BOY KILLS WORLD, an obvious reference to the classic 90s series BOY MEETS WORLD, is :ahem: a lot more R-rated than its sitcom predecessor. It is an extremely gory action movie that should get props for having some of the best fight scenes I’ve seen onscreen in a long time; however, it left little more to be desired. The script is uneven and doesn’t spend enough time on character development to make you care about who lives or dies. And the biggest issue of all is the choice of narrator’s voice, which was extremely distracting.
Boy (Bill Skarsgard) is out for revenge. When he was young, his mother and sister were murdered by Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), the evil dictator of their post-apocalyptic world. The attack should have also killed Boy, but it instead left him mute. Unable to speak for himself, his inner thoughts are voiced by a reflection of his favorite childhood video game. After the attack, a local shaman finds Boy and takes him under his wing to teach him martial arts, how to use weapons, and most importantly, provide guidance on how to kill Hilda and her crew. But will Boy’s training be enough to get through Hilda’s vicious acolytes and heavily-armed minions?
I admittedly need a bit of plot in my action films, and unfortunately BOY KILLS WORLD sacrifices most of the story for a ton of over-the-top, bloody fight scenes. There is so much action, in fact, that it started to get old after awhile and lost my attention. On top of that, the humor didn’t really land either. Maybe it was my issue with the voice chosen to be the narrator (which was incredibly off-putting), but I kept coming back to the fact that the film thinks it’s a lot funnier than it actually is.
For a title like BOY KILLS WORLD, it’s surprising that the female characters were my favorite parts of the film. Between Janssen’s villainous arc, Michelle Dockery dropping her period clothes and accent to be an over-the-top, attention-seeking baddie, and Jessica Roth proving to be a worthy opponent to Skarsgard, the women really brought the action and drama. Skarsgard is also excellent as Boy, who plays the character with a wide-eyed innocence that seems directly in contrast to the incredibly creative, violent kills his character conjures up.
BOY KILLS WORLD is going to be divisive and is certainly not for anyone who gets the slightest bit squeamish (there were several times when even I looked away). While I wouldn’t recommend you run out to theaters to see it, if you are someone who enjoys action movies for action’s sake and are interested in seeing some amazing fight choreography, this film is probably best experienced on the big screen with a rowdy, late night crowd.
Make sure to stay ’til the end of the film for an end credit scene.
My Review: C
