You can partially unpack in Python too:
def method(self, *args):
a, b = args[:2]
super(self).method(*args[:2])
def function(x, y, z):
versus
sub function { my ($x, $y, $x) = @_; }
The overhead is only really the 'my = @_;' chars, but it is annoying. On the other hand, it does allow you to do things like partially unpack args and pass the rest as a bundle to a super class.