MOVIE REVIEW: Cyberpunk whodunit
Published Jan 30, 2018 09:35 am
A world where one’s thoughts and memories can be transferred from one body to another. Where death is a thing of the past, at least for those who can afford it. This is the world of “Altered Carbon.”
A scene from ‘Altered Carbon’ (Photos courtesy of Netflix)
Though the core concept of the show is the switching of bodies, it is by no means the first to tackle the idea. Living forever by transferring one’s mind, is, in one form or another, a favorite premise of science fiction. One is reminded of the character of Spartan from the 1990’s comic book “Wild C.A.T.S.” is an android whose experiences are constantly backed up and downloaded into new bodies, or of the classic ’70s anime, “Galaxy Express 999,” where people can have their minds transferred to undying artificial vessels.
No, the hook of the show, the angle it takes to approach the immersive cyberpunk world it presents, is a murder mystery. This, a cyberpunk whodunnit.
Based on the series of novels of Richard Morgan, the Netflix original production follows Takeshi Kovacs, played by Joel Kinnaman, last seen in Warner Brother’s “Suicide Squad,” a man whose mind was downloaded, or in the parlance of the show, re-sleeved, into a new body two hundred years after his initial death. Now, in an unfamiliar world, he is hired by the man who brought him back, Laurens Bancroft, played by “Rome And The Following’s’ James Purefoy. Bancroft was murdered, but his “stack,” the disc implanted into every human upon reaching a certain age to store their digitized consciousness, survived. Now in a brand new body, referred to as sleeves, he wants Kovacs to find out who his murderer was.
It is hard not to draw comparisons between the show and more recent popular examples of cyberpunk such as 2017’s “Ghost In The Shell” and “Blade Runner 2049.” Yes, there are thematic or visual similarities, such as the hard-boiled detective-type determined to do solve the case no matter where it may lead, to the designs or overall feel of the locations and visuals. However, “Altered Carbon” manages to keep its own identity and look. Visually the show is engrossing, with expansive cities awash with the seductive glow of neon lights and holographic signs. It embraces its cyberpunk roots, pulling the viewer into a futuristic San Francisco and other equally exotic locales as the story progresses.
Unlike other previous shows from Netflix that may have taken two or three episodes to find its feet, “Altered Carbon” starts off strong, and carries that momentum throughout the season. It drops you in the world of Kovacs, and slowly lets you learn what is what the same time he does.
Martha Higareda as Detective Kristin Ortega and Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs
The amount of time and effort the people behind the show gave to world-building is commendable. The appeal is in how it depicts society has changed, given the fact that death is pretty much a non-issue.
For one, it is interesting to note is how race becomes immaterial, when you can be moved from one body to another, with no guarantee you’ll end up in a sleeve with the same ethnicity as your last one. You get what you get sometimes, and live with it. Immaterial at least, to the masses. Majority of the ultra-rich Meths though, long-lived socialites, power-brokers and leaders of industry, named after the biblical Methusala, are still white, and the rest of the hoi polloi, from the police to the AI companion of Kovacs, are people of ethnicity. Read this how you will, but unless you are some sort of social justice warrior it doesn’t detract much from the show.
For a show that has a premise revolving around ideas of identity and life after death, it doesn’t spend so much time dwelling on it. Yes, there’s the occasional voice over and flashback to Kovac’s earlier life as a half-Asian, but it doesn’t really get you thinking about it as much as say, “Blade Runner,” and as a result could feel a bit lacking for some people. The focus is the case and everything else is in support of that.
The show is much more raw and unvarnished than, say, “Ghost In The Shell.” The violence and nudity lean toward the graphic, and the devaluing of human life can become disturbing. It can engage you as a viewer but also jar you away at times. If you’ve imagined “Game Of Thrones” levels of sex set in a sci-fi world, then you’ll find it here.
“Altered Carbon” is a show with a rich visually arresting cyberpunk world. It may be hit or miss depending on what you expect to get out of it, but as a whole it is a show worth your attention. Definitely binge-worthy.
