Altered Carbon – Netflix Delivers Another Futuristic Spectacle Laced With Stunning Visuals, Gratuitous Nudity and Sophisticated Violence – Review
Altered Carbon (TV Series)
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Warning: this series is not for the faint of heart! If you thought the nudity and sadism in Game of Thrones were too much, this Netflix neo-noir sci-fi thriller will make you question everything you thought you knew about humanity.
Altered Carbon is based on the novel of the same title by English author Richard K. Morgan. Consisting of ten episodes, the first season was released in its entirety on February 2, 2018, on Netflix. Costing $7 million per episode, the show is one of the most expensive TV series to be produced to date.
The show stars Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs, the primary protagonist of the show, along with Martha Higareda as Lieutenant Kristin Ortega, Ato Essandoh as Vernon Elliot, James Purefoy as the excessively wealthy Laurens Bancroft, and Renee Elise Goldsberry as the revolutionary leader Quelle. Though Kinnaman plays Kovacs for most of the series, Will Yun Lee and Byron Mann are also featured prominently in the flashbacks as Takeshi Kovacs.
Altered Carbon – A Mix of Almost Every Sci-fi Element Known to Us
Synopsis: The series takes place over 350 years in the future, in the year 2384 where a person’s memories have been decanted into “cortical stacks”, storage devices of alien design which have been reverse engineered, duplicated en masse, & surgically inserted into the vertebrae at the back of the neck. Physical bodies are now called “sleeves”, disposable vessels that can accept any “stack.” Takeshi Kovacs, a political operative with mercenary skills, wakes up 250 years after his “sleeve” is “terminated,” and he is given the choice to either spend the rest of time in prison for his crimes, or to help solve the murder of one of the wealthiest men in the settled worlds. Takeshi was the sole surviving soldier of those defeated in an uprising against the new world order 250 years prior.
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Altered Carbon draws a lot of its inspiration from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982). The futuristic vibes, the neon signs everywhere, the continuous rainfall, the different settlements, the crowded streets and the tense atmosphere – everything yells Blade Runner.
Where it excels, however, is its subtle (or not-so-subtle) way of blending almost every sci-fi element known to Hollywood and executing it competently.
Altered Carbon – Altering the Future of Television with Cyberpunk Fantasies
Altered Carbon is as much a neo-noir sci-fi drama as it is a detective thriller, or a war epic. And, the cyberpunk factor adds a lot of sophistication to a story that is supposed to be dirty and slick at the same time.
In case you didn’t know, cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a futuristic setting that tends to focus on “a combination of low life and high tech” featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.
The most famous examples of cyberpunk movies are: Blade Runner, The Matrix Trilogy, Robocop, 12 Monkeys, and Blade Runner 2049 etc. – a combination of low life and high tech.
Altered Carbon – The Idiot Speaks
Though Altered Carbon is a mix of different sci-fi movies rolled into a TV series, it manages to carefully incorporate the elements of the same into an admirable piece of effort that might just become a masterpiece. The future presented in the show is unwelcoming and desolate, but is diverse and filled with rich visuals.
The second half of the season gets really interesting and kicks the show into high gear with many incredible things happening simultaneously, and the last few episodes of the season does what any good TV show must do: excite and entertain. Watching Kovacs and his cronies trying to take down the massive criminal empire makes the viewer invested in the outcome of the circumstances and makes him/her feel like a part of the show itself. Also, the computer simulation of a shotgun-wielding Edgar Allen Poe, who serves as the A.I concierge of The Raven Hotel, is definitely amusing to watch.
Of course, the show isn’t perfect. The story is patchy at times and the plotholes become indefensible after a point of time. But, even through all that, Altered Carbon manages to intrigue and keep the viewer glued to the TV screen till the very end. And, that’s saying something!
Simply put, if you are another binge-watching maniac like this Idiot, Altered Carbon is one more Netflix drama that you can’t afford to miss! Watch it for its visual spectacle and the futuristic desolation that awaits mankind one day in the future.
It’s worth it… for the most part!
Verdict of The Idiot
Idiot-o-Meter: Far Out, Man!
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The Idiot’s Rating System:
4.0 – 5.0: The Dude Abides!
3.0 – 4.0: Far Out, Man!
2.0 – 3.0: Take It Easy, Dude!
1.0 – 2.0: You’re Out Of Your Element!
0.0 – 1.0: The Goddamn Plane Has Crashed Into The Mountain!
The Idiot's Corner 