I binge watched the series all at once, and have lots of thoughts. The anti-superhero trope is strong lately, like 'Umbrella Academy', and 'Brightburn', which I generally enjoy. I'm not sure 'enjoy' is the word I'd use to describe this show though.
The main "superheroes" (called 'Supes') are direct evil twins to Superman/Captain America, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc. I would argue that there are NO superheros in this show, just super-villains. The vigilantes trying to expose and destroy the Supes are known as 'The Boys', thus the show's title.
But this show series has some triggering issues:
1) The show is based on a comic book series, but with widely varying character development, origin stories, and plots. If you can believe it, the show is MUCH LESS violent and darkly twisted than the comics. And yet still, this is a very violent and visually gory show. Like Robert Rodriguez/ Quentin Tarantino level. Be forewarned.
2) There's some overt plot lines along misogyny. Most of the women characters are victimized, assaulted, exploited, and otherwise manipulated, included the Supes. There's several rape references - and it is implied that the male Supes are repeat offenders. There is 1 woman vigilante of the Boys, who is actually the physically strongest of the group, but is mute and is only known as 'The Female', even after her name is revealed as 'Kimiko'. And more obviously, though she is a woman part of the team, they are still known as, and the show is still called, "The Boys".
3) There are also overt plot lines along homophobia - literally "fear of being gay". Supe 'Ezekiel' is an evangelist described as "Pray the gay away" who secretly engages in sex with men at a supe underground sex dungeon, and the video footage of his exploits is used to blackmail him. The Senator unknowingly has sex with the supe "Doppelganger" who turns into an obese man during coitus and takes pics, which is used to blackmail him. And supe Queen Maeve is tormented by feeling forced into the closet, unable to reveal her queer sexuality lest she be ostracized from The Seven.
Sigh. The more I think about it, and the more I learn about the source material, the less I like this show. Meh.
It's so frustrating that the plot keeps going around in circles and resetting the status quo by the end of each season, but “The Boys” is still pretty fun to watch. It definitely came out at the right time if we consider the current popularity of both superhero franchises and dark/gruesome TV shows. The premise of corrupt superheroes manipulated by an evil corporation as if they were a K-Pop group is more than intriguing, even though it could have used more nuance in its development. Starlight is too pure and innocent, while the Vought heroes are just walking (or flying) piles of shit with no ambiguity or relatable traits whatsoever, almost like cartoon villains. There is hardly anyone in between at this point.
The second season had slightly better pacing, but at the same time, it gave me the impression that the main plot did not progress much. Both the Supes and the Boys are starting to show their contradictions, and a reasonable time has been devoted to exploring their characters and backstories. I enjoyed the new cast (Stormfront in particular), but I am still waiting for that one character who will make me fall in love. Surprisingly enough, Homelander is still the most interesting of the bunch. The gore was fun at the beginning, but it's starting to get redundant.
The third season had a slow start, but I thought it picked up decently by the end. Still, the plot keeps taking one step forward and two steps back until it feels like none of the story arcs has had a real purpose. Someone died, and someone changed their official position, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they find a way to reset that as well at the beginning of the next season. They know that if the plot evolves and Homelander finally snaps, they’ll be done in a handful of episodes. I expect this to keep dragging on for a few more years until they let everything happen in the final season.
The mandatory “edgy” scenes, usually one per episode, are as fun as they are hollow and inoffensive, while the parodies of American TV shows and pop culture are usually pretty good.
And please, someone kill Frenchie and Kimiko because I can’t stand them anymore. Their scenes are so schmaltzy that I want to jump out of the window each time.
This is an interesting adaptation of the graphic novel by Garth Ennis and Darick Robinson.
Graphic novels are very hard to translate into a watchable series, mostly due to the sheer breadth of the material and often untranslatable concepts but the writing team here did a good job of crating a compelling and interesting take on the superhero genre. Ennis is famous for his take on the fallibility of the superpowered human and this comes across strong albeit not in the extremis he probably would pursue.
