Monthly Archives: March 2020

Movies

Review: Altered Carbon: Resleeved

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AlteredCarbonResleeved

Continuing the Altered Carbon Universe

Altered Carbon: Resleeved is the latest Cyberpunk movie to stream on Netflix. A Japanese anime movie spin-off, it is set in the Altered Carbon Universe and features Takeshi Kovacs and Taneda Hideki on planet Latimer. In return for wiping his slate clean on Harlan’s World, Hideki hires Kovacs to protect a tattoo artist in order to investigate another faction of the Yakuza clan. The visual style is done in 3-D anime, which strongly resembles the Borderlands aesthetic. For me, it took some getting used to, but after the first 5 minutes I was able to settle in for the ride and forget about it.

The characters

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You may know Takeshi Kovacs well enough from the two live action seasons on Netflix. This movie has him in another sleeve, of course, in a suit with short white hair. Quickly after he meets in virtual with his employer, Tanaseda Hideki, he meets the Yakuza clan tattoo artist he’s supposed to protect — the young Holly Togram. At the same time that he tries to protect Holly from various mysterious ninjas that attack her, she is also wanted by CTAC. When the leader of CTAC, Gena, finds Holly, she reluctantly agrees to team up with Kovacs in protecting and using Holly to infiltrate the Yakuza clan in order to unearth the secret of why she is wanted dead so badly, and by whom. We also meet Shinji, the other Yakuza clan leader who is Holly’s employer, and Ogai, an AI butler and manager of the AI hotel The Wild Geese.

A New Takeshi Kovacs (again)

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Although a short film at under an hour and a half, this movie kept my attention from beginning to end. Kovacs here is no brooding film-noir type like we saw in Season 1, nor the Quell-obsessed idealist in Season 2. Rather, he is a protective big brother figure and still very much a bad-ass. I quite enjoyed watching him team up with Gena as they fight faceless deadly ninjas again and again.

Oh. Did I mention they have ninjas in this movie? Because they do. In ample supply, and it’s awesome!

Ninja-Fest

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These ninjas throw ninja stars, use smoke and strike from the shadows, and have a variety of different weapons–not just katanas! They also appear in various different styles, from hooded street hoodlum (above) to futuristic visor-toting assailants, and finally as bad-ass samurai-style ninjas. As you will see, they’re quite difficult to kill!

A Distinct Genre of Film

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The story of this movie definitely takes a bit of a step back to the action, and if you like Japanese Yakuza ninja-style action, then this is definitely the movie for you. If you prefer a detective film-noir, however, this won’t be for you. I also noted that while there was plenty of neon lights to feast your eyes on, if you don’t care for the Japanese aesthetic and prefer more cyborgs and futuristic tech elements, you might be disappointed. Although firmly rooted in the Altered Carbon universe, the movie doesn’t play around much with its parameters like seasons 1 and 2 did. This is truly an action-focused film, a nice stand-alone entry in the Altered Carbon Universe. Which is why the lead-up to the final epic showdown is so excellent. It’s fast-paced, completely brutal, and very well done. The style of this film is absolutely in the anime style, which makes sense considering the origins of its creator (Dai Sato was also a writer for Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex).

Final Verdict: 7.5/10

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I really enjoyed watching this movie, and if you’re a fan of Japanese Yakuza, Ninjas, and epic brutal fighting, then you will too. With a decent musical score and voice acting, this movie’s incredible action sequences and beautiful visuals make up for its lackluster characters and somewhat shallow themes. The story delivers a brisk pace with enough intrigue to keep the viewer’s attention, and while not as full of high tech or futuristic world-building as other Altered Carbon stories, it does have sprinkle enough throughout it to remind the viewer this is no ordinary Earth. I give this movie 7.5/10.

Now it’s your turn

Did you see Altered Carbon: Resleeved? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below, or on twitter at @cyberpunkmatrix.

 

 

Movies

Matrix 4: 2020 Updates

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Matrix 4: What 2020 Updates we know so far as of March 15th

It is now mid-March and I just realized I haven’t provided an official Matrix 4 production update since last December 2019!

So without further ado, here’s everything new that’s happened with Matrix 4 Production since then:

New Casting announcements:

Max Riemelt (Sense 8)

Sense8's Max Riemelt Joins The Matrix 4

Riemelt is a 36 year old German actor mostly known for his work with the Wachoskis in their Netflix series Sense8 as Wolfgang Bogdanow. Apparently, he’s also well known in Germany for acting and directing.

