Boy Kills World: Movie Review

Cast: Bill Skarsgard, Jessica Rothe, Sharlto Copley, H Jon Benjamin, Famke Janssen, Michelle Dockery, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, Andrew Koji

Director: Moritz Mohr

Landing somewhere in the middle of Scott Pilgrim vs The World, The Raid and The Hunger Games seems like an odd start for directors Boy Kills World.

Yet it seems tonally appropriate for a film that essentially is an off-kilter revenge tale writ large, with IT's Bill Skarsgard playing the deaf and dumb Boy, a weapon shaped for chaos after the ruling Van Koy family murdered his family.

Set in a post apocalyptic world and on the eve of the annual Culling where 12 random people are selected for death on television to ram him the barbarian rule of the Van Koys, Boy Kills World is a mix of cartoonish humour, ACME level gags and intensely shot fight sequences.

With frenetic editing and a tongue-in-cheek script, there's an anarchic edge to Boy Kills World that does set it outside of the norm. With a Hunger Games edge and a inner voice from Bob's Burgers star Benjamin, the film does play with expectations to a large degree.

And while some of the violence is well-choreographed and provides a point of difference to the norm with its opening training montage of its titular character thrusting you into the middle of a story , in parts it feels somewhat akin to The Raid as waves of bad guys are taken down by Boy.

Happy Death Day's Rothe is a strong addition with her character being given an iconic outfit aimed at cosplayers, but most of the sideplayers really don't figure too highly in the film's final mix.

Whilst it gets points for setting a long action sequence to an utterly demented winter wonderland that's mixed with a cereal commercial, the film unfortunately does feel a little bloated in its middle section and really only ups the ante in a final showdown that's exhausting, exhilarating and enjoyable. There are moments of originality too, including various cheese grater takedowns that may make audiences wince.

It's here that Boy Kills World shows it has promise - and while Skarsgard marks out his action hero much like Hammer Girl did in The Raid 2 in his fight against fascism, the narrative thread isn't quite strong enough to pull the movie all the way through. 

It's enjoyable enough, but with a tighter edit and a keener eye, this film could have been shaped into a cinematic weapon on a mission too - to entertain jaded action movie audiences satiated on the likes of John Wick, The Raid et al.