We finally managed to finish Amazon’s The Boys and although based in a good premise, the delivery IMHO was less than full. In fact, it went short. I have to remind myself these type of works where the script is based on comics or follow its rules, cannot have a lot of depth or common sense.
Truthfully the only reason i watched the whole thing was because of the acting of Karl Urban who portrays an asshole killer but he does not try to hide it and even makes it look good. He is like the cousin you know it is gonna get you in trouble and more than likely has warrants on his ass, but you can’t help but like the bastard and go out to get beers with him.
Here is a scene whee Butcher deals (harshly) with a former “Supe” after he betrayed them and almost got them killed:
Now, the series would improve 100% if somebody were to kill pansy ass Hughie Campbell. I hate him more than Homelander and he is a psychopath super hero who has probably killed more people than rescued.
So The boys get 3 and a half “Meh’s”
I have my issues with the show. What I said was is that I love the premise of the show.
I believe:
1) It accurately represents what would happen if there were real sups. That level of power would corrupt them and most would be drug abusing rapist murderers. We see this all the time with Celebrities and athletes who make huge sums of money and are protected by powerful interests. There is a reason the NFL is known as the National Felon League.
2) It is the ultimate underdog revenge fantasy where the lowly Joe Schmo goes after the corrupt and powerful, in this case sups.
I really don’t care that Butcher is a bad guy, because he is a bad guy killing worse guys. That was the appeal of The Punisher. I like it when there is moral dubiousness in the good guys.
I’ve said it many times before, I’d of liked Harry Potter much more if after he stunned a Death Eater (because he didn’t know the killing curse) he crushed the Death Eater’s head with a rock.
I recently read the comic to this. This is an example of an amazing concept but the maker didn’t or couldnt do it justice. Hughie was pretty crap. He did nothing really. Just was there. He just existed to have things happen to him.
I’m three or four episodes in, and I’m enjoying it so far. Butcher is my favorite character at this point. As J.Kb said, he has the appeal of The Punisher (or Riddick, or Kratos from the “God of War” video games); he’s the “anti-hero”, the bad guy taking out even worse guys.
I thought the portrayal of Translucent’s character, short-lived (heh!) as it was, was accurate. The guy has invisibility powers and hangs out in the unisex bathroom, the most nightmarish Peeping Tom From Hell ever!
Hughie’s entire character and backstory are the awkward gamma-male who never does anything himself, content to just let life happen to him. As cringe-inducing and annoying as that is, it’s realistic; I was that guy once, a long time ago. I’m hoping to see some character growth — he has had some moments — but the series is too short for me to expect much.
My biggest issue with the show is discussed in this video, regarding the constant push for military contracts and Supes on the front lines. Basically, looking at Vought’s level of technology, capital investment, human testing, “Compound V”, civil and criminal immunity, an adoring and compliant media, etc., etc…. None of that could conceivably happen if Vought didn’t already have military contracts and federal government protections. If not for Supes, specifically, then for myriad other things. Stillwell wouldn’t be chasing multi-billion-dollar U.S. DOD contracts; she’d already have them. She’d be more likely to be trying to find ways to discretely export the technology to foreign military forces for even more profit.
But it makes for an interesting sub-plot. I’m eager to see where it goes. 🙂
I loved it. It was like a less good version of worm by Wildbow brought to screen.
Hugh doing nothing is an interesting take since he does like almost everything and is manipulator in cheif second only to homelander.
I however wasn’t really convinced by his transformation from Joe schmo to super hero killer, that needed more work to convince me he would flip like thst and basically go bad.
I enjoyed the show overall, specially since I had watched Brightburn (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7752126/) early this year.
Nitpicks? Yeah, I have a few but nothing that would ruin the show for me.