The Asian Cinema Critic

Lee Thongkham’s assassin action film isn’t a bad origin story – but to what exactly?

“You get girls to do your dirty work?”

In this world where previously existing IPs are mined to within an inch of their lives, it’s always refreshing to see something new and exciting hit the screen. In the west we were so tired of sequels and superhero films that we lapped up John Wick and we’ve seen nothing but imitations ever since. Over in the east, new franchises like The Rundown have been making waves for giving us new protagonists for us to root for, and villains for them to defeat. When I heard of Kitty the Killer, and saw its poppy, bright movie poster I was convinced it was an adaptation – but was pleasantly surprised.

Dina (Ploypailin Thangprapaporn) is an assassin – a Kitty, if you can stomach the term – for a mysterious organisation called The Agency. She’s sent by her handler Keng (Somchai Kemglad) to retrieve from one of their own a mysterious stone. She gets her hands on the stone but the man gets away, and news of this treachery reaches the top brass. Soon, every assassin is looking for Keng. Meanwhile, office worker Charlie (Denkhun Ngamnet) accidentally runs into Keng mid-fight, and Keng chooses him to be his successor as the guardian (or Grey Fox) of these rhyme-named girl assassins.

Kitty the Killer has a lot it needs to get out before it can get going, but never seems to be finished with its exposition. That we never seem to get a very clear picture of the details doesn’t help either, resulting in an experience that is more like playing through the tutorial levels of a video game, while skipping through a lot of the dialogue. I liked a lot of the film, but it never seems to get past its first act, until it throws a final boss at us and then ends the film.

It’s the problem with trying to establish an entirely new world; if you’re not particularly adept at it you can fumble a lot of the basic building blocks, and make big assumptions about what the audience knows based on what you, as the writer, know. So sometimes it feels fleshed out, and other times you get the impression that the writers wanted that vague intriguing world in which the John Wick films exist, but didn’t quite get how that formula works.

In a world saturated with shoot-em-up clones and Indonesian-style murder marathons, this sort of comic book violence and storytelling is a welcome change. Visually it tries its own thing, and while the action is a bit on the samey side, it’s very entertaining throughout. Kitty the Killer delivers on its premise, giving us slick, energetic violence punctuated by some genuinely likeable characters portrayed by charismatic leads. It leans into its comic-book inspirations by replacing random bits of action with animated sequences that set the film apart as its own thing.  

If you’re looking for some edge-of-your-seat action, Kitty the Killer delivers, by and large. There’s a big chunk in the middle of the film that’s dedicated solely to training Charlie, and learning a bit more about the meaning behind the stone. It goes on for a long time, and while I appreciate the attempt to build a world it’s in these moments that the movie shows its cracks. That said, director Lee Thongkham has a vision and succeeds in the bits you can he believes matter. Kitty the Killer has some unique ideas, from the bizarre bacta tank device that cures assassins to those occasional (read: rare) uses of 2D animation. I think with a better script and some tighter editing, Kitty the Killer would have been a really good introduction to a fun new action franchise. If there’s more in the series, I’ll probably watch it just to see if it actually delves into the story and ramps up its action. Maybe that stone can imbue it with the life it needs.

Verdict: Teetering on the edge of being good enough to continue with, Kitty the Killer promises it has more up its sleeve, and I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Overall entertainment: 6.5/10
Violence: 6/10
Sex: 0/10
Style: 7/10
Substance: 2/10
Tina, Mina, Dina or Nina: Honestly I couldn’t tell you
What is The Agency: Honestly I couldn’t tell you

Kitty the Killer (2023)
Thai

Director: Lee Thongkham
Writers: Sorawi Alapach, Venus Saksiri, Lee Thongkham

CAST

Ploypailin Thangprapaporn – Dina
Denkhun Ngamnet – Charlie
Somchai Khemklad – Keng
Vithaya Pansringarm – Makin
Pat Chatburirak – Wong
Sutina Laoamnuaichai – Tina
Keetapat Pongruea – Mina