In the current moviegoing climate where I’m only actually in a theater for something really essential like Dune 2 or Madame Web, every week I browse Amazon Prime video to see what new release has hit the service after 2-4 weeks in theaters.
The latest? That would be a film that was not on my radar (nor anyone’s, it seems), Boy Kills World, starring IT’s Bill Skarsgard, Happy Death Day’s Jessica Rothe and Downton Abby’s Michelle Dockery. And somehow, inexplicably, Archer and Bob’s Burgers’ H Jon Benjamin.
Boy Kills World follows a mute and deaf boy who grows up into an extremely tall, jacked man trained by a shaman in the jungle (martial arts superstar Yayan Ruhian) to exact revenge for the death of his family against the powerful, corrupt Van Der Koy family who appear to be ruling some sort of post-apocalyptic America.
The result is the best action film I’ve seen this year, with the caveat here I am considering “action film” something based almost entirely around combat and fighting, as opposed to say, Dune 2 being a blockbuster sci-fi film.
The story is okay, but doesn’t really get into gear until closer to the end. I also did not love the concept of H Jon Benjamin narrating Skarsgard’s internal monologue as it was impossible to not hear Archer and it was just too distracting. When that voice quiets down, the movie gets a lot better, and Skarsgard’s silent, physical-based performance stands on its own without that.
But you’re really here for the fight choreography. I am not kidding when I say this is some of the best fighting work I’ve seen in years. I’m talking The Raid/Ong-Bak level in some instances, and it’s hand-to-hand mixed with bullets, blades and a fair amount of comedy in some sequences. It just gets more and more wild as the film goes on and there’s a finale that reminds me of a much more heavily stylized version of the famed Matrix lobby scene. It’s incredible, and worth the price of admission by itself.
Speaking of the price of admission, this movie made…no money. It grossed just $3 million worldwide on something like an $18 million budget as a result of little to no marketing and a poor explanation of its concept. Maybe it would have done better being picked up straight-to-streaming, but it’s streaming now, and even at this initial price of $20 (it will drop soon, no doubt) I would still recommend it for any action fan, it’s that good.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.