Moritz Mohr goes for the jugular in “Boy Kills World”, an action-driven fever dream that marks his directorial debut. Mohr conceived the idea with Arend Remmers and pitched it to Sam Raimi who subsequently signed on to produce. After navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic, production finally began will Bill Skarsgård cast as its lead. After premiering at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, it’s finally set to hit theaters.

When watching “Boy Kills World” you’ll have no trouble identifying the long list of inspirations that have their place in the film’s DNA. Kung-fu cinema, video games, anime, and graphic novels are just some of the influences behind Mohr’s go-for-broke vision. Its story is primarily a revenge tale, written for the screen by Remmers and Tyler Burton Smith. But both the visual and narrative style turns it into a delightfully bonkers and blood-drenched extravaganza that you’d swear was plucked straight from the pages of a comic book.

Set in a near-future dystopia, a chiseled Skarsgård plays the story’s deaf-mute protagonist who’s known only as Boy. We learn through a smattering of flashbacks that Boy’s family was murdered right in front of him by a totalitarian dictator named Hilda van der Koy (Famke Janssen). Though just a child, Boy managed to escape but remained emotionally scarred and thirsty for revenge. We’re told how he sought the help of a Shaman (Yayan Ruhian) who for years has been training him to become the “ultimate warrior”.

As Boy’s rigorous and often agonizing training continues, Hilda and her power-mad family rule the unnamed city with a brutal iron fist. Nowhere is this more evident than in their annual event called “The Culling”. It’s essentially televised mass murderer as the fascist family gathers twelve citizens from the poor side of town and make examples out of them in front of a live studio audience. While gathering victims for the new year’s show, Boy witnesses acts of unspeakable violence by Hilda’s inept husband Glen (Sharlto Copley). He decides that enough is enough and sets off on his revenge-fueled campaign.

Skarsgård’s performance is an electric mix of physicality and expression, but he isn’t alone in depicting Boy. Acclaimed voice actor H. Jon Benjamin plays Boy’s inner voice who’s constantly letting us know what’s going in his mind. Benjamin makes for a great compliment to Skarsgård and Mohr is able to fuse them both into one fascinating and fun lead character.

Meanwhile the film features an assembly of colorful supporting characters energized by a wonderful ensemble cast. In addition to Janssen, Ruhian, and Copley we also get Michelle Dockery as Hilda’s wicked sister Melanie and Brett Gelman as her unreliable brother Gideon. Young Quinn Copeland frequently pops up as Mina, the ghost of Boy’s murdered little sister. And Isaiah Mustafa and Andrew Koji are a lot of fun as the two-man self-identified “Resistance”. But tops on the list is the fiercely intense Jessica Rothe playing the family’s top enforcer. It’s a dramatically different kind of role for Rothe and she kills it.

“Boy Kills World” is a wild and zany mashup that can be outrageously funny one second and ferociously ultraviolent the next. While the humor is a welcomed ingredient, its the action that drives the movie. Choreographer David Szatarski unleashes some truly spectacular fight sequences. They’re savage, bloody, and stylishly in tune with the film’s spirited tone. There’s not a lot of depth to the story but there are some surprising twists. And Skarsgård gives us a rooting interest that we’re happy to follow to the very end. “Boy Kills World” opens in theaters this Friday.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS