Currently playing in UK and US cinemas is the action-comedy, Boy Kills World. Directed by Moritz Mohr, the movie stars Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Sharlto Copley, and Famke Janssen, and tells the story of deaf-mute man, who embarks on a quest to avenge the death of his family.
In the movie, it is the near future and ‘Boy’, his mother, and his sister, all live in a city ruled by the Van Der Koy family. Once a year, Hilda, the head of the Van Der Koy clan, gathers together 12 people from the city to take part in The Culling – an event where all twelve are killed live on television.
One year, Hilda kills Boy’s mother and sister, before leaving Boy for dead. However, Boy isn’t dead, and soon he is rescued by a shaman, who nurses him back to health.
As the years pass and Boy grows into an adulthood, he trains with the Shaman, obtains martial arts skills, and develops a chiselled six-pack which would make Peter Andre jealous. He also sets his sights on revenge, with Hilda Van Der Koy becoming his number one target.
If you think the above premise for Boy Kills World sounds a bit like the plot to recent action-thriller, Monkey Man then you wouldn’t be too far wrong. Both films share a few similarities when it comes to a story about revenge, and both are action-orientated affairs.
However, while Monkey Man was a pretty strong movie, which mixed fight choreography with a fairly meaty script, Boy Kills World is a much weaker offering. Sure, the film ticks all the right boxes in the action department, and there is some excellent stunt work on display, but the story is kind of pants.
The script is (mostly) paper-thin, with little in the way of plot development. There’s a lot of hit-hit-bang, but not much else, and the boredom sets in quickly.
Boy Kills World is also not as funny as it thinks it is. The humour in this action-comedy becomes very irritating, very quickly, and at times it plays like a poor man’s Deadpool.
The film essentially revolves around Boy, as played by Bill Skarsgård, wandering around the screen kicking all manner of sh*t out of generic henchmen. There’s a fight here, a punch-up there, and there are various other scuffles as he beats up bad guys with careless abandon.
Because Boy is unable to hear or speak, he is unable to deliver any action quips, however, the movie gets around this by utilising Boy’s inner monologue. All throughout the film, Boy’s ‘dialogue’ is represented by a voice-over, which breaks the fourth wall so that audiences can hear his thoughts.
The voice-over comes courtesy of voice actor H. Jon Benjamin rather than Skarsgård himself, with the former giving an exaggerated performance inspired by a voice from an arcade game. The idea of the monologue is neat, and Benjamin does his best with the material he’s given, but rather than being funny, this whole aspect of the film is mostly annoying.
As noted above, it all feels like a riff on the Deadpool movies, with the humour trying to tap into a similar tone and style. But those movies are funny because Ryan Reynolds is funny, and as Reynolds has nothing whatsoever to do with Boy Kills World, there’s a significant shortfall here.
Where Boy Kills World works best is in the performance given by Skarsgård who sells the heck out of his part. He may not utter a word in the entire movie, but he gives a convincing turn as the mute assassin, and he looks pretty deadly too.
Bonus points are also given to Skarsgård’s six-pack, which is truly a work of art. If Skarsgård ever runs into difficulties in the acting game, he should consider a career in keep-fit, as he’s clearly an expert at staying in shape.
But other than this, Boy Kills World is all a bit ‘meh’. There’s not much to recommend, and while it’s fine at times, it doesn’t offer anything that hasn’t been done before, or done better.
I’m not entirely sure why this movie is playing in cinemas, when it has ‘straight-to-streaming’ written all over it, but hey, that’s a decision for people who get paid far more than me. All I’m here to do is to tell you that Boy Kills World is watchable, but mostly a bit pointless, and if you really want to see it you should do yourself a favour and wait for the film to turn up on Netflix or one of the many other streamers you already subscribe to.
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