Review: Altered Carbon, The Hardcore Blade Runner
- Feb 5, 2018
- 2 min read
The latest and greatest series from streaming giant Netflix is packed with cool tech, brutal violence and excessive depravity, and it's excellent.
Takeshi Kovacs (Leonardo Nam) is killed in a police raid. 250 years later, Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman) wakes up in a new world with a new purpose. Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy) has been murdered, his consciousness uploaded into a clone body, minus the 48 hours leading up to and including his death. Now he wants Kovacs to find his killer, whatever the cost.
Altered Carbon features some of the most unique sci-fi around. From the way in which death is handled, the weapons the characters wield and world which they inhabit, it all feels somewhat new. As a noir story it features the usual rain drenched streets, heavy trench coats and armed men bursting into rooms to further the plot, it also throws in a hotel run by an AI impersonation of Edgar Allen Poe (Chris Conner), albiet a trigger happy one, mental torture, that being torturing someone within a virtual reality, and all sorts of other good stuff.
The events that unfold are far from pleasant, and the show is definitely not one for the faint of heart. The action is fast and bloody, the characters are as grey as the skies of their world and when it seems like the envelope has been pushed all the way, it manages to go a little further. Kinnaman gives a surprisingly good performance, especially when considering his previous role in the abysmal Suicide Squad. Conner's Poe is easily the highlight, bringing much of the shows humour and heart. Everyone else is good as well, giving their own performances for their own characters with none feeling overly drab or repetitive.
There's one thing wrong with Altered Carbon. The few episodes slow right down with excessive flashbacks, copious exposition and unnecessary developments and, while much of it is justified, it leaves the series ending on something of a weak note. But that aside, check it out, it's definitely worth it.
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