Cast wise there are a couple of well known faces, the most notable being Karl Urban who makes a good choice for butcher however his biggest butchering is of the cockney accent he tries to affect. From time to time his native Kiwi accent bleeds through making him sound Australian which is somewhat distracting but he is a solid actor and he makes up for this with his big screen prescence.
Anthony Starr is another Kiwi who shines in his role as Homelander, a part which he absolutely nails. As a metaphor character for modern America Homelander needed an actor with a subtle touch and Starr is a great choice.
The choice of Jack Quaid for Hughie is an interesting one. It was obvious that the role was tailor made for Simon Pegg and he does a cameo as Hughie's dad in an obvious nod to the source material however the Hughie of the novels is a tortured Hibernian soul with all the angst and wit unique to the Scottish. Quad is a good actor but the end result of rewriting Hughie as a nerdy American results in a character who is more of an annoying simp than antihero. He is supposed to be a character that you love because of his obvious flaws and shortcomings but (and maybe its just me) I find him bland to the point of being apathetic to his fate. He is not a worthy protaganist.
Notable performance s include Starlight played by Erin Moriarty who is a good fit for the role and I hope the writers develop more of her storyline. Likewise Aya Cash as Stormfront makes her mark and I was not sure the role would work as a female (as it is male in the novels) but she makes it her own! Elisabeth Shue is almost too good as an antagonist almost to the point of me wondering who she is channelling to make her character so unlikable!
If I have one criticism its that the novels had a core mission for 'The Boys' whereas I struggle to understand why they exist as a team in the TV series. The motivators in the Novels are clear cut and understandable whereas they are getting progressively opaque in this series. I hope the writers put some effort into making the 'mission' of 'The Boys' more clear and give us an outcome to root for!
Overall, a solid 8/10!
Meinung:
Die Superhelden-Serie “The Boys”, spielt in einer Welt, in der Superhelden etwas völlig Normales sind. Diese Superhelden sind Berühmtheiten, die von ihren Fans gefeiert werden. Schnell erkennt man hier bekannte Vorlagen, wie beispielsweise Superman (Homelander), Flash (A-Train) oder Aquaman (The Deep) wieder. Unterstützt werden sie dabei von der Organisation Vought, die sich um alles, rund um die Superhelden kümmert (Termine, PR, Aufträge,...). Hierdurch wirkt das ganze Leben der Superhelden eher wie eine scripted Reality Show. Leider stellen sich einige Superhelden, bei genauerer Betrachtung, als nicht so heldenhaft dar. Drogen, Sex, Gewalt, Intrigen, um nur einen kleiner Ausschnitt zu nennen, bestimmen das Leben einiger Supes. Hier wird dann auch schnell verständlich, wieso zu Beginn jeder Folge darauf hingewiesen wird, dass die Serie erst ab 18 geeignet ist. Abgerundet wird dies noch, durch die teilweise sehr offen gezeigte Gewalt, samt ihrer Folgen. Trotzdem würde ich sagen, eignet sich die Serie auch für jene, mit empfindlichen Magen, da sich solche Szenen in Grenzen halten.
Auf der anderen Seite der Superhelden steht das namensgebende Team “The Boys”. Diese sind nur darauf bedacht, die Supes zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen. Schnell wird allerdings klar, dass dies ohne Superkräfte, eine schwere Aufgabe wird. Hier ist also Köpfchen gefragt, was zu Plänen führt, die schon fast an das A-Team oder Mission Impossible erinnern. Neben dem klar erkennbaren Grund von Hughie, dem Team beizutreten, erfährt man im Laufe der Serie, auch die Hintergründe anderer Team-Mitglieder wodurch erkennbar wird, warum sie Jagd auf die Supes machen. Neben diesen Informationen, gibt es noch einige Informationen mehr die zu noch mehr Klarheit beim Zuschauer führen.
