Boy Kills World (2023)
True talk, I actually watched this movie what feels like forever ago now. Part of that forever is just because my sense of time blows, and couple it with a bad memory and who knows when something took place really - but I can guarantee that at the time of writing this it was no more than three years given it came out in 2023. Anyways, I had fun with it then, so thought it would be a good time to spread the fun to whatever friends showed up for the weekly. I hope you don’t mind a spit of violence and revenge because tonight Boy Kills World.
Our story as presented follows a boy who grows to a warrior man honed with a single purpose. What is that purpose? Easy - to kill the people responsible for killing his family. To do this he trains with a fighter in the jungle known as the Shaman from his time as a wee lad (when his family is killed) right on up to when he’s a strapping lean and tall clown capable of floating kids in a King town (okay, that last part is embellished for the sake of referencing Stephen King’s It and the fact it’s the same actor, but beyond that the plot part stands). We get some history about how he’s still attached to his sister, and how he sometimes sees her even though she’s not there. We also get some stuff about how he is both mute and deaf, meaning he chose his internal voice from a video game they used to play and he has to read lips. This will come into play later -although mostly for comedy effect - as he embarks on his quest for revenge when one fateful day in the city the perfect chance arises and he leaves his master to achieve his wanted vengeance.
Actors do a good job here. It’s a bit frantic, bouncing between rather violent fights and comedy, but it does provide plenty of moments to be available for acting to happen. When the main character is pretty much relegated to just body language and facial expressions, and then the voice-over has to play off of the emotions that said voice-less actor is playing there’s plenty of stuff that could go wrong. The good new is our lead can be an incredibly emotive person, so you get a ton of mileage out of his acting. A lot of the other actors do a good job as well - admittedly, it’s not all super full of depth, but that’s less on their actor and more on the movie script I think. Either way, they do a fine job with what they got and it never really feels like it’s a detriment to the movie even when it gets pretty absurd - and trust me, at times it gets real absurd - looking at you Dave.
Characters are a mixed bag to some level. They all work on screen, and have something to set them apart from the other characters to some extent- but the actual feeling of mileage you will get from them is going to change between them. I feel the most growth actually comes about from one of the side-boss bad guys, even though you would expect it to be the main character - and that’s kind of what I mean. Our lead character has a path and follows it, and even if there’s comedy and bumps and turns, his path is his path and it’s what he follows the entire time. No real classic hero journey to worry about - but it’s also never as though he ends up deciding “you know what, revenge is bad and maybe I should stop.” Although, when I say it and think about it I supposed you could say that anything his little sister says when he sees her in the “present time” sections is really technically his own brain and conscious talking to himself, so in a way I guess there is a little bit where it kind of technically comes up - but he sticks with revenge anyways.
Boy vs Man
There’s really two reasons someone is gonna be watching this movie i think - action or comedy. I mean, technically the actors involved also probably, but for the most part probably they watched the trailer and thought it was going to be gnarly fights or plenty of gags. The good news is that there are in fact both of those things - although of course comedy is subjective so just because I’m laughing at it and my friend are laughing at it doesn’t mean you will be laughing at it. As far as the fights, they are put together and shot pretty darn good. Some might be a little off-put by the level of violence - whereas most might expect a fight with a cheese grater to just be a whack and done, this movie takes it and makes it look like it hurts with some lasting cosmetic applications. It also has ‘ole Mad Dog himself in here, so you know at least one fight is gonna have him involved in it and it’s going to have that absolutely brutal looking hits. With all of that said - and a couple limb removals and bone pops aside - there really isn’t anything as graphic as guts spilling out, so although it’s brutal it’s not really gross if that makes sense. Granted, if a couple exposed bones and a lot of blood is enough to not sit well with your stomach, perhaps it’s not the best pick for you.
Comedy is mostly audio-based I would say. A good example is the running gag that since he can’t read the lips of the second resistance member because he may be talking in another language or just his mouth movements are so heavily different from what he reads elsewhere that stuff comes out like “maple apple.” The extra comedy then gets layered on when that character explains at least part of the plan of attack - leaving our main pretty much entirely clueless as what’s about to happen. There is some (albeit more gory) slapstick in there as well - such as the “sweaty fingers” incident with bloody results. You also get some not violent stuff in there, such as the adorable little sister ninja-fly outfit or the reaction to having some macaroons. Costumes are unique enough for most the characters, and we do have a few stand out ones even if for the most part everything fits into the realm of relatively normal attire.
Audio is good. It’s audible and well balanced, and if I had to make any real complaint I’d have to stretch it and say some of the action didn’t sound quite as punchy as it probably could. Again, that’s me trying real hard to complain about something though, and the visuals more than make up for any less threatening hits and gunshots. Music does pretty good - and it’s got a couple of real grooves in it as well, although nothing really sticks around too much with me as standard. Line deliveries are largely good, with some folks excelling far more on the serious side than others. For the thinking folks, I still don’t know why you even want my flat-line opinion on this subject, but I guess we could say it’s got some commentary on vengeance, justice, family, and how delicious desert is? I mean, look, I’m not the most philosophically minded person, and if you put me into an action movie I’m not exactly digging deep even if it’s the second time I’ve watched and enjoyed a movie. I’m sure someone more into mental health could have a lot to say about it though, given the main character pretty much has introspective conversations with himself in the form of his little sister.
Boy vs Imagination
If you like action and laughs, but prefer your violence a little more bloody then the old fair this is a decent choice. The acting is honestly well better then it needed to be considering how goofy half the movie plays out, and even the plot goes a little harder then the original mood would really lead you to expect from it. The fights are good, the lines are entertaining even when they are cheesy as heck, and the comedy had me laugh a few times. Even the second time around, I still had a good time - if you see the trailer and go “that looks fun” then you’d probably have yourself a right jolly watch, as I feel it does a pretty good job of putting out what it’s selling.