by Nick Ferro, Contributing Writer
The first time I heard of Boy Kills World was less than a month ago after seeing the teaser trailer. I was instantly hooked. That first trailer painted a picture of an intense action comedy that would not only showcase the acting talents of Bill Skarsgård, but also the comedic voice over talents of H. Jon Benjamin. It looked like a breezy, straightforward action movie full of amazing fight choreography, blood, video game style violence, and humor. Then last week I saw the second trailer, which was longer, showcasing a convoluted world with a plot that was more complicated than it needed to be and a lot less of the humor which had drawn my attention in the first trailer. Needless to say, this second trailer worried me and dropped my anticipation slightly. I was no longer as confident that the movie itself would be the action/comedy joyride I was expecting. But you can never trust a trailer completely — they are, after all, marketing devices used to convince or trick someone into seeing a movie. So only one question remained: Which trailer was more accurate?
Boy Kills World is the story of Boy (Skarsgård), who lives in a weird dystopian city run by a family called the Van Der Koys. The head of the family, Hilda (Famke Janssen), is an insane paranoid dictator, who once a year rounds up 12 of her supposed enemies and executes them live on television in a very Hunger Games-esque type production. As a child, Boy’s mother and sister were taken by Hilda and killed in the Culling. Boy was saved from the same fate by an old man named Shaman (Yayan Ruhian). Shaman proceeded to train Boy to be the ultimate fighter so that he could someday take his revenge on Hilda and the whole Van Der Koy family. The catch, though, is that Boy had his tongue cut out and his ears burned with hot pokers, leaving him deaf and mute. As a result, Boy came up with an inner monologue voice for himself based on his sister’s favorite arcade game, which happens to sound exactly like H. Jon Benjamin.
Boy Kills World absolutely sings when it allows Skarsgård to face act and Benjamin to narrate. In almost every single situation they are thrown into, it is a fun time. Skarsgård is absolutely amazing at conveying a wide range of emotions to match his inner monologue, while Benjamin gives every bit of dialogue his unique sound to enhance the comedy. This movie would not work for me without these two at the helm using this style of storytelling device. So it disappoints me greatly to report that the filmmakers clearly felt differently about this storytelling device. It is used so infrequently after the first act that I was starting to think that it was something they came up with after they had already completed filming. If you told me there was a cut of this movie where the protagonist was simply deaf and mute and had no inner monologue, I would believe you. In fact, every time the movie has a chance to be hilarious, past act two, by having Benjamin narrate the moment, the movie chooses to keep the action silent. There are multiple times when there is a chance for humor, and it is ignored to ramp up the action or the drama of the scene instead. This is probably the movie’s biggest misstep. You don’t hire Archer to be the voice of the movie and then shove him to the side. If the movie just wanted to be a more serious action movie, it could have been — but it then should have had Skarsgård narrate himself. This is not to say that the movie isn’t funny. There are some great comedy bits that take advantage of the extreme violence. There is also a pretty great runner where Boy grew up reading the dictionary as his only form of relaxation. Throughout the movie, Benjamin delightfully narrates the definition of words to describe the situation he is about to face.
The lackluster use of their main comedy device aside, this movie is almost nonstop action. From the opening training montage to each major set piece, there is a lot to love. But the fight choreographer must have grown up loving shaky cam films, because that is unfortunately the style on display here. If you are also a fan of that style of filmmaking, then you will probably count this as one of the positives of the movie. I, on the other hand, had a difficult time following the action at all. There are so many quick cuts, zooms, and fast motion that I felt like I was being robbed of a truly great experience. In some instances, I was convinced that the camera wasn’t even aimed at the fights themselves, but was focused instead on something in the background just off to the left. As the movie progresses, however, the fight editing does slow down, and the camera pulls back more, so that by the time the final confrontation fight happens it feels more like The Raid 2 than the Bourne Identity.
Speaking of The Raid 2, Boy Kills World shares something else with that excellent action movie: It’s too long for my liking. The final fight is epic, but honestly, the third act probably could have been about 15 minutes shorter. The film focuses a little too much on flashbacks, story, and emotional payoffs that just feel unnecessary. It takes away from the action and comedy, and is ultimately unneeded in a movie that has a mascot pirate getting shot in the face while a mascot pineapple dances in the background.
One area of the film that I am very conflicted with is the use of the side characters, and their performances. On one hand, great people like Andrew Koji, Isaiah Mustafa, and Jessica Rothe show off their various skills, but each of them feels underused. Rothe has a few great emotional scenes, but is ultimately hidden by a helmet and replaced by her stunt double for all of her fight scenes. Koji, who is an amazing martial artist and actor, is relegated to gun-toting comic relief and doesn’t do any martial arts. He is funny at times, but his funny against Benjamin’s funny clashes. Mustafa’s character is unique in that he mumbles so Boy can’t read his lips. This leads to some amazing comedic moments of Boy trying to visualize all the weird things that he thinks Mustafa is saying. The final side character that I enjoyed a lot is Quinn Copeland, who plays Boy’s little sister. The manifestation of her character appears from time to time and talk to Boy, which leads to some really funny moments at the beginning. But once again, the filmmakers must have disagreed, because Quinn disappears for too much of the movie, and when she does resurface toward the end, her role becomes nothing but a serious angel-on-the-shoulder role. There is a version of this movie where she is there the whole time providing the necessary heart and push and pull with Boy as they make their way through to the final fight, removing the need for the plot to get more convoluted than it needed to be.
Speaking of the plot, remember how I said the second trailer made this movie look convoluted? Well that trailer nailed it. I can’t even begin to describe how absolutely ridiculous the Van Der Koys’ whole reality is portrayed to be. These characters are given way too much screen time and character development for the mustache-twirling villains that they are. The movie cast some funny people to play these parts and feels inclined to let them have more screen time than is needed. Every time they are on screen, it drags on and becomes tedious, and it caused me to check out. At the same time, the story is pretty predictable, save for one major misdirect that I honestly didn’t see coming. As delighted as I was with this story turn, it wasn’t enough to make me care, and ultimately, it damages the heart of the film, the relationship between Boy and his sister.
I really wanted Boy Kills World to be more than it is. I wanted it to lean more into the comedy, I wanted it to have different filming techniques for the fighting, and I wanted different characters to have a greater focus. Judging a movie for what it is, rather than what I wish it was, is hard when I see the endless potential of the premise, perhaps what will end up being the most wasted potential of 2024.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
Boy Kills World is currently playing in theaters
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