Utopia

I liked Amazon's Utopia enough to finish season one. I mean, being that 99.9% of American television wanders between IQ diminishing & total brain rot this series is at least watchable. But then I decided to watch the original version of Utopia that aired in the UK back in 2013. And after just 2 episodes I realized that it already put Amazon's 2020 Utopia to shame. It seems to me by americanizing Utopia Amazon turned a gem into a pacifier for the masses. By removing parts of an already great script and replacing them with America's PC ideology, Amazon made their own version become stale and a bit bland. If you like this Utopia then be sure to check out the original; which happens to be streaming on Amazon video for no cost to subscribers.

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.

I decided to watch the British version through before taking a look at this, which was probably a mistake. 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. 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. Even 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 the moody and atmospheric soundscape of the first version, we now have pop music underscoring some of the transitional scenes. This new version is glitzy and superficial where the original was stylish and deep. Although 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. If you only ever watch one of them, ditch this one in favour of the first.

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.

The original Utopia was mysterious with interesting characters.

This show is complete rubbish. The violence is stupid and seems to be purely for shock value. Except it's not shocking when it's so predictable. It simply comes across a trying too hard.

And Jessica Hyde is incredibly unlikeable. Part of it is the character and part of it is the actress (who seems to have a permanent ugly smirk on her face all the time).