Oh Boy

Boy Kills World is a wild action comedy released earlier this year, and now available on streaming. Set in a dystopian society, the story centers on "Boy," a deaf and mute man who is seeking revenge on the authoritarian family in charge, for the death of his own family when he was a child. He's been rigorously trained by a powerful Shaman, turning him into the sort of one-man wrecking crew that might just be able to get that revenge.

I knew going in that Boy Kills World was going to be a light-in-tone, but violent, action movie. I was perhaps surprised at how hard it leaned into both of those elements. The action is incredibly violent, and weirdly inspired in that regard. A memorable sequence features the use of a truly unusual weapon (you've never seen the like before), and it's a fight that will make you squirm. But that's only one dish in the buffet of gory deaths and brutal injuries this movie serves up.

As violent as it is, it's equally funny. This is an action-comedy, and it doesn't neglect that second part of the equation. Most of the humor comes from Boy's inner monologue, delivered to us in hilarious voice-over by H. Jon Benjamin, who animation fans will know from Archer, Bob's Burgers, and countless other places. Benjamin is the person you call when you want a voice that sounds badass, but who can undermine every bit of seriousness with winking comedy. I have to imagine they wrote this script with him in mind, and there was no "plan B" if they hadn't gotten him.

The movie blends these two disparate elements surprisingly well. In part, it's because that balancing act isn't overly drawn out. Video games are the in-story explanation for much of what we see, and so the movie is structured almost as a level by level fight through a cast of villains including Michelle Dockery, Famke Janssen, and Sharlto Copley. And it gets the job done in under two hours.

That said, they still manage to inject a little too much story in there. There's an "end of act two" twist that I'm not sure about. I can understand the instinct to make the move more than just a trifle, and the seeds are planted to justify what happens. All the same, I feel like everything that follows the twist simply isn't as entertaining as what came before. The comedy isn't as funny, the action isn't as clever, and the movie is starting to wear out its welcome before the credits roll.

Still, star Bill Skarsgård makes for an unexpectedly effective action hero (even more unexpectedly when paired with the voice of H. Jon Benjamin). I'd ultimately say that if you're in for a literally bloody good time, you'll probably enjoy Boy Kills World. I give it a B.