shoots six bystanders barely in the way or, how come no one thought to post guards at David’s apartment when wondering where he went?  Simply settle in for a fast 77 minutes, six of which are end credits, and appreciate the ambition as well as the energy.

Review Score:  60

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