‘The Boys‘ is currently on Amazon Prime ready to stream and stars Jack Quaid, Karl Urban, and Antony Starr, as a group of vigilantes who are trying to take down real-life Superheros that abuse their power. This is based off the comic series written by Garth Ennis an Darick Robertson.
In a not so different world from ours, super-powered ‘heroes’ are not only in large quantities, but are syndicated, monetized, and promoted as what you could call ‘Celebrity-Superheros’ all being marketed by a corporation called ‘Vought’. Sadly, many of these ‘Supers’ are less heroic and take advantage of the good publicity and notoriety of their fame in sometimes gruesome terrible ways, with ‘Vought’ there to clean up the mess. Houghie Campbell (played by Quaid) sees first-hand the cover-ups done to hide a Superheros bad deeds, and after losing someone he loved to said cover-up, he is forever changed and introduced to a new world of ‘Supes’ revenge by the help of ‘Billy Butcher’, an off the rails possibly FBI agent played by Karl Urban. They are later joined by the rest of ‘The Boys’, ‘Frenchie’ and ‘Mothers Milk’ (played by Tomer Capone and Laz Alonso) In this series that I loved watching from start to finish!
What I fell in love with right away was the breakneck pace this show has. Normally with a Netflix or HBO series, a season can really be a slow burn, with filler episodes and too much hesitation to go ‘all-out’ because the show creators want to save the ‘big moments’ for the season finale (or even wait until the NEXT season to ensure it gets green-lit). ‘The Boys’ gives ZERO f***’s and gives you a very fast-paced and full story, the first two episodes feel like they could be stretched for an entire season and I’m so happy they chose not to do that, and gave the people what they wanted!
‘The Boys’ is so smartly crafted and explores new parts of the superhero genre you have never seen fully before. Some films like ‘Kick-Ass’ have grazed the topics that ‘The Boys’ seems to delight themselves in diving into. There are so many interesting concepts and ideas with the show and characters that It’s engaging the entire way. You can talk about the implications of ‘The Boys’ world for days after watching it, and believe me, I did.
‘The Boys’ Superhero’s all reflect iconic heroes from either Marvel or DC. ‘The Seven’ being their ‘Justice League’. There are many hybrid characters emulating both sides of Superhero fandom that whatever side you lean towards, you’ll still feel your favorite Superhero represented in some way. I love how fleshed out each character is, they all have their own motivations and serve a purpose to the main story, but the most compelling and fleshed out ‘super’ is the ‘Superman-Captain America’ hybrid character and leader of ‘The Seven’, ‘Homelander’ (played by Antony Starr).
Starr plays this character so well and is able to tap into this psychopathic yet controlled rage as ‘Homelander’. There is a lot of depth in his character so I don’t wanna delve too much into it, but son of a bitch, he’s got a lot more to do next season and I’m ready for it.
As for ‘The Boys’, I think I have a new favorite quirky character actor in Jack Quaid. I think he did fantastic in this show and though I know he’s done other shows before this is my first introduction to him as an actor and I was very impressed.
Karl Urban as well goes all out as ‘The Butcher’ and aside from ‘Homelander’ has the most interesting story arc that moving into season 2 has me floored as to where they will take his story. ‘Frenchie’ and ‘Mothers Milk’ also are great characters that I’m excited to see more of moving forward, as well as the late addition to the season ‘The Female’ (played by ‘Suicide Squad’ star Karen Fukuhara). They all have a great b story that played well within the context of their main plot and showcased some really impressive acting.
But BE WARNED! THIS IS NOT A SHOW FOR KIDDOS! Not only would I consider this more vulgar than any r-rated comic series adapted to screen, but it’s also the most gruesome and violent. It’s an adult comic book series and must be sent out as a disclaimer to the parents who never know what their kids are watching and decide to put this on in the background DON’T unless you want your kid to end up like me!
Overall, I had a blast watching this show. I’m excited for season 2 (currently filming) and wanna know your thoughts! If you wanna spoil anything make sure to mark it as spoilers!
