![]() But the concepts and characters don't quite come together to create a show worth watching. With his loopy line readings and unnerving stare, Christopher Denham ( Billions) also breathes some life into his stock grim-hitman-on-a-mission role, and John Cusack, too, is a reliable kick. What is this story about and who's important to watch? With her everygirl vibe and a big juicy speech where she takes comic fanboys to task, Lily feels like creator Gillian Flynn's mouthpiece, but she feels insubstantial, tasked with doling out exposition but not a character we're eager to get to know.įlynn's most interesting creation is Grant (Javon "Wanna" Walton), a middle schooler posing as a wealthy adult to his cadre of conspiracy theorist buddies who actually does wind up pulling off some very adult stunts. By the end of the first episode, we've met dozens of characters, each of whom only gets a brief turn in the overcrowded pilot, and some of whom are abruptly dispatched. A show full of kooky plot elements that are also emotionally involving sounds great, but Utopia stumbles on that front. This show ultimately feels a lot like somebody who commandeers your attention at a party: eager to impart far-out stories, but less interested in making sure said stories land with its audience. The cast is diverse in terms of age, race, and ethnicity, and women have strong, central roles. ![]() Positive messages are few and far between, but viewers may glean a few messages about loyalty to friends and staying true to principles. Language is frequent: "f-k," "f-king," "s-t," "assh-e," "bitches." Adults drink at gatherings and parties some get drunk and get sloppy and sexually uninhibited. Sexual content is less frequent characters have a sweet romance with kissing and references to off-screen sex a man intends a one-night-stand with a woman and brings her to his hotel room (they do not wind up having sex). There are also references and visuals related to epidemics like Ebola and SARS, which may disturb viewers familiar with COVID-19. ![]() ![]() Expect characters to die horribly in the course of the series. Violence is intense and frequent: characters are killed suddenly, violently, and on-screen: shot point-blank in the head with blood and gore, stabbed with syringes in an incident staged to look like deaths due to IV drug use. If you only ever watch one of them, ditch this one in favour of the first.Parents need to know that Utopia is a dark series about a mysterious comic book that's the subject of a deep state conspiracy, and the young comic fans who try to unravel it. This new version is glitzy and superficial where the original was stylish and deep.Īlthough the original version didn't conclude at the end of its final (second) season - and this one might eventually extend further to wind up the story - I'm not sure I can watch the rest of this, knowing how significantly inferior it is I probably wouldn't have had as much of a problem if I'd only ever seen this predictably-Americanised remake. Instead of the moody and atmospheric soundscape of the first version, we now have pop music underscoring some of the transitional scenes. The British version demanded patience and intelligence from its viewers, while the American version dumbs-down the plot and serves up heavy exposition from the word go.Įven the bizarre and cryptic artwork from the original series, in which clues were buried, has now been transformed into a literal comic strip. Instead of being gritty and interesting, the fugitives in the new version have a frothy high-school vibe, Jessica Hyde has lost the classy demeanour and the neurotic self-possession to become a thuggish brat, the personality of the child, Carl, has been watered down so that none of the powder-keg anger and rebellion springing from a childhood of neglect remains and the psychopathic assassins are nothing like as sinister, demented and quirky as the originals. I decided to watch the British version through before taking a look at this, which was probably a mistake. This satire about urban planners won the Australian Film Institutes AACTA Award for Best Television Comedy Series.
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