This 2024 Action Film Has a Even Scarier Version of John Wick's Baba Yaga (2024)

One of the major selling points of the action genre has always been the hero's berserker mode. It was seen in the 1970s with stars like Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies and Charles Bronson's Death Wish. From there, the 1980s through the 2000s saw the rise of action actors like Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, and many more. Most of these stories, as expected, focused on vigilantes getting revenge and protecting loved ones in the present.

The most iconic recent version of this trope came with John Wick and the "Baba Yaga" or the Boogeyman. Once he lost control of his emotions, he'd go on methodical, calculated rampages that gave him plot armor and a god mode, as gamers so succinctly put it. 2024 has a gory tale of vengeance that actually upgrades what John endured in his saga in a scarier manner. This is none other than the 2024 Indian movie: Kill.

What Is John Wick's Boogeyman Mode?

John Wick Became Near-Invulnerable When He Was Seething Red

John has shown this Boogeyman mode on quite a few occasions. Audiences heard about it when enemies mentioned John's past as an assassin. Viewers then witnessed it when he went after villains who killed his dog, anyone who insulted his dead wife's memory, or anyone from the High Table that wanted to punish him for trying to be whole again. For four movies, the Boogeyman kept unleashing hell.

Once villains threatened John's physical or mental state, he'd become a super-soldier without a serum. He could get shot, stabbed or dropped off buildings, and he'd still rise up and push on with his superhuman ability to kill, whether in public or stalking from the shadows like a black-ops agent. He knew how to master the element of surprise, hence the nickname of the Boogeyman. A lot of this intimidation had to do with how immortal he came off.

John was simply unstoppable. It felt like he used this unbridled rage as fuel to vanquish all enemies in the bloodiest manner. Deep down, however, love was what really drove him. Ironically, John Wick actor, Keanu Reeves, would tell a similar story with BRZRKR, about an immortal warrior who murders for centuries after he keeps losing loved ones. In the end, the memories of their soulmates end up spurring them on.

In John's case, the tragedies keep piling up in a shorter space of time. Even his own allies and family betrayed him at times. It made him become the Boogeyman more than he wanted. This was the only way to balance the world on a personal and professional level. This was the only way to protect himself and do right by his wife.

What Activates Kill's Version of the Boogeyman?

Kill's Amrit Became an Indestructible Vigilante In the Name of Love

Kill has an action vibe akin to another Indian action movie from 2024, Dev Patel's Monkey Man. Kill is more kinetic as it's set on a train heading to New Delhi. A soldier, Amrit, wanted to whisk his beloved Tulika off it. She was being married off to a rich family, but Amrit believed their love was powerful enough to convince her family to let them be together. If not, they'd elope. As fate would have it, a tribe of bandits boarded the train.

The bandits planned to rob everyone, but that drastically changed when they learned Tulika's wealthy family was on board. The goons went after her family, and a war broke out very similarly to the fights on Snowpiercer. Amrit had a colleague, Viresh, with him, so he had backup. Strangers joined as well, not just to protect themselves, but to help Amrit get to his soulmate. Sadly, the villain, Fani, murdered Tulika before the final act to send a message to Amrit. Fani was a toxic man all movie long.

Fani was depicted as entitled and never let go of this chip on his shoulder. He felt society owed his tribe money and women. Thus, he objectified Tulika and decided that by ending her, he'd place an emotional dagger into Amrit. The soldier grew incensed, very much like Jason Bourne and James Bond. He went marauding, slaughtering several members of Fani's team. The latter thought that once Amrit broke down, they could finish him off. He thought wrong.

Little did he know, Amrit's despair would make him stronger, faster and better. Amrit kept maiming villains, bashing heads in and committing atrocities on a whole new level. Even those who were supporting and trying to help him got scared. From his wide eyes, he felt possessed. He even cut power, operated in the shadows like Batman, stalked his prey and showed the thugs who the real alpha was.

Why Is Kill's Amrit a Scarier Boogeyman?

Kill's Amrit Completely Loses His Conscience

Amrit was an angrier version of John. His pain threshold rose, too, and was more than John's. Both men had nothing left to live for, so they went all out. But Amrit felt a bit more unhinged as a predator. He used the same weapons John did (blades and guns) but he utilized the environment more. John used things like pencils to kill people, but Amrit took it up a notch with his atmosphere, preferring to use railings, seats, fire extinguishers, and other bits of the train.

Amrit felt this approach was more pleasing, sadistic and painful. Amrit was all about basking in each and every death. These slow burns were all he had left, as opposed to John, who killed quickly, as seen with Bill Skarsgård's Marquis, and got out quickly. John wasn't into savoring death. He was on a schedule and just wanted to get home. Amrit, by contrast, lost his whole world and felt like he had nothing to live for. That's why Amrit became an unforgiving shell, not bothering to retain his humanity.

Tulika's ghost kept haunting Amrit in his mind and couldn't compartmentalize like John did. Amrit eventually murdered all the criminals, like when the berserker rage went off with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. To best sum up, Amrit was a Punisher who unlocked a Hulk inside. While Amrit was sympathetic in the wake of tragedy, he did come off as more of a feral animal who was losing his mind with each kill.

Kill's Amrit Eventually Finds the Same Destination as John Wick

Amrit Dies After War Similar to John Wick's Final Moment

Amrit and John end up at the same spot, but just taking different roads. John died after the Marquis' battle. It has fans wondering how Lionsgate is going to do a John Wick 5. That aside, he was at peace, because he just wanted to meet his wife in the afterlife. Amrit was the same. When he disembarked the train, he bled out on a bench where he hallucinated and was comforted by his girlfriend's ghost.

He found peace as well. John's finale wasn't as abstract, however. There was no ghost. It showed the difference in how fractured their psyches were. Both men regenerated and rendered the opposition extinct. Ultimately, John was controlled chaos, while Amrit became a more extreme tornado who went the extra mile and delighted in all the blood that was spilled.

John Wick

Dive into the world of a retired hitman pulled back into the brutal underworld he left behind, igniting a relentless crusade for revenge.

Created by

Derek Kolstad

First Film

John Wick

Latest Film

John Wick: Chapter 4

Upcoming Films

John Wick: Chapter 5

Upcoming TV Shows

The Continental

First Episode Air Date

September 22, 2023

Cast

Keanu Reeves , Laurence Fishburne , Ian McShane , Lance Reddick , Halle Berry , John Leguizamo , Donnie Yen

Spin-offs (Movies)

Ballerina (2023)

Video Game(s)

Payday 2 , John Wick Hex