Bill Skarsgård in Boy Kills World (Roadside Attractions)

Directors often adhere to the classic “show, don’t tell” rule. Too much voice-over exposition can disrupt momentum and grind viewer’s investment in the story to a halt. Then again, most films don’t have H. Jon Benjamin narrating for the lanky yet chiseled Bill Skarsgård as Boy Kills World’s nameless avenger. An odd pairing to say the least.

Naturally, Benjamin’s isn’t Skarsgård’s real voice. Rather, our hero—referred to simply as Boy—has picked this inner monologue from warm memories of an arcade game announcer who just so happens to sound like the star of Bob’s Burgers and Archer. That is hardly the craziest thing about Boy Kills World, an over-the-top violent yet childlike action riff on the dystopian and revenge film genres. It’s not going for anything truly original, and even its totalitarian world feels like a pale imitation of The Hunger Games. But what it lacks in innovation, the movie still provides the entertainment factor with its intense “going for maximum gonzo” style and some pretty sick fight scenes too.

That voice stabilizes Boy (played as a young kid by Nicolas and Cameron Crovetti) largely as a coping mechanism. He’s deaf and mute, partially due to the trauma of seeing his mom and sister gunned down by this world’s tyrannical leader, Hilda van der Koy (Famke Janssen), as part of an annual Hunger Game–inspired murder/entertainment spectacle called the Culling. Vowing to return as an instrument of vengeance, Boy trained under a disheveled, gnarly-toothed shaman (The Raid: Redemption’s Yayan Ruhian) to fight back and ruthlessly kill his adversaries. Eventually, the kid grows up to be Skarsgård who, upon realizing this year’s Culling is underway, decides the time for patience is over. Especially once he saves a revolutionary named Basho (Andrew Koji), who has a plan of his own to sneak into the van der Koy’s base of operations and take them out.

Suffice to say, Boy Kills World takes place in a very cartoonish reality, and everyone playing off Skarsgård acts the part. They include the squabbling van der Koy siblings Gideon (Brett Gelman) and Melanie (Michelle Dockery), and some interactions make for good comedy. In particular, it’s always hilarious whenever Boy tries to make sense of resistance ally Benny (Isaiah Mustafa), who acts as his interpreter, speaking in random gibberish due to bad lip-reading. But it gets even funnier/weirder when director Moritz Mohr and cinematographer Peter Matjasko attempt to visualize what Boy thinks Benny is saying via absurd flashback sequences. Nevertheless, the comedy here is less about punchlines than hearing Benny’s deadpan remarks and Skarsgård’s reactions to everything the two see and/or murder. This lends itself to Boy Kills World’s major twists—one fairly predictable, one far more shocking—even if the corrupt system Boy’s fighting lacks proper worldbuilding.

Then again, few movies can say they have action quite like Boy Kills World. Skillfully put together by Dawid Szatarski, these fights begin at a crazy level of eight and constantly end up somewhere past 11 without breaking a sweat. And boy do they showcase variety, along with plenty of blood and gore, like dining table brawl where axes, swords, and even food are deployed as melee weapons. A super-violent fistfight involving the Shaman will instantly remind everyone what a beast Ruhian was in “The Raid” films when cut loose. And that’s to say nothing of the Culling fight, which features everything from a killer mascot to a brutal fatality involving a TV camera. All of that probably makes no sense out of context. But don’t worry, it’s a lot of fun to watch in action.

These goofy elements help Mohr maintain Boy Kills World’s visual charm despite its storytelling cracks. But those cracks are there, from how little we learn about this society outside Boy’s perspective to a lack of depth behind his allies’ and adversaries’ goals. Creative kickass fights and the Skarsgård/Benny double act will certainly attract a loyal fanbase. But if Mohr wants to retain this gleefully chaotic vibe in a potential sequel, a little extra characterization shouldn’t be too hard. Cue Archer voice: “Phrasing. Boom!”