Utopia

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Five enthusiastic fans of a cult graphic novel come to a convention with a plan to purchase an unpublished sequel.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.

What an absolutely embarrassing disaster this show is. I have never seen a different version of a successful show be this terrible. They got everything that made the original UK version great wrong. This show is a perfect example of what happens when Americans try to horribly copy a successful non-American show. A good example would be The Office US version, a bad example is this one. The plot and the acting and writing all are just bad. It's hilarious how terrible the characters are compared to the UK version. I rarely write reviews on things I've seen except when I feel like I need to, and when this show, it's an insult to the absolutely brilliant UK Utopia.

And to think the money that went into making this joke of a show would've been better spent on making a third season of the original Utopia.

...and changed it to a generous "2". Hollywood has proven themselves as obsolete and talentless.

If anyone that watched this and enjoyed it, it's been canceled.

The UK original is two seasons, and ends with everything explained and closure.

It's only half decent cause the uk version was great. Just like most shows the USA copies they mess it up a bit.

If you think this is great. Do yourself a favour and stop watching and just watch h the original one.

First off I want to mention, I did not watch the original. But I enjoyed this version more than I thought, it was an easy show to binge with some great acting. The vfx and shots where subpar to say least but the story was compelling enough.

Is it the besh show ever? Nah. Does it keep you entertained? Yah. Jessica was a super annoying character imo, but she gets a little better later on.