Priyanka Chopra (Baywatch, among others)

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Chopra may be a little more well-known than her Matrix 4 peers. Chopra is an Indian actress, singer, producer, and winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant. Named one of the top 100 most influential people by Time and one of the top 100 most powerful women by Forbes, Chopra is also a vocal defender of social causes like women’s rights and the environment. Oh and she’s also the wife of Nick Jonas. This created a lot of buzz for the casting, as no one knows who she will be playing. One thought that I had (and wasn’t alone, apparently) was that maybe Chopra could be replacing Monica Belucci as the Merovingian’s beau.

Andrew Caldwell (iZombie)

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Andrew Caldwell is an American actor from Michigan whose most prominent role was being cast as Harley Jones in the third season of the CW series iZombie. He is probably one of the least well known casting choices of the actors announced, so we’ll see what his role is and how he does in Matrix 4.

Brian J Smith (Sense 8)

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Brian J Smith is an American actor from Texas who is another Sense 8 alum, working with the Wachowskis as Will Gorski. He’s also played lieutenant Matthew Scott in the TV series Star Gate Universe, and was nominated for a Tony award for his role as Jim O’Connor in the 2013 revival of The Glass Menagerie.

Ellen Hollman (Spartacus)

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Ellen Hollman is an American actress from Detroit, Michigan and is perhaps best known for her roles as Saxa in Spartacus and Regent Warrior Zypher in AMC’s Into The Badlands. Considering many of her roles have required intensive fight scenes and have been physically demanding, I’m excited to see what fighting role she will probably take up, especially considering she’s trained in Jiu Jitsu.

Lambert Wilson (The Merovingian, Matrix Trilogy)

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Probably one of the most exciting announcements we’ve heard is that Lambert Wilson officially confirmed that he will be returning! Wilson is of course the smooth-talking, philosophy-waxing Frenchman and power-hungry rogue program that antagonized Neo, Morpheus and Trinity in Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. Glad to have you back, Wilson!

Not returning: Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith, Matrix Trilogy)

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Unfortunately, due to scheduling difficulties, Hugo Weaving will not be able to return as Agent Smith in Matrix 4. Few could forget his memorable performances in all three Matrix films opposite Keanu Reeves, but his departure can be easily explained story-wise, as Neo sacrificed himself to destroy Smith at the end of Matrix Revolutions. The new agent or agents could be played by anyone for Matrix 4, but my hope is that their diction and slow eloquence match the excellence that Weaving delivered. Because if not, he will be even more sorely missed.

Matrix 4 filming in San Francisco: Explosions, stunts, and property damage.

Filming in Alameda and San Francisco, California began in February and ended beginning March. Which is just as well, too considering that if they had planned filming any later in March or April, things could have been delayed due to the Coronavirus.

As it is, people in both Alameda and San Francisco were treated to some sneak peeks of what the film has in store for us. I should warn you that while I could not resist looking at these photos, part of me regrets doing so, because now I will be looking out for these scenes in the film once it is finally released. So if you don’t want to have any spoilers whatsoever for Matrix 4, GO NO FURTHER!

However, if you’re like me, continue scrolling down. I chose to select the most representative images of what happened, so you can see what kinds of things are in store without having too many revealers. Of course if you want even more images, you are welcome to google them yourself, or find them on twitter, where you will find plenty.

Filming on set in Alameda

The first image we saw was this film set behind barriers on set in Alameda. This is where they filmed the set performances for the previous Matrix movies as well. It looks like from the suspension cables and the high altitude on these crates, that it could be that some jumps or flying stunts were filmed here.

Stunts between Skyscrapers

The stunts didn’t stay on set, however. We were then treated to these images and videos of daring stunt work with two actors dangling from cables suspended between two different skyscrapers in downtown San Francisco. It looked like the character above, who resembled Trinity, was teaching the character below her, who could have been Neo, how to jump and/or fly in what presumably is the Matrix. Whatever it is, I can’t wait to see what’s happening here on the big screen! It looks like they got some great shots!

