An intriguing, low-budget look at a young vigilante whose "heroism" comes with much moral ambivalence.
Boy Wonder
Beware the Hero
2010 · 1h 33m · R
Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by
Michael Morrissey
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Boy Wonder
Overview
A young Brooklyn boy witnesses the brutal murder of his mother and grows up obsessed with finding her killer. Thus begins his life as a quiet, straight-A student by day and a self-appointed hero at night. But what is a real hero? And who decides what is right or wrong? As the boundaries blur, Sean's dual life wears on his psyche and his two worlds careen dangerously close to colliding. Like a graphic novel you can't put down, Boy Wonder challenges morality, distorting perceptions of what is right and what is justified, as it races to its shocking conclusion.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Sometimes I think vigilante dramas would be more tolerable if they were pure violent payback, without all the moral grandstanding about our flawed criminal justice system.
I started watching it with moderate expectations and was surprised by how quickly I was drawn in; the movie works insistently on an emotional level.
Morrissey displays a flair for moody atmospherics as his protagonist wanders Gotham's streets and subways at night, but the film relies too heavily on cryptic flashbacks and deliberate gaps in the narrative to create suspense.
Though the story eventually develops some shading, Mr. Morrissey's enthusiasm for graphic novels is evident in every overstylized frame and underwritten conversation.
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