There's no doubt that Altered Carbon is one of the most expensive TV shows ever made, with visuals that could easily have come out of big-budget Hollywood productions. The cyberpunk cities have a gritty, dirty beauty to them. The cityscape is overflowing with bright lights and neon signs. The fight scenes are well shot too and fun to watch with jazz music playing in the background.
But other than that, this pilot episode is a mighty disappointment. Far from drawing me in, I found most of it didn't have much of an impact on me at all. There's a lot of issues that are touched on- an exploited underclass, the neo-Catholic protests that life is sacred and shouldn't be played around with, what it feels like to be put into a different skin to that which you were born in and what it's like to be reborn multiple times. But these issues are only touched on in between the murder mystery, strip club scenes and Tak's drug-fuelled wander. This is a show that cares more about generic sci-fi pulp than exploring the interesting issues at its heart. I know this is only the first episode but first impressions are important.
It doesn't help that none of the characters are interesting. Joel Kinnaman is stony as Takeshi, not letting us empathise with a protagonist who doesn't seem to care about anything. And if he doesn't care, why should we? Most of the rest of the cast are equally bland. It's not just the acting that's to blame though, as the writing doesn't give any of the characters a chance to shine.
But other than that, this pilot episode is a mighty disappointment. Far from drawing me in, I found most of it didn't have much of an impact on me at all. There's a lot of issues that are touched on- an exploited underclass, the neo-Catholic protests that life is sacred and shouldn't be played around with, what it feels like to be put into a different skin to that which you were born in and what it's like to be reborn multiple times. But these issues are only touched on in between the murder mystery, strip club scenes and Tak's drug-fuelled wander. This is a show that cares more about generic sci-fi pulp than exploring the interesting issues at its heart. I know this is only the first episode but first impressions are important.
It doesn't help that none of the characters are interesting. Joel Kinnaman is stony as Takeshi, not letting us empathise with a protagonist who doesn't seem to care about anything. And if he doesn't care, why should we? Most of the rest of the cast are equally bland. It's not just the acting that's to blame though, as the writing doesn't give any of the characters a chance to shine.