MISFITS
5/5 Stars
Now Streaming on Hulu.com
The superhero sub-genre is not a fad. Superhuman stories have been around for millennia. Ever since man became self aware, we have marvelled at those with peak mental and physical abilities and wondered at the possibility of surpassing it. Superheroes as we know them, costumed and powered, have been continually popular in the media of comic books and cartoons for eight decades. So why does it seem like screens big and small are lousy with super-powered reboots, sequels, and clones? Simple. It's POSSIBLE. Before the age of CG, believable superhero movies just weren't feasible. All respect to the effects team that made us believe a man can fly, early efforts at superheroes on film were less than awesome. Television budgets, being especially low, gave us an over-the-counter strength Hulk and a campy dress-up Batman. But as computer animation has gotten cheaper and more effective, major movie studios have been snatching up the rights to every franchise they can get their hands on. But as everyone who has bought Superman Underoos can attest, the brand names can get expensive. So TV is getting more original superhero stories.
This brings us to Misfits. This addictive, Hulu-imported British serial is the most original origin story in years. A group of youth offenders deals with the aftermath of a storm that has granted powers to a seemingly random fraction of the populace. But that doesn't always mean saving the day or even doing the right thing; these delinquents are far from heroes. Our protagonists start off as the world sees them: shallow and obnoxious, and are given plenty of time to evolve into rounded individuals capable of modest, much less great, responsibility. Of course, the appeal of Misfits is not how it follows the superhero formula but how it spices it up. Misfits' writers bend and break the rules of superheroes and story itself. Characters die, continuity shifts, and plots twist regularly, to both comedic and tragic effect. You never know what to expect, which given how long superheroes have been around, is a feat as welcome as it is amazing.
