After his family are killed by a tyrannical post-apocalyptic dynasty, a young boy is trained by a mysterious shaman (Yayan Ruhian) to become a deadly assassin hellbent on revenge. Grown up and ready for action, the Boy (Bill Skarsgård) teams up with resistance fighters Basho (Andrew Koji) and Bennie (Isaiah Mustafa) to try and kill the head of the dynasty, the wicked Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen).
I love a brutal revenge movie, and God knows this one doesn't shy away from the graphic violence, but the script is incredibly weak, while the comic book approach, with its offbeat humour and crazy characters, strives too hard for cult appeal. The film relies very heavily on its kooky comedy, most of which falls flat; it is, more often than not, very irritating, particularly the Boy's inner voice, his imaginary little sister Mina (Quinn Copeland), and Mustafa's incomprehensible Bennie.
Fortunately, the frequent action is, for the most part, well handled, with a nasty fight involving a cheese grater, an impressive scene with a mini-gun, and a suitably hard-hitting and bloody two-against-one final fight in the villain's bunker (those claws gouging their flesh - yowch!). I can't help but think that if the film had been played more seriously, minus the lame attempts at being wacky, it would have been a far more satisfying watch.
I love a brutal revenge movie, and God knows this one doesn't shy away from the graphic violence, but the script is incredibly weak, while the comic book approach, with its offbeat humour and crazy characters, strives too hard for cult appeal. The film relies very heavily on its kooky comedy, most of which falls flat; it is, more often than not, very irritating, particularly the Boy's inner voice, his imaginary little sister Mina (Quinn Copeland), and Mustafa's incomprehensible Bennie.
Fortunately, the frequent action is, for the most part, well handled, with a nasty fight involving a cheese grater, an impressive scene with a mini-gun, and a suitably hard-hitting and bloody two-against-one final fight in the villain's bunker (those claws gouging their flesh - yowch!). I can't help but think that if the film had been played more seriously, minus the lame attempts at being wacky, it would have been a far more satisfying watch.