Street Shots near House of Nanking in Downtown San Francisco

As you can see from the text, we were then treated to multiple different shots of screening in downtown San Francisco, right next to the chinese restaurant House of Nanking. Here we see a grizzly-looking Keanu Reeves in plain clothes walking down the street with what are presumably extras. What happened to Neo, and how is he back in the Matrix? What’s also convenient here is that Lana Wachowski stands out like brilliantly shining lightbulb, easy to pick out with her neon dreadlocks. She seems very secure in her direction of the scenes, and as far as I can tell, she’s doing a great job! In the Wachowskis we trust!

Neo and Trinity reunited at last on the back of a motorcycle

This shot is one of the ones that made me most sentimental. Here we have a clear shot of once again a grizzly-looking Neo holding onto the shoulders of his lover Trinity as she drives both of them on a motorcycle. The motorcycle was attached to rigging part of the time to allow for easy filming of the scenes, which included some smoke machines in the streets of San Fran. I decided not to show any further pictures for the sake of spoiling the magic of filming, but needless to say I am super excited to see these two back on the big screen, and it’s very cool to see a sneak peek of what they will both look like in the film.

Hovering Helicopters in Downtown San Francisco

This shot came as little surprise, as the announcements for filming in San Francisco for residents including warnings of explosions, gunshots, and hovering helicopters. But it was super cool all the same to see both shots and video of two black military-style helicopters hovering overhead in the streets of San Francisco, as well as the subsequent planned explosions. Matrix is back, and big as ever!

Minor Property Damage from Explosions and Heat

What wasn’t anticipated by the crew, however, is that the intensity of the explosions caused a window to shatter and the plastic covering some marketing signs and lampposts to melt from the heat of it all. Notice the slightly melted lamp post on the wall above. The filming crew will of course pay to replace anything they destroyed, however, and I think this speaks to the vision and ambition of Lana Wachowski that they’re not messing around with Matrix 4! It’ll be some intense explosions and action scenes indeed!

Looking to the future

For now, Matrix 4 is planning to go ahead and film as planned in Berlin and in California despite the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. However, the situation is continuously changing, and many other movie productions have halted or delayed due to the Coronavirus. Others have delayed their release date due to movie theaters being closed. So what does this mean for Matrix 4? Since its release date of May 21st, 2021 is still so far away, I think it’s safe to say that the release date won’t be affected. I hope that the production won’t be forced to halt or be delayed, but if so, that could affect its release date after all. Regardless of the production crew’s decisions, here’s to hoping all involved stay safe!

Did you like this blog post on 2020 Updates for Matrix 4? Then share it with a friend on social media so they too can stay plugged into the Matrix!

 

 

Books

Review: Minority Report (and other Cyberpunk short stories)

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Minority Report short stories book

Minority Report: A Review

Although this book is technically called Minority Report, it should really be called Minority Report (and other Cyberpunk short stories) by Philip K. Dick. Indeed, nowhere on the back of the book nor on the cover does the book reveal that Philip K. Dick’s Minority Report is in fact only a short story of 45 pages. The contents of this book are actually as follows:

  1. Minority Report
  2. Imposter
  3. Second Variety
  4. War Game
  5. What the Dead Men Say
  6. Oh, to Be a Blobel!
  7. The Electric Ant
  8. Faith of Our Fathers
  9. We Can Remember it for You Wholesale

This book has no less than nine short stories! And of particular note is the last short story, We Can Remember it for You Wholesale, is none other than the short story that inspired the famous Cyberpunk 1990 flick Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger (and its subsequent 2012 reboot).

Reviewing each Cyberpunk / Alternate Reality Story

So how good are these short stories? Are they worth your time? Absolutely. But, like anything else, some are much better than others, both in excitement level and in mind-bending ideas. So without further ado, here’s my review for Minority Report (and other short stories by Philip K Dick).

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Minority Report: 8/10

John Anderton is the commissioner of Precrime, a futuristic division of the police that prevents crimes before they happen with the help of three precogs. Unlike the film with Tom Cruise, the source material is a lot more tame–the short story reads more like a detective mystery novel, as Anderton must race against time to solve the mystery of how he is supposed to kill a man he has never heard of before in the next 48 hours. As the story develops and Anderton goes to different places to piece together the clues, the story’s message is a lot more about political power than it is about broken families or Anderton surviving. Indeed, Anderton’s survival almost seems to take a back seat to his ascertaining if the system itself suddenly has a flaw or not, which would put into question everything he had done before that moment. Still, with a short but exciting moment when Anderton is on the run, this story was one of my favorites of the nine, as it is different enough from the film that it kept me guessing until the very end.

