Review of Boy Wonder (2010) by Mike C — 10 Jul 2012

Promising concept. I like vigilante movies. Buuuut, went a little astray. Time just did a piece on Breaking Bad and the popular of anti-heroes in pop culture...like Dexter, Walt in BB, and others. This movie follows that trend. Whereas you might originally agree with what the boy is doing, he eventually goes too far and becomes unlikable.

It all starts years ago when his mother is murdered in front of him. It's via flashback, so that storyline develops throughout the movie and becomes part of the current plot. A virtual no-name is cast as the boy, and it's not a bad choice on the surface. He's not macho, nor is he nerdy, so he looks like an ideal character, but his acting is a little suspect and distracting. Regardless, his character begins to lose control and he issues some thrashings that go a little overboard, further blurring the line about the acceptability of vigilantism.

The detective is smoking hot. I see on this page that she was in Maxim at one point. Not surprising. Not a terrible actress in the movie. They storyline is such as to accommodate the ending, but I'm not sure I like it. Won't get into any real spoilers, but I think vigilante movies must carry a strong message. With endings like this, I think that message is muddied at best.