Boy Wonder (2010) - Movie Review

After witnessing his mother's murder, musical prodigy Sean Donovan has grown up into a shy intellectual about to graduate from high school and move on to prestige, but the mystery over who killed his mother has consumed his life, and after witnessing innocent people in his New York neighborhood continuing to be brutalized by relentless thugs, Sean takes it upon himself to deliver vigilante justice, but his noble efforts begin wearing down his scope of reality and he may be doing more harm than good.

What Christopher Nolan did with Batman Begins, taking the fantastic and grounding it in reality, writer/director Michael Morrissey goes one step further with his first feature length effort. What if a ten year old upstart actually witnessed the murder of one of his parents? The Batman comparisons don't end there. The title Boy Wonder is related to Batman's comic book sidekick - Robin, the Boy Wonder, there are two detectives Stenson (an insensitive obese goof) and Ames (a tough Latina woman) who are reflections of Gotham City detectives Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya. However, the comparisons nearly end there because this Boy Wonder has no issues with putting 9mm rounds through bad guys' skulls.

The film shows you how Sean prepares for his endeavor, training in kickboxing and jiujitsu, shooting steroids to become stronger and faster, donning an all black outfit topped off with a hoodie and face paint to make himself a threat, and the side effects of his injuries and the drugs. He slowly begins losing grip on reality. Meanwhile, his father (a recovering abusive alcoholic) remains clueless.

I had no idea what to expect when I started watching Boy Wonder. I had never heard of it and could only recall a handful of the stars from bit parts in other TV and movie productions, but I think being oblivious about this movie helped me like it as much as I did. I found it to be a neat psychological thriller that definitely pays off in the end because the consequences of Sean's actions are very real. Like any mystery or thriller, some coincidences need to occur in order for the story to progress of which there was only a small amount, which maintained the thickening tension. Good acting from the whole cast plus very capable directing from a first-timer made Boy Wonder one of the best surprise films that I've experienced in many years. I would recommend it for comic book geeks, suspense lovers, and anyone who is in the mood for just a really good movie.