[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up]
There are plenty of films that are released each year that I see one trailer for and then watch because of word of mouth. Oftentimes too, they’re pretty good! Hell, most of them are oddly enough action packed movies that never miss a beat and never give audiences a breath through the bloody bloody chaotic romps! In his directorial debut, Moritz Mohr gives us the exciting Boy Kills World, a hilarious tale of revenge.
Years prior to the events of the film, a young boy witnesses the murder of his family by the cruel Hilda van der Koy (Famke Janssen). His life is saved by a shaman (Yayan Ruhian) and trained in the ways of martial arts. His ultimate goal is to seek revenge on the van der Koy family for his family. An adult Boy (Bill Skarsgård), is now a revenge seeking deaf-mute who relies on his skills and inner voice (H. Jon Benjamin), along with the ghost of his dead sister Mina (Quinn Copeland) to guide him on his ultimate mission. In order to get to Hilda, he has to take out the van der Koy clan including Glenn (Sharlto Copley), Gideon (Brett Gelman), Melaine (Michelle Dockery) and an elite assassin only known as June 27 (Jessica Rothe). In John Wick-like action, Boy spares no lives and sheds all the blood a big budget Hollywood film can afford!
I didn’t expect to like this film as much as I did! I think I’ve been so saturated with revenge flicks in the last decade they all seem to follow a very similar plotline. The change up here is the fact Boy doesn’t speak and instead we get H. Jon Benjamin as his inner voice. As a Bob’s Burgers fan, this was a real damn delight! Plus, it added the level of humor so many of these revenge flicks needed. I love these movies when the violence is amped up, but I’m still able to laugh at the misfortune of others!
Skarsgård is also very good in the role of Boy. He obviously plays off his facial expressions and seeing him more confused than anything while being a killing machine was oddly menacing. I really loved how absolutely ridiculous a majority of the characters in this were. A shit ton of people versus one guy, guess how this all can go?
I end with the delightful conclusion that Boy Kills World is an oddly satisfying pick-me-up of a revengle flick you could possibly need. Yes, it does follow a standard formula, but the sheer delight of how much fun everybody looks like they’re having (yes even while being slaughtered) was something I never expected.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
Comments on this entry are closed.