4.25/5
Reviewed April 28, 2024
I have a soft spot for manic ultraviolent films with creative wackiness. This is one of those. Bill Skarsgård plays “Boy”, a kid whose family is brutally killed by the rulers of a decaying metro in a Hunger Games style event. He is trained by a wiry shaman to become a living weapon and seek his revenge, which he ultimately begins years later during another culling event by the city’s rulers. It gets….bonkers. Oh, did I not mention that the Boy is deaf and mute, done by the very evil rulers? His chosen internal monologue is not his own voice, but that of a video game narrator – H Jon Benjamin, doing the heavy lifting here with some incredibly humor that matches up with BS’s acting.
So yeah, ultraviolence with a huge variety of weapons, stylistic action sequences with stellar choreography and shot pretty well (a few weird ones but ultimately decent stuff). For example, there’s a pair of brass knuckles that shoots a bullet when you punch with them, which is used to great effect in a fight. Boy teams up with two grungy rebels who also have beef, working as a great unit; there’s also a running gag where Boy can’t actually read the lips of one of them, so he keeps interpreting the speech as weird word salad….which he then imagines, which WE see. Wild stuff.
BS does a phenomenal job here. He’s very clearly building himself one hell of a career and I’m here for it. Supporting cast like Jessica Rothe (amazing), Michelle Dockery, Sharlto Copley, Quinn Copeland, Famke Janssen, Andrew Koji, and Yayan Ruhian deliver great performances too. The story is…deeper than first glance, and honestly was giving me major flashbacks to another Skarsgard’s role…his brother Alexander from the film The Northman (shares a lot of vibes, violence, and plot zigzags). One random thing with actors is that the army of henchpeople is actually full of guys AND gals, so it’s not just an army of stunt dudes. Kind of cool.
Music is solid, set design is great, visuals are great, makeup effects are quality (considering all the gore and wounds), and everything just works well IMO.
End of the day, if you like violent manic fever dream revenge films, this is one for you. Joins the pantheon of stuff like Hardcore Henry, Sisu, and Guns Akimbo – if you like those, you’ll probably enjoy this.
Getting Reel with Mr. Sunshine 