Contra Todos

Boy Kills World is a total blast. A winning combination of brutal violence and weird humour tied together in a story that does enough to make you care about the characters. It moves efficiently, has some clever twists and an unforgettable fight involving a cheese grater. Like all the best action comedies, the zany humour disguises the beating heart at the centre.

Bill Skarsgård proves he doesn't need dialogue to communicate. He can do so much with just his eyes and the fact that it all syncs up really well with H. Jon Benjamin's suitably over the top voice over is just a bonus. Plus he has an adorable rapport with Quinn Copeland. Andrew Koji isn't given a chance to show off his physical prowess but is given the time to show how surprisingly great he is at comedy.

Mortiz Mohr's direction nails the balance between self awareness and sincerity, translating some of the language of video games to cinema effectively. With cinematography by Peter Matjasko, the camera moves with the action rather than against it. It's always fluid and bloody inventive, saving the best fight for last. It's the kind of final fight where the choreography is impeccable, the blows are nasty and it goes on for so long it's exhausting in the best ways.

Somehow the movie manages to be as original as it is predictable. The actors are great, the action and stunts are top notch, there's some decent comedy and I could listen to H. J Benjamin's smooth voice read a dictionary so he did a phenomenal job as Boys narrator. BUT the overall story is as predictable as it can get, and you could guess the twists after about 10 minutes. It's so strange, it's like everyone was giving it 100% except for the plot. There's a glimmer of a better movie in here, and maybe this screenwriter will hit their stride a few years. But overall they held the movie back by sticking to basic plot formulas even though the dialogue is snappy and original.

Ever since The Raid I've been a HUGE fan of Yayan Ruhian (who plays "the shaman") so I'll watch any movie he's in or does the fight choreography for. I expected nothing less than wild & unique action and I was definitely satisfied in that regard. There's some slick directing that works well with the fight choreo and Bill Skarsgård does a good job stunt wise.

You do have to accept the good guy will live through impossible circumstances, the bad guys will have stormtrooper level aim, and the plot (and its twists) are predictable but overall I still found watching it pretty enjoyable.

Here we are in 2024 with another revenge film. I had just seen Monkey Man over a month ago, a revenge film which I also enjoyed.

Boy Kills World was already on my radar, before watching Monkey Man, but I didn't think I would be in a situation where I would be comparing the two. Until now, after watching Boy Kills World.

Without spoilers, both men go through a similar journey of a traumatic event happening in their childhood. With Monkey Man being more of a drama and Boy Kills World being more of a comedy.

However, I will say Boy Kills World has a more creative narrative structure and stronger choreography than Monkey Man. It also has replay value, I will definitely watch Boy Kills World again, much sooner than revisiting Monkey Man.

If you like revenge movies with a twist and tons of mindless goons being evicerated for your entertainment then you will enjoy this movie 👍🏻 I am one of those people 👍🏻 My expectations were quite low but by the end I had a great time and it was much better than I originally thought. The fight scenes are really well done and there are some laughs thrown in (especially when Boy played by Skarsgard is trying to lip read someone) Bill Skarsgard is awesome in this and I hope he continues to do more action roles. Don't watch this if you dont like blood on screen, have an irrational fear of cheese graters or your with your nan 👌🏻

It's called Boy Kills World, not Boy Meets World. So as not to get those two titles confused. It can happen, until you sit down to watch this one.

It's not going to be confused with any arthouse, fancy cinema fare, either.

There is an audience for this and they will be completely entertained and walk out of this experience totally satisfied.

I'm just not a part of that audience.

It's a decent flick.

Just based on the inspired casting and the look of the whole movie alone, it has to be a six.

But I have to stop there.

If you're well versed in action films that predate, I'd say, 2010, then you've seen this movie before and with better execution and certainly a better, more detailed storyline.

The fight sequences are solid but the rest of it is not.

The protagonist is a deaf mute who's hellbent on revenge.

Only we hear his inner thoughts.

A lot.

He talks so much in voiceover that it gets old super quick and it never stops.

The whole movie.

A quip here.

A deep thought there.

Thoughts on this. Thoughts on that.

He may be kicking major butts but he's a regular chatty Cathy on the inside.

Good grief.

There's still things to love about this movie.

Famke Janssen (Rounders), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) two of my all time crushes.

Love them still and love them both here. Lots.

Yayan Ruhian (The stellar Raid films) and Brett Gelman (The Other Guys, Stranger Things) Love those dudes!

And I totally get Bill Skarsgard trying TJ distance himself from It, and rip himself up for this role.

But as good as this movie looks, and everybody in here is good in their parts.

It's just not a great movie.

It could be great with better writing and less voiceover.

There are far superior movies out there about vengeance.

Boy not only Kills World, he kills this movie.

Oddly enough, as I consumed this film, it reminded me of a few female driven action movies of the last thirty years or so: Tank Girl, Aeon Flux, and Ultraviolet.

I won't even bother to explain it but it just does.

There is an end scene of some substance that's worth sticking around for.