MOVIE REVIEW: BOY KILLS WORLD

 

Boy is a mayhem machine who's been training to assassinate the bloodthirsty Hilda Van Der Koy and avenge his family's murder. Guided by his sister's mischievous spirit, Boy uncovers one stunning revelation after another as he barrels toward Hilda.

Director: Moritz Mohr

Cast: Bill Skarsgard, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Famke Janssen, Sharlto Copley, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, Andrew Koji

Release Date: April 26, 2024

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, language, some drug use and sexual references

Runtime: 1h 51m

Review:

Moritz Mohr's manic Boy Kills World is heavy on blood splatter style but equally light on story that makes for an uneven experience overall.  Mohr has the scaffolding of a story set up and his film does a quick bit of world building in its opening act before quickly moving to what he's more interested in, a series of fun but increasingly gory action sequences.  To his credit, the majority of those sequences work with a kinetic energy that seeps through the screen by way of aggressively choreographed fights, one involving a cheese grater is sure to make a lot of people winch more than a few times.  There's plenty of style on display throughout but the script is so haphazardly slapped together it hard to get too engaged in any of the characters or the storyline since it all feels like an afterthought.  A few twist and turns in the final act would have worked far better if there'd been just a bit more energy spent on fleshing out the characters and dystopian world presented. The cast makes the most of it, managing to bring a tangible sense of energy to the screen in spite of the thinly written characters.  Bill Skarsgard gets as much traction as humanly possible from his mute character by bringing an impressive physicality to role while managing to play the film's dark humor especially when he's reacting to his internal monologue provided by H. Jon Benjamin.  Skarsgard has some solid chemistry with Quinn Copeland and Andrew Koji throughout the film but neither is taken full advantage of with each coming on and off the screening far too quickly.  Sharlto Copley and Brett Gelman are both having a ball hamming it up every time they're onscreen with Copley being criminally underutilized.  Michelle Dockery and Famke Janssen do their best with underwritten characters who barely have a chance to register even though one of them is supposed to be the big bad of the whole story.  Jessica Rothe's character suffers a similar fate as there's far more time spent on the character's look than anything else.  It’s a credit to Rothe that she's able to get as much mileage as she does out of her helmeted character but you just wish she'd had a better chance to shine.  Boy Kills World manages the rare feat of being simultaneously undercooked and overly long which saps the film of the over the top zaniness energy it starts with leaving it a missed opportunity at making something truly memorable.    

C

Cindy Prascik's Review of It Chapter 2

Yesterday it was (finally) back to the cinema for It Chapter 2.

Spoiler level here will be moderate, nothing plot-related, but I'll offer one general thought that may be considered spoilerey. Forewarned is forearmed.

Nearly three decades after the events of Chapter 1, the Losers Club is called back to Derry to face off with their old nemesis.

It Chapter 2 is easily the weaker half of this iconic Stephen King tale, and stretching it to a bloated three-hour runtime did it no favors, though steady pacing keeps the movie from bogging down too much. Creature and gore effects are solid, and the de-aging process used on the youngsters from Chapter 1 didn't bother me, though it's been much maligned elsewhere. There isn't much scary about the film--even the cheap jump scares are too obvious to have much effect--but it is blessed with a talented, likable cast, fronted by Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain and Golden Globe nominee James McAvoy. McAvoy and the less-decorated Bill Hader are especially strong throughout. The kids from Chapter 1 are still solid, though with far less to do than in round one. Frankly, the adults are never quite as interesting.

On the strength of its cast and well-formed characters, It Chapter 2 works best when focused on people and relationships. The story of friendship, reconnecting, and redemption is a timeless one that never fails to engage; unfortunately, the horror/fantasy aspects just don't measure up, and even come off a bit laughable. Thanks to a few tweaks, this version of IT feels less melancholy than the original, and I fear it will fade from memory much more quickly.

It Chapter 2 clocks in at 169 minutes and is rated R for "disturbing violent content and bloody images throughout, pervasive language, and some sexual material."

Despite its many flaws, you'll still want to see the Losers Club through to the end with It Chapter 2.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, It Chapter 2 gets six. Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: IT CHAPTER TWO

Defeated by members of the Losers' Club, the evil clown Pennywise returns 27 years later to terrorize the town of Derry, Maine, once again. Now adults, the childhood friends have long since gone their separate ways. But when people start disappearing, Mike Hanlon calls the others home for one final stand. Damaged by scars from the past, the united Losers must conquer their deepest fears to destroy the shape-shifting Pennywise -- now more powerful than ever.

Director: Andrés Muschietti

Cast: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean

Release Date: September 6, 2019

Genre: Horror

Rated R for disturbing violent content and bloody images throughout, pervasive language, and some crude sexual material.

Runtime: 2 h 50 min

Review:

It Chapter Two has the unenviable task of trying to tie up the story started in the original film.  Much like the original novel and mini series adaptation the latter half of the story doesn’t quite have the pop or elegance of the first half of the story.  This sequel is bigger and has a more expansive mythology.  It has an impressive collection of big name actors as the grown versions of the Losers Club who all play their roles fairly well.  Still, as you sit through Andrés Muschietti’s nearly 3 hour opus you keep waiting for something amazing or truly terrifying to happen.  It never does as we go through a variety of side stories and back stories.  That’s not to say there aren’t any thrilling or mildly scary sequences because there are but the problem is that it all feels sort of routine leaving the film like a hodgepodge collection of horror tropes blended into a single film.  It’s never a bad film per say but it’s not a great film either.  The main issue is that the central villain is put on display much too often which makes each subsequent appearance less and less scary.  By the conclusion some of the moments come off as funnier as opposed to spine tingling, making it feel closer to a late era Nightmare on Elm Street which is fitting since there’s a visual nod to the 5^th film in that series.


B-