Boy Kills World (2024)

“Boy Kills World” stars Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Famke Janssen, Sharlto Copley, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, Andrew Koji, Yayan Ruhian, and H. Jon Benjamin. Releasing on April 26, 2024, the film has a deaf man enacting vengeance on the people who murdered his family.

The film features the feature directorial debut of Moritz Mohr, who directed the short films “Akumi”, “Vidiots”, and “Hurensohn”. Mohr also directed the 2011 television series “Viva Berlin!”. It is based on a short film by Mohr and Armend Remmers. There’s no denying that if you take away those someone holds dear to their hearts, you better be prepared to face the consequences. If that someone happens to be a silent man with his inner voice sounding like Bob Belcher, you should also be ready to lose a lot of blood. Many revenge-driven movies have taught us this for years, and thanks to this latest action thriller from producer Sam Raimi, it surely won’t be the last. This film sees Raimi bringing the ultra-violent short film from Mohr and Remmers to the big screen, which promises plenty of jaw-dropping action, pulpy stylish flairs, and remarkably entertaining stunt work, more so than Dev Patel’s “Monkey Man”. Was it fun and bloody enough to exact its vengeance? Let’s find out.

The story follows Boy (Skarsgård), a young man whose family was brutally murdered by Hilda van der Koy (Janssen), the monarch of a corrupted royal family ruling over a post-apocalyptic world. The attack resulted in Boy being deaf and mute, with his thoughts now being expressed by his inner voice (Benjamin) derived from his childhood video game. After learning martial arts from a mysterious shaman (Ruhian), Boy sets out on a blood-soaked journey to seek revenge against the entire Koy family. With the help of a resistance team consisting of Benny (Mustafa) and Basho (Koji), Boy must survive every dangerous obstacle, including a televised execution called “The Culling”, to complete his mission and free himself from the pains of his past.

While my intrigue was set on Zendaya playing tennis, “Boy Kills World” was actually something I was looking forward to the most this weekend. Obviously, it’s because I couldn’t get enough of action movies, especially ones that are original, and the cast is quite stacked with some familiar names, including Bill Skarsgård. But more importantly, the concept behind it looked pretty darn bonkers. Yes, it’s another revenge movie we’ve seen many times before, but the way it’s reflected regarding its kinetic presentation and post-apocalyptic setting is enough to get me ecstatic about it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait until this weekend to see if it lives up to its potential. I attended a mystery movie event at my favorite cinema, which happens to be “Boy Kills World”, much to my delight. It would be even better if it were “Furiosa”. Hopefully, they're saving that as next month's mystery movie. Until I know for sure, I want to talk about the boy who murdered the corrupted world.

“Boy Kills World” is more along the lines of “Kill Bill” on drugs than an R-rated sequel to “Boy Meets World”. The movie depicts the unnamed man infiltrating an empire and beating the crud out of people responsible for murdering his family, all while bickering with the spirit of his younger sister, Mina (Quinn Copeland). Did I mention that he was also deaf and mute? Yeah, that’s how crazy this film seemed. It delivers exactly what the premise promised, so if you expect it to surprise you with its themes and world-building, you might be disappointed by the outcome. However, if you only need a simple escape from reality, you'll easily have a great time with this high-octane, action-packed ride. Loaded with stylized energy and pulpy action, "Boy Kills World" is a refreshing and kinetic take on the revenge action formula that hits the mark with its tone.

With Moritz Mohr’s experience being from the short film of the same name, he was tasked with expanding his concept into a 110-minute-long roller coaster consisting of brutalities, energetic flairs, and Bob Belcher providing color commentary. While Arend Remmers co-wrote the screenplay with Tyler Burton Smith, Mohr takes control as a solo director. Filmmakers who return to expand their short films can often succeed in honoring the source material they created. However, it also comes with the challenge of capturing the interest of those unfamiliar with their works. Based on what I’ve seen, I thought Mohr handled this challenge very well, especially regarding his vision. Its presentation exuded an intense and surreal vibe that transcended beyond its visuals. It imbued its sceneries and action sequences with a sense of frenetic energy that captivated me thoroughly. The editing and cinematography further enhanced this hallucinatory feel, resulting in an experience that was nothing short of mesmerizing. It’s as if Mohr puts John Wick, graphic novels, and video game influences into a blender and mixes them to create a blood-soaked smoothie with a lime on top of it. It should’ve tasted foul based on the description alone, but instead, it wound up being a sublime treat full of flavor and radiant pizazz.

What makes it even better is how the movie balances the thriller aspect with its corny comedy vibes, mainly from Boy’s chemistry with the supporting characters like Mina. The film succeeds in providing slickness and guts to its insane yet well-choreographed action scenes, but its main success was not taking itself too seriously. Sure, the story doesn’t delve deep into its themes amid its formula, although the third act’s twist did save it from being too derivative. Nevertheless, it more than compensates with its delightful gags that seem parodic and charismatic characters powered by its impeccable cast. Despite Boy’s lack of speech, Bill Skarsgård is another actor who proves you don’t need words to put on an astounding show through your performance. His range of emotions was effectively portrayed by Skarsgård, even when his inner voice does the talking. By the way, H. Jon Benjamin, known for voicing Bob Belcher in “Bob’s Burgers”, was a perfect fit for Boy’s inner voice, and you can’t make me change my mind. Jessica Rothe and Brett Gelman were also decent as June 27 and Gideon van der Koy, respectively, which makes me glad they’re continuing to find work outside their well-known properties. Sharlto Copley also appeared as Glen van der Koy and was just as entertaining as usual. It’s pretty funny that Copley has started and ended the month of April with an action movie. The stars have perfectly aligned for the actor.

Overall, “Boy Kills World” is a gloriously entertaining and delightfully bonkers roller coaster that favors murderous style over substance in the best way possible. It may not impress everyone looking for deep real-world themes amid its chaotic bloodshed and familiar narrative beats. However, the film shows that a satisfying execution of a bizarre idea and the will to just have fun with it are the things needed to make astounding popcorn entertainment. Bill Skarsgård leads an entertaining cast with his non-verbal performance, and Moritz Mohr’s direction effectively enraptures its balance of gory action and pulpy, stylized comedy. It’s the most fun I had from an action movie this year, and it’s definitely worth your time if you enjoy bizarre films like this.

B+