Boy Wonder (2010)

Sorry, this movie sucks

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

A fantastic movie, which has sudden jolts in pace and mood. This is probably the most underrated movie I know off as it is pure indie movie making genius. Flashbacks are highlighted by colour (as in a yellow hue) instead of a dreamy washed out colour correction to indicate a past time event. The movie throws in a few clever red herrings which gets you guessing what might be happening, but then after a twist you realise that you thought wrong, as the director would have wanted us to of course. This movie is an example of a very well planned storyline. I just loved this movie and the cinematography & editing was very clean looking with clean cuts just running with the story. I very much enjoyed this movie and I'd rate it in my top 20 best movies in my mind that I've ever seen.

Boy Wonder begins with young Sean (Jake Randazzo) and his mother chatting together on a bench. The film then abruptly changes pace and the next scene shows his mother Mary Donovan (Tracy Middendorf) being killed in front of young Sean's eyes as a result of a car jacking. The film then abruptly cuts to Sean being a teenager.This was a problem for me as I felt that all this happened far too quickly. There are snippets of their life together before she died, but with these snippets coming at various stages in the film, for me it did make it feel somewhat disjointed. I think a slightly longer introduction between Sean & Mary would have been better and certainly would have made the film flow a lot better.I found that Sean's transition from shy teenager to a kick ass vigilante type also came out of nowhere. His incredible fighting skills are also questionable - I realise he's fairly accomplished as a boxer, but where did he learn his other skills? It also stretches credibility for us to expect to believe that of all the languages in the world that he chooses to learn would be Chinese which is one of the most difficult languages to learn. I also found it hard to believe that police chief Bill Baldwin (Chuck Cooper) would allow Sean to have access to police computers for over 10 years and allow him to look at mugshots etc. Yes he lets him do it at first because he's a messed up kid following his mother's murder, but to allow him to look at mugshots for 10 years and allow him the possibility to access sensitive data. Come on..... It's just impossible to believe that this would happen. Boy Wonder seems to have a lot of loose threads, but seemingly with no-one there to tie them together. I've brought up some negatives to Boy Wonder, but it also has a lot of good points; for a start, it is compelling viewing and is never boring. It has a gritty, hard edge about it which will certainly hold your interest. The fight choreography is fairly good. I was also particularly impressed with the ending of the film and thought that it was really clever. It's thought provoking and will certainly make you 'think before you act'.Despite my reservations, I still enjoyed Boy Wonder and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of vigilante films. For me, I just felt the narrative could have been a bit more cohesive and parts of the plot are a bit ridiculous, but it's still an enjoyable film that is well worth a look.

I watched Boy Wonder knowing absolutely nothing about the movie other than the brief description Netflix provides. The first half of the film is fairly slow and gives little indication of what the story is about. All we know is Sean is a nerdy outcast, saw his mother killed when he was a boy, and trains in a boxing gym.It's not until 45 minutes into the movie before we're given a clue Sean's worldview might not reflect reality. (The scene on the sidewalk where the mother is scolding her child is shown twice; first as Sean's interpretation and then as what really happened.) But if Sean is seeing a skewed reality, how much of the first 45 minutes can we believe? Viewers aren't given any clues to the answer.The key to movies with a good twist is to set up the story in a way that leads viewers to believe they understand the worldview presented in the film, then reveal information that invalidates that worldview but allows the entire film to be interpreted through a different worldview. (i.e. Mulholland Drive, Primer, etc.) While I admit the ending surprised me, Boy Wonder didn't present a cohesive enough story early on in the movie for me to establish an original worldview. Furthermore, after the reveal at the end of the movie many of the character's actions still don't make sense.Why is Sean seeking out these criminals? He tried to avoid the fight with the dealer and the shooting appeared accidental. If he didn't want to fight, why did he go there in the first place? For the second fight, he purposely lured the pimp out of the house and immediately got the upper hand, but fought purely defensively until the pimp told Sean he was going to beat the girl. His indecisiveness makes it hard for viewers to understand why he is doing these things.The crux of the movie rests on the question of whether or not Sean's father paid Larry Childs to kill his mother. Viewers don't really know if he did or didn't--neither explanation holds up very well in light of all the other actions taken in the movie.Sean believes his father did, based on what he heard outside the car that night. ("Time's up Rock.") Deducing a contract killing from that statement is a stretch. If Sean's father wanted to call it off (as he appeared to want to do in that scene) there's no reason Larry wouldn't agree and just keep the money. A more plausible explanation is Sean's father was late on a debt of some sort.At the very end of the movie Larry Childs tells Sean his father was not part of the killing. If that's true then Sean made a mistake killing his father. However, detective Ames helps him cover it up by throwing the gun in the river. Why would she do that? We're not given any insight into her motivation.In the end many of the character's actions seem random rather than based on whatever principles they value most, and that makes it hard to understand or empathize with them.

I really liked this movie. I actually didn't think Hollywood made movies this good any more but was pleasantly surprised. It pulls on your sense of morality and makes you ask questions about what is justified when a system of justice fails. It had me engaged from beginning to end. To me, the script was well- written. The pacing was perfect. It was well cast and well-acted.If people were looking to compare it to something, I think Dexter would be a natural comparison, but it had a totally different vibe and, honestly, the characters seemed much more real and compelling compared to the characters in Dexter.I'll save my highest praise for last (and this is very high praise for me) - I would have paid to see it in the theater.