Nextflix Reviews - Happy!

Want to know what to 'watch next' on Netflix? Check out my Nextflix Reviews

So many people have been telling me to watch this or posting up encouraging comments about it on Facebook that I had to check it out. It's based on comics by Grant Morrison who I have to admit I'm not a massive fan of. I know he's very popular and lots of people think his work is marvellous but I never really got on with his stuff that greatly. I don't hate it at all I just don't find it as fantastic as many people seem to. Thinking about it, I think I find his non-superhero comics to be pretty cool but when he does super hero comics I find his plots convoluted. I've not read the original source comics of this show at all but knowing how comics to movie/TV show conversions normally go I wouldn't be surprised if they are twice as mental as this is.

So Nick is a washed up, alcoholic ex-cop turned hitman, he's a total mess but he's still a smart-mouthed bad arse. He gets on the wrong side of the local mob guys as they think he has a password they want. Also his daughter Hailey, that he never knew existed, is abducted by a mad Santa. Lucky for her she has an imaginary friend a blue flying Unicorn called Happy. Happy finds Nick at just the right point, he's had the right amount of drugs that night or his dodgy ticker and getting shot has put him close enough to death to be able to see an imaginary being. The science (?) doesn't matter, it happens deal with it! What follows is a violent, funny, whacky journey as Happy persuades Nick to help him and they fight through mobsters whilst trying to track down Hailey in a world of strange and disturbing kinky weirdness. Along the way he meets up again with his ex-wife Amanda and his ex-partner and also ex-lover Meredith.

This is essentially a buddy cop drama, with two parties with wildly different approaches and it could also have been done as a programme for kids. This is NOT aimed for kids though nope, not at all. Nick has a lot of enemies and he seems to be always outnumbered but manages to fight his way through them in very hands on bloody ways. 

The original comics are just a 4 issue run, this series is 8 episodes long and a 2nd season has been commissioned. There were pointers as to where the series will be going in the 2nd season and it could be interesting. This 1st season was a fun watch, but I wonder if it really has enough legs for a 2nd run. I think they covered all the possible jokes about imaginary friends in this one but I will definitely check it out when it arrives and I hope they'll be able to prove me wrong.

****************************************