Super Crooks (Millarworld / Netflix 2021)

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shevek
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It's a 13-episode anime-style series set in the same universe as Jupiter's Legacy, but focusing instead on the community of
superpowered villains in that universe.

We do see a bit of the members of the Union of Justice (Utopian, Lady Liberty, Flare etc) but only for one episode - the hero focus
is on a couple of new characters from the Union: Gladiator and Praetorian, and let's just say all is not as it seems. There's also a goofy-ass hero called Rubber Ball, of whom I wasn't a big fan.

The action occurs around the heists - basically, the plot repeats the Ocean's Eleven scenario three times, which makes it slightly repetitive - but the background is secondary to the relationship between all the villains. Main protagonists are Johnny Bolt (who has electricity powers) and his girlfriend Miss Kasey (who can cast illusions into people's minds), whom you can see in the middle of this group shot. There's lots of blood and gore, so if you liked Invincible and The Boys, this will be your speed, but I read an article that pointed out (quite observantly) that none of the really bad stuff happens to the two main leads.
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In fact, Kasey is the *only* main female character in this whole thing, so anything sexy that happens, happens to her. She's not a fighter, nor does she wear a costume. But she does get tied up near the end, although there's a twist to that, too.

The costume designs in this series are OK, if a bit generic. One thing I noticed is that the animators love to draw "pants straps" on
many of the male superpowered characters (such as Gladiator and Praetorian, see above). It's not something I've seen before very much on superhero costumes, so I was wondering what the function of those was, and why it's necessary, if anyone knows. Maybe Captain America and Winter Solider also had them, but I never noticed?

The theme song is a funky Prince-like number by Towa Tei (yes, from the 90s band Deee-lite), and it's not very impressive in setting
a slick retro feel to the show, unfortunately, but the title sequence does include a fair amount of gratuitous dancing from Kasey.

Burning through this series in a couple nights reminded me how long it's been since I've watched any kind of anime, and there's one anime scripting trope which particularly annoys me: the way characters are constantly going "Hrrumph" or "Hmmm" instead of delivering actual lines of dialogue. I know that's not a new thing - I remember it all the way back from Speed Racer in the 70s. I wonder why Japanese cartoons do that?

Another fun thing was some extended references to Pittsburgh in Episode 8. The location below was obviously drawn straight from a photo of what used to be Pittsburgh's Union Station (but is now an apartment building - not a hotel - located next to the actual
Amtrak Station). There's a zombie scene that looks like it was based on Allegheny Cemetery (which is fairly near my house - we filmed there for Heroineburgh Episode 18), and then a George Romero tribute with zombies at what they tried to make look like Monroeville Mall (although there's no Cracker Barrel at that mall..the only one in Pittsburgh is at Ross Park. Fail, Mr. Millar.)

Would I recommend this? If you have some extra time, sure. You might be one of the few people actually watching it, since it looks like it's only gotten a handful of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes in one month's time, and it seems as if nobody cares. The way the story ends, it doesn't seem like Millar was expecting to get a Season 2 out of this, after what happened to Jupiter's Legacy.
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