The Boys Quick Review (7/10) on Amazon Prime

_{Author: MikeW Date: 2019-08-13T03:07:50+00:00}

Post Icon The Boys is an 8 episode comic series on Amazon Prime based on a comic book with the same name. The Boys takes place in comic universe where super heroes a little more human than in the Marvel or DC universe. Heroes and heroines are more media stars and actors than real heroes even though they have super powers. The Boys are formed to keep the supers in line.

Review (Spoilers start here!)

Well my intro describes how the Boys were portrayed in their trailers. The shows reality is a little bit different.

The basic story starts with an average techie named Hughie. After a long day of work, he is ready to head home to spend some time with his girlfriend. Just as they are about to leave, a super named ATrain (based on the Flash) runs into Hughie's girl turning her into a red mist. The incident is passed off as an accident, but Hughie knows better. He then meets a man named Butcher who sets him off on a path of revenge and adventure.

Butcher turns out to be some sort of retired or fired spook who hates all supers (with good reason we find out) and is just plain out for murder. He reforms his old CIA team along with Hughie and they set out to right some wrongs. But are really out to just flat out murder some supers to start with. Hughie and Butcher form the yin and yang of the series, with one wanting to murder all supes and the other only wants to kill the bad ones.

The supers turn out to be a very unlikable bunch. The main hero group is called "The Seven" who are this shows version of the DC Justice League. Most of the characters are based off of DC characters (Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Flash). Although, they are heroes in public, when the cameras are gone they are drug addicts, rapists, and even murderers. In fact the Boys first encounter with supes is when one of the 7 comes to kill Hughie for planting a bug in their main meeting room.

The 7 are run by the Vought Corporation who make huge profits off their movies (which the heroes star in), action figures, appearances, license fees, you name it. Super heroes are big business and Vought have it down to a science. The other main story line is about a female super heroine named Starlight. A Christian girl from Iowa who thinks being a hero is about fighting crime and being heoric. Is she in for a suprise!

That's the basics, I'll leave the rest of it for you learn about while watching the show.

My Issues with the Boys

Season 1 ended when the story was just getting good. It felt much more like half a season rather than a full one. Very annoying.
The portrayal of Christians in the middle of the season was very bigoted. The old standard Hollywood cliche's, Christians are: fake, stupid, racist, and intolerant.
Morally, the Boys aren't really different from the evil super heroes if they just go around murdering people. Now Hughie and Starlight I think are changing the story in this respect so I will reserve judgement until season 2.

Thinks to like

The entire series is well written and acted.
The show demonstrates the importance of a moral code for a hero. A vain, selfish, narcissistic person simply can't be a hero and is very likely a villain.
Really liked Hughie's and Starlight's story. You really want to root for these two.
An evil Superman (Homelander) is a really scary thought.

The Boys Rating

Rating: 7/10
Maturity Rating: Hard R

For violence, gore, nudity and adult situations
Not for the young ones.