iBoy is a Netflix original film that centers around a teenage boy who gets shards of a phone lodged in his brain, which causes him to be able control any electronic devices. It's an interesting plot, but it drags on. You'd think with a runtime as short as ninety minutes that the movie would fly by and be a tightly wound thriller. Well, that's definitely not the case here. At the end of the day, iBoy is relatively boring at times, and even if you can get past that it's simply okay.
First and foremost I'd like to say that this film does not suck. It's no Max Steel or Fant4stic, and the thing that elevates it above those things is the general plot and some good acting from supporting characters.
The plot is interesting, and despite the slow pace it keeps you watching. I was mildly interested in what was going to happen to our main characters. However, that brings me to one of my biggest gripes: the characters. There really isn't that much character development, and when there is, it is very blatantly thrown in at the last second. There are some very random conversations that occur to try to develop some of the ignored characters, and they feel forced and out of place.
The only thing that kept me from completely not caring was Maisie Williams' performance. I completely sympathized with her character from the get-go and it made me hope for the best for that story arc. However, the character I could not sympathize with, unfortunately, was the main character. The actor (his name slips my mind) who played him did not give a strong enough performance, and there was some TERRIBLE writing for his character.
My biggest complaint of iBoy is that the characters are extremely stupid. If this was a horror movie then the majority of them would be dead by the halfway point. The main kid has some extraordinary powers: he can do basically anything he wants. So why doesn't he? Without spoiling anything, I finished this film thinking that it could have been about twenty-five minutes long. He gets his powers, gets the bad guys, roll credits. But the writers decided to make our protagonist screw something up every time he tries to do anything so that the movie would last. It's quite infuriating.
Before I wrap up, I've got to give Rory Kinnear some props for pulling out a great performance in just two scenes of dialogue. I thought he was excellent in his episode of Black Mirror, and this makes me want more from him.
Overall, iBoy is an okay movie with some terrible writing and pacing, but good enough performances and general plot to get you through it.
