The Stream: Lame villains make it an unbalanced fight.

The Big Screen: Good action sequences and some funny lines.

The Final Bill: Another revenge movie that has stylized action and cool narrator.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Moritz Mohr
Writers: Tyler Burton Smith and Arend Remmers and Moritz Mohr
Stars: Bill Skarsgård, Famke Janssen, Michelle Dockery, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, Yayan Ruhian, Jessica Rothe, Sharlto Copley, Andrew Koji
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rating: R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, language, some drug use and sexual references
Runtime: 1 hour 41 minutes
Production Companies: Nthibah Pictures, Raimi Productions, Ventaro Films
Platform: In theaters April 26, 2024
Notable Trailers: Kill, The Crow, The Fall Guy, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Here’s another one, Streamers. Boy Kills World is an action comedy that feels like a videogame, but apparently, it is not based on preexisting IP. Who knew?!? Boy Kills World takes place in a dystopian future that has a Hunger Games-like lottery perpetuated by a prominent family called the Van Der Koys. Motivated by revenge, Boy (Bill Skarsgard) sets out on a quest to kill Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen)  in order to avenge the murders of his entire family. Bloody butt-kicking, voiceover-narrated hijinks ensue.

While Boy Kills World thrives in its stylized actions, production design, and irreverent tone, it really suffers by being just another revenge flick. Boy is a fun character. His physicality embodied by Bill Skarsgard is great. It is very believable that a man of Skargard’s stature and physique could endure the brutality that Boy endures. Boy also has the humorous narrative voice inspired by Boy’s favorite videogame as a child. Those are interesting aspects of the movie. The villains are bland and lame. The revenge movie plot is very cliché. It’s trying to be both another Kill Bill mixed with elements of The Hunger Games. That’s why the dystopian setting is so derivative of other movies. It’s not boring, but it’s not innovative. Everything feels liberally borrowed from other better movies. Nevertheless, this is another movie where the good parts are engaging enough to pull you to the edge of your seat. It’s all style and very little substance. I also don’t understand why this movie isn’t less than 90 minutes.

Ultimately, Boy Kills World is just another revenge flick. It has an interesting aesthetic and some cool, stylized action that keeps the audience engaged. The character of Boy is interesting enough to hold your attention for the length of the movie even though the plot is derivative, cliched and obvious. Nevertheless, this movie is good enough for a matinee viewing with a bowl of popcorn. Honestly, if this were on streaming, I’d give it a big box of popcorn.