Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsCringe
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2023
Usual The Boys action and familiarity, but without the amazing plot or characters - just constant predictable cringe. No substance to anything - just random "relatable" moments and key phrases taken from the book "How to blandly appeal to the audience without backlash" that come off as forced.
Repeatedly mentioning drugs, sex etc. comes off as awkward rather than the casual way they want it to be - the same feeling comes with the amount of blood and gore. Used correctly, they can be exciting, horrific, or unexpected, and the way characters react to it multiplies the effect (see The Boys S1 and 2); but repeatedly throwing these scenes and conversations around makes them illicit no reaction, other than cringe.
You can instantly predict a character's personality, background, and story arc from the moment they are introduced.
Not sure what Amazon was trying to do by calling out famous youtubers (chapter 2 from the aforementioned book - "Generic and relatable content for the younger generations"). Straight up calling PewDiePie a nazi is very odd - even if there it's in a made up scenario, as it directly relates to him.
If you want blood, gore, and mature scenes - it's great. If you actually want to pay attention to or invest in the plot, dialog, or characters inbetween these moments - not so much.