“Altered Carbon” premieres on Netflix tomorrow.
A scene from ‘Altered Carbon’ (Photos courtesy of Netflix)
Though the core concept of the show is the switching of bodies, it is by no means the first to tackle the idea. Living forever by transferring one’s mind, is, in one form or another, a favorite premise of science fiction. One is reminded of the character of Spartan from the 1990’s comic book “Wild C.A.T.S.” is an android whose experiences are constantly backed up and downloaded into new bodies, or of the classic ’70s anime, “Galaxy Express 999,” where people can have their minds transferred to undying artificial vessels.
No, the hook of the show, the angle it takes to approach the immersive cyberpunk world it presents, is a murder mystery. This, a cyberpunk whodunnit.
Based on the series of novels of Richard Morgan, the Netflix original production follows Takeshi Kovacs, played by Joel Kinnaman, last seen in Warner Brother’s “Suicide Squad,” a man whose mind was downloaded, or in the parlance of the show, re-sleeved, into a new body two hundred years after his initial death. Now, in an unfamiliar world, he is hired by the man who brought him back, Laurens Bancroft, played by “Rome And The Following’s’ James Purefoy. Bancroft was murdered, but his “stack,” the disc implanted into every human upon reaching a certain age to store their digitized consciousness, survived. Now in a brand new body, referred to as sleeves, he wants Kovacs to find out who his murderer was.
It is hard not to draw comparisons between the show and more recent popular examples of cyberpunk such as 2017’s “Ghost In The Shell” and “Blade Runner 2049.” Yes, there are thematic or visual similarities, such as the hard-boiled detective-type determined to do solve the case no matter where it may lead, to the designs or overall feel of the locations and visuals. However, “Altered Carbon” manages to keep its own identity and look. Visually the show is engrossing, with expansive cities awash with the seductive glow of neon lights and holographic signs. It embraces its cyberpunk roots, pulling the viewer into a futuristic San Francisco and other equally exotic locales as the story progresses.
Unlike other previous shows from Netflix that may have taken two or three episodes to find its feet, “Altered Carbon” starts off strong, and carries that momentum throughout the season. It drops you in the world of Kovacs, and slowly lets you learn what is what the same time he does.
Martha Higareda as Detective Kristin Ortega and Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs
The amount of time and effort the people behind the show gave to world-building is commendable. The appeal is in how it depicts society has changed, given the fact that death is pretty much a non-issue.
For one, it is interesting to note is how race becomes immaterial, when you can be moved from one body to another, with no guarantee you’ll end up in a sleeve with the same ethnicity as your last one. You get what you get sometimes, and live with it. Immaterial at least, to the masses. Majority of the ultra-rich Meths though, long-lived socialites, power-brokers and leaders of industry, named after the biblical Methusala, are still white, and the rest of the hoi polloi, from the police to the AI companion of Kovacs, are people of ethnicity. Read this how you will, but unless you are some sort of social justice warrior it doesn’t detract much from the show.
For a show that has a premise revolving around ideas of identity and life after death, it doesn’t spend so much time dwelling on it. Yes, there’s the occasional voice over and flashback to Kovac’s earlier life as a half-Asian, but it doesn’t really get you thinking about it as much as say, “Blade Runner,” and as a result could feel a bit lacking for some people. The focus is the case and everything else is in support of that.
The show is much more raw and unvarnished than, say, “Ghost In The Shell.” The violence and nudity lean toward the graphic, and the devaluing of human life can become disturbing. It can engage you as a viewer but also jar you away at times. If you’ve imagined “Game Of Thrones” levels of sex set in a sci-fi world, then you’ll find it here.
“Altered Carbon” is a show with a rich visually arresting cyberpunk world. It may be hit or miss depending on what you expect to get out of it, but as a whole it is a show worth your attention. Definitely binge-worthy.
“Altered Carbon” premieres on Netflix tomorrow.