Jump to content

The Boys (Amazon)


AncalagonTheBlack

Recommended Posts

Let's go! :) Topic title suggestions would be appreciated. ;)

 

3 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

About to start Amazon's The Boys. I know nothing about the comics, so going in blind.

 

3 hours ago, Veltigar said:

If I wasn't travelling this weekend, I'd do the same. I hope Karl Urban finally has a bit of luck, he's a good actor but even his best work never seems to be able to connect. 

 

1 hour ago, Heartofice said:

That first episode of The Boys was fantastic! 

With its cynical take on superheroes and commercialism, this feels like the most appropriate show about super humans around

 

59 minutes ago, red snow said:

Need to watch. Reminds me of X-force/x-statix comic in early 2000s which was probably ahead of its time with reality tv and commercialism but without the superheroes being an active danger to the public. 

Does it have a preacher feel? As it's based on the same comic writer and has same producers.

 

51 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I didn’t know that. Maybe, but it’s not quirky or over the top as Preacher. This feels heavily grounded in reality, but with a darkly comic twist. Feels more like Doom Patrol , but I might end up preferring this.

 

23 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

I've watched the first 2 episodes of The Boys, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I loved the comic series.  For the TV show they appear to have ditched the main character being a Scottish guy, so I’m put off already (I’m Scottish :P).

Will watch it soon though.  I’m thinking they’ll have to tone down the Garth Ennis shenanigans but hopefully they keep it as edgy as possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve never read the comic so I have little to compare it to.. but so far it’s great. It might be an advantage though because lots of people complained about Preacher in that thread and I love that show too having never really read more than one issue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm interested to see how this goes. I don't have a lot of faith in Ennis or in adaptations of Ennis material. On the other hand, if you'd told me a major company would finance an adaptation of The Boys I would have said you were crazy, so maybe they've handled it well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part way into the 4th episode so far. It has reduced the boundary pushing and gross-out factor by about 75%, I think, but retains some edge. It seems broadly faithful to the themes and characters, and I've been enjoying it. Only thing I miss so far is 

Spoiler

Butcher's dog, Terror; he's referenced in a flashback but is clearly not in the picture in the present.

Also, I think the biggest difference in terms of the plot is that Butcher and his team are not suped up as well on Compound V, and so end up learning about it in the first half of the season. I'm going to guess that this will change as the season progresses.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also four episodes in. Pretty solid so far, although I have a suspicion they may have partly cancelled The Tick because they didn't want to have two-superhero-satires-produced-by-a-Supernatural-writer on air simultaneously. So far it's not as good as The Tick, where I think the somewhat lighter tone but with still really dark shit happening worked better than The Boys' grimdark/edgelord angle. I suspect I would be more appreciative of it if I was an angry eighteen year old.

That said, it's still good, if it can just nail down what it's trying to say, and Karl Urban is absolutely fantastic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suspect The Tick was cancelled due to very high production costs vs. audience. Apparently they made some very silly decisions that ramped up costs something fierce.

Is the message really all that obscure? Rampant commercialism and unchecked corporate influence on government and society are terrible things, and also superheroes are infantile bullshit, seem to be the running themes.

Given the dominance of Disney and the MCU these days, it's certainly very topical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished, i have a question for the comic readers about Butcher's wife:

Spoiler

Did Homelander rape her or did they have consensual sex? At first i thought it looked pretty clear that's it's rape ,but the ending scene and the wife's reaction and the way the scene was shot left me a bit confused!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haven't seen the show but comic wise 

Spoiler

She was raped. She didnt tell him about it. He finds out when he finds her dead and a baby with homelander's powers is floating around their place. Butcher kills that baby. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Werthead said:

Also four episodes in. Pretty solid so far, although I have a suspicion they may have partly cancelled The Tick because they didn't want to have two-superhero-satires-produced-by-a-Supernatural-writer on air simultaneously. So far it's not as good as The Tick, where I think the somewhat lighter tone but with still really dark shit happening worked better than The Boys' grimdark/edgelord angle. I suspect I would be more appreciative of it if I was an angry eighteen year old.

