I am another devotee of the original version of "Utopia" which always comes up as an underseen gem, whenever such lists are made. I quite enjoyed this retelling, though I'm not sure the increase in scale and scope was necessary and it may go down as literally the worst timed release to a series of all time.
Five enthusiastic fans of a cult graphic novel come to a convention with a plan to purchase an unpublished sequel. Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Ian (Dan Byrd), Wilson (Desmin Borges), Samantha (Jessica Rothe) and Grant (Javon Walton) are unsuccessful in buying the comic, but are fortunate to escape when all the other interested parties are murdered by a pair on unconventional hitmen, Arby (Christopher Denham) and Rod (Michael B Woods). The graphic novel contains hidden symbolic messages that may be related to a pandemic that is sweeping the nation and for which noted scientist and industrialist Dr Kevin Christie (John Cusack) is being blamed.
Whilst I don't think this version of "Utopia" is as good as the original it certainly wasn't bad, and in terms of quality certainly doesn't deserve the relatively poor audience it must have received for Amazon to decide to cancel it so quickly. The unfortunate situation that occurred since filming, that 2020 would be swallowed by a real global pandemic, and with the series having horribly prescient parallels to Covid, couldn't have been foreseen - but does, I suspect, mean that the potential audience was looking for escapism that the show doesn't provide.
It's hard to not compare this to its predecessor. On its own terms it's a dark, darkly comedic, drama with good performances from the cast and a decent story that reaches a conclusion, if clearly not the end of the story. The increase in scale that came with this remake I don't think works in its favour. Both the scale and power of "The Network" increasing exponentially makes them less a shadowy cabal and more every other multinational company.
But generally I enjoyed it and I'm sad to see that a second series isn't going to be forthcoming.
Five enthusiastic fans of a cult graphic novel come to a convention with a plan to purchase an unpublished sequel. Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Ian (Dan Byrd), Wilson (Desmin Borges), Samantha (Jessica Rothe) and Grant (Javon Walton) are unsuccessful in buying the comic, but are fortunate to escape when all the other interested parties are murdered by a pair on unconventional hitmen, Arby (Christopher Denham) and Rod (Michael B Woods). The graphic novel contains hidden symbolic messages that may be related to a pandemic that is sweeping the nation and for which noted scientist and industrialist Dr Kevin Christie (John Cusack) is being blamed.
Whilst I don't think this version of "Utopia" is as good as the original it certainly wasn't bad, and in terms of quality certainly doesn't deserve the relatively poor audience it must have received for Amazon to decide to cancel it so quickly. The unfortunate situation that occurred since filming, that 2020 would be swallowed by a real global pandemic, and with the series having horribly prescient parallels to Covid, couldn't have been foreseen - but does, I suspect, mean that the potential audience was looking for escapism that the show doesn't provide.
It's hard to not compare this to its predecessor. On its own terms it's a dark, darkly comedic, drama with good performances from the cast and a decent story that reaches a conclusion, if clearly not the end of the story. The increase in scale that came with this remake I don't think works in its favour. Both the scale and power of "The Network" increasing exponentially makes them less a shadowy cabal and more every other multinational company.
But generally I enjoyed it and I'm sad to see that a second series isn't going to be forthcoming.