The Boys

This year's series cannonade continues and we have another hit that wipes its ass with all the comic and superhero movies. The Boys is an awesome dystopia that presents an original world of superheroes who don't care that much about people and don’t mind dead bodies. Karl Urban as the mercenary who despises superheroes is perfect (his wisecracks and Oscar-worthy acting), the same goes for Homelander (Antony Starr from Banshee plays the arrogant "Superman" with grace). The rest of the heroes, Starlight, A-train, Queen Maeve, the Deep and Black Noir, are rather bland. The series has great pacing, well dosed twists and turns, apt black humour, solid action, shocking violence with juicy gore, impressive visuals, and also an engaging story with an excellent finale that lures in the second season beyond belief. An eight-hour ride as it should be and a must for all superhero fans and those who don't love them. 90% (27/08/2019)

Season 1: An adaptation of Ennis’s excellent comic book, packed with ideas, in which superheroes are presented as psychopaths, degenerates or idiots and, at the same time, as prima donnas worshiped by the public who frequently require a rap across the knuckles. And the only one with the balls to do that is Billy Butcher and his gang. Understandably, the series is more restrained than the comic book, since otherwise nobody would have been able to handle it. This also means there is a lot of material left for more seasons. The episodes are managed excellently in terms of dramaturgy and work like a dream, with a hidden surprise for fans. The casting was spot on. Urban and Quaid are the attractions on the human side, while Starr and Moriarty are the superheroes. Most of all, Homelander is a juicy character and the ending leaves a lot of room for fantasy. Bring on season 2. (20/08/2019)

The Boys banks on the current audience's taste for R-rated superheroes, and I have to admit that the show's creators managed to keep me glued to the screen for eight hours to watch this rather unprecedented spectacle almost in one sitting. The issue of the negative impact of superhero actions on civilians was already bitten on in the MCU's Captain America: Civil War and forms one of the plot pillars here. Its world, in which superheroes are seen as celebrities and at the same time put on the level of gods, while not everything is as it seems to be, definitely had its charm, and I liked that practically until the very end of the first season, you didn't know who was actually the biggest asshole among all. The series features a whole plethora of more or less well-known actors, of which I was most impressed by Elisabeth Shue as the uncompromising Madelyn Stillwell and Antony Starr as the sanctimoniously demonic Homelander. But The Boys didn't disappoint and provided many memorable scenes – you won't see an infant used as a laser weapon anywhere else, which is also true of other scenes. I'm quite curious about the second season, as several story lines ended up unfinished and it would be a shame if they stayed that way (12/08/2019)