That said, it's still good, if it can just nail down what it's trying to say, and Karl Urban is absolutely fantastic.

I had a similar feeling regarding Tick's demise too. This does feel like a darker version of similar themes. I get the feeling audiences currently turn up for "the boys" approach over comedy/oddness though.

Karl Urban always shines brightest in TV even though he's great in film too. When are they going to give him a dredd show.

11 hours ago, Ran said:

I suspect The Tick was cancelled due to very high production costs vs. audience. Apparently they made some very silly decisions that ramped up costs something fierce.

Is the message really all that obscure? Rampant commercialism and unchecked corporate influence on government and society are terrible things, and also superheroes are infantile bullshit, seem to be the running themes.

Given the dominance of Disney and the MCU these days, it's certainly very topical.

Superheroes as infantile bullshit is a running theme of all Ennis's works. It's surprising how he doesn't manage to turn off superhero comic fans. 

The first episode was good fun and it does feel inevitable this type of show/film would appear with the MCU being so prevalent. I guess brightburn suggests this approach might be the current reaction to MCU dominance.

I like how simon pegg appears despite being too old to play the character the comic was so blatantly based upon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Werthead said:

That said, it's still good, if it can just nail down what it's trying to say, and Karl Urban is absolutely fantastic.

This is an odd critique of the show, if only because I saw the AV Club make a similar criticism. It seems to me The Boys is making some points around the way big business manipulates the media and celebrity for their own purposes, especially in regards to celebrity. There are clear parallels to sports and movie stars being highly protected and managed and their public image being a purely manufactured artifact, wholly removed from their real lives. 

On a day when I found out that Kylie Jenner gets paid £1million for each instagram post I can see this being kinda relevant (especially as I consider her whole family to be a scourge!) 

There is nothing especially groundbreaking about showing superheroes as deeply flawed, but I do like this line of portrayal, showing them as almost deeply uninterested in protecting people. It also reminds me of a few sport stars who seemed to have lost all interest in the sport that made them famous in the first place.

 

Either way, I'm not sure a show has to 'nail down what its trying to say'. Its a damn entertaining hour for me, and has a lot going for it. I certainly like it more than the Tick (Never got past Peter Serafinowitz in the role).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished it. Have to say, the last two episodes kind of peter out and lose their way a bit. They shy away from some of it's cynicism in a way that bugs me, as it undermines the core themes. Kind of disappointed in that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished it as well, and agree with the above. The last 2 episodes were weaker, and not a lot of payoff. However, overall I really liked it. I'm not familiar with the comics, so I don't know how much more material there is. I didn't expect the finale to be so abrupt.

Karl Urban and Anthony Starr were excellent, and the rest were solid, too. Every time Homelander interacted with someone, his eyes and facial expressions made you believe this was someone who could snap at any moment.

Edit: This is the 2nd Amazon show this year that may easily rile up evangelicals. Will there be a petition for Netflix to cancel this one, too? :P:laugh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Finished it as well, and agree with the above. The last 2 episodes were weaker, and not a lot of payoff. However, overall I really liked it. I'm not familiar with the comics, so I don't know how much more material there is. I didn't expect the finale to be so abrupt.

Karl Urban and Anthony Starr were excellent, and the rest were solid, too. Every time Homelander interacted with someone, his eyes and facial expressions made you believe this was someone who could snap at any moment.

Edit: This is the 2nd Amazon show this year that may easily rile up evangelicals. Will there be a petition for Netflix to cancel this one, too? :P:laugh:

Only on 3rd episode but the guy playing homelander is really good for the reasons you say, constantly on edge with an almost man-child quality which makes him deeply unsettling. I'm even wondering whether the character is a very warped take on Shazam and this is a teen we're watching but I'm not sure how long homelander has existed in the show's timeline.

I got a laugh at "the deep" genuinely being able to talk to sea creatures. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...