Die Schauspieler sind gut und passend zum jeweiligen Charakter gewählt. Hier möchte ich allen voran, da eine wichtige Säule der Serie, Karl Urban, in der Rolle von Billy Butcher etwas herausheben. Karl Urban passt nahezu perfekt in die Rolle von Billy und spielt diesen überzeugend gut. Knallharte Sprüche und ein recht trockener Humor, bilden dabei einige Charaktereigenschaften dieses Charakters. Hughie bildet das krasse Gegenteil zu Butcher und ist eher zurückhaltend und ängstlich. Allerdings vollzieht dieser Charakter im Laufe der 8 Folgen umfassenden 1. Staffel, einen deutlich erkennbaren Wandel.
Zum Ende der 1. Staffel von “The Boys” kommt es zu einem Showdown, der zu überraschen weiß und die Zuschauer mit einem Cliffhanger zurücklässt. Hier ist Vorfreude auf die 2. Staffel also vorprogrammiert.
Fazit: Amazon liefert mit der Superhelden-Serie “the Boys”, eine etwas andere Interpretation der gängigen Superhelden Adaptionen. Dabei erinnert sie stark an bereits bekannte Formate wie beispielsweise, “Kick-Ass” oder aber “Super - Shut Up Crime!”. Diese Serie beweist, dass Superhelden nicht immer Gesetzestreuen Vorbilder sein müssen, wodurch ein Kampf, Mensch gegen Supe beginnt. Von mir gibt es eine deutliche Empfehlung mit 5/5 Popcorntüten.
Review by LineageBlockedParent2020-12-13T20:46:49Z
This show is so highly regarded and so highly spoken of by a lot of people, and I feel like it's an overreaction. Now, don't get me wrong, this show is entertaining to watch; I feel like every little detail is highly praised by a lot of people. From what I've seen, people make this show out to be much better than it is. Every little detail is brought up as another reason why this show is the best show they've ever watched. It's odd and, well, very ridiculous.
I think that it has to do with the themes in the show, including the way things are written to mirror the real world, as well as more minor details that get people all excited, for some reason, using them as a way to express how great this show is. It doesn't make sense to me. Another thing that I think is one of the reasons that people think makes this show the greatest show they've ever watched is that this show reinvents the superhero genre or something to do with the superhero genre, and I don't understand that.
To me, these reasons seem very shallow. None of those things should matter. None of those things should play a factor in whether or not you enjoy an episode of a show or the show itself; whether or not you think an episode of a show or the show itself is great; the level at which you enjoy an episode of a show or the show itself or think it's great. None of it should matter so much to where you'll not like an episode of a show or the show itself as much as you would've if things like that were present, to where it has such an impact on how you react and feel, and your outlook. When I see people reacting so strongly, positively or negatively, about stuff like that, I think it's ridiculous that they seemingly matter so much to them. Because, for me, it's only a matter of whether I enjoy what I watch.
Speaking of which, another one of those reasons that I've seen people provide as to why they love the show so much is that it's way better than the comic book series was; that they liked various aspects that the show did or made a lot better than the comics did. I can understand that reason, but that still shouldn't elevate the show higher than it is. And I think it does for a lot of people, as does the themes in the show, the way the writers write some things to mirror the real world and on-going situations, the way that this show reinvents the superhero genre or whatever that assertion is all about. I don't understand that way of thinking.
Personally, I enjoy watching this show. There are instances where the writing is lazy, convenient, or contrived; instances of inconsistency. And there are plenty of moments that come across as ridiculous but may not completely fit within any of those categories. But I never had that big of a problem with them. There were only a few that I caught, and they didn't bother me; hell, the ones that I caught may have explanations that make enough sense and aren't too convenient. There were more instances like that of which were revealed to me through other means, but they still didn't bother me that much.
The only thing that's an issue with this show for me is that the main plot and subplots aren't written in a captivating way, most of the time. I'm still entertained enough while watching episodes that feel that way, but it's something that I wish wasn't the case so I can be as entertained as possible. Other than that, I have always been entertained by this show. I don't think that aspect will change, thankfully. It's the entertainment value that matters the most to me. And while I don't understand the high praise or reactions to practically every little detail in the show, it's not my problem. This show has always been entertaining to watch, and that's good enough for me.