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Imposter: 8.5/10

Imposter apparently got the movie treatment as well, but the film is obscure enough that I’m fairly sure no one has heard of it. This story is about Spence Olham, a man who is suddenly arrested and taken in because the police claim that he is an unwitting spy of the enemy, an android who replaced the real Spence Olham without knowing it, for the purpose of carrying out a terrorist attack. As he is taken back to HQ Olham must try to escape and solve the mystery of who, or what, he is before it is too late. This felt like a real sci-fi thriller as Olham questions whether he is human or not, and how he would even know. It was exciting and fast-paced from beginning to end, and is another one of my favorite stories of the nine.

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Second Variety: 9/10

Second Variety is about a group of American soldiers sitting in the trenches on Earch fighting a long, drawn-out war against the Russians in a dystopian future. In this story, the Americans were able to develop a technologically advanced set of robots called Claws that burrow into the ground and attack any living flesh they can. The Americans, who apparently developed the line of robots, are protected from the claws by radioactive “tabs” signalling that they aren’t the enemy.

As one Russian soldier tries to cross no-man’s land and inevitably dies to the Claws, the Americans recover a message from the soldier asking for a chance for negotiating a cease-fire. This leads to the American leader deciding to cross no-man’s land to the Russian trenches in order to negotiate a cease-fire, when he discovers that the robots the Americans had developed have learned to self-develop, resulting in a Second Variety of robots that take on a human appearance in order to kills their prey. What happens next is an incredibly exciting tale of a dystopian future as the humans fight against the robots, and themselves, as they try to determine who the threats really are.

Second Variety was my personal favorite of the nine stories, because of its dystopian setting and truly anxiety and fear-inducing story. It was perhaps the most dystopian and thrilling story of the nine.

War Game: 6/10

War Game is basically a story about quality assurance testers, who are testing kits of technologically-advanced toys for children. It was perhaps my least favorite story, and is very curious. The toy they are testing in question is a castle that is defending itself from toy soldiers who are trying to get into the castle to conquer it. As the toy soldiers slowly get in one by one as the game resets, the testers ponder what will happen when they eventually all get in. It’s a loose reflection on the values that we teach our children, done in a dystopian sci-fi form.

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What the Dead Men Say: 6.5/10

What the Dead Men Say is basically the short story that led to Ubik, so if you’ve read Ubik, then this story will look very familiar. It actually has a couple pages that were copied directly into the book. This story is about a world where people can go into cryo-sleep called half-life when they die. When they do, they can have their consciousness connected to a telephone to the outside world, so that the dead may communicate their wishes to the living. Things go awry, however, when the famous head of enterprise Louis Sarapis dies and can’t be reached in his cryo-sleep to determine what his wishes are. Instead, his consciousness starts invading all media sources–newspapers, TV, telephone lines, etc. This complicates things as a major election is about to occur. I personally much preferred Ubik to this short story, as Ubik relates more to the nature of reality, whereas What the Dead Men Say is more of a mystery of what is happening.

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Oh, to Be a Blobel!: 6.5/10

This story is about George Munster and his struggle with Blobels, who are an alien blob-like race that humanity fought decades ago.  Munster fought in the war against the Blobels, and was genetically altered to spend half a day each day in the form of a Blobel in order to infiltrate their ranks as a spy. Nowadays, however, he is simply a war veteran, and Humans and Blobels live in relative peace with each other (although both humans and Blobels still live on their respective planets, for the most part). Munster must learn how to live a normal, happy life, despite the fact that he keeps on turning into a Blobel every day. The message here seems to be pretty clear that Blobel is just another word for Communist or Soviet, as PKD lived in the time of McCarthyism and spies hiding their true nature was a serious concern of the times.

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The Electric Ant: 7.5/10

The Electric Ant is a fun little story about a man that learns that he is in fact an android, and decides to tinker with the mechanical systems within himself that process reality. This story felt like what would happen if a robot tried mind-altering drugs and it actually worked. Very interesting thought experiment once again about the nature of reality.

Faith of Our Fathers: 6/10

This is perhaps one of the oddest of all the stories, and that’s saying a lot for PKD novels. Set in Hanoi, Vietnam, Comrade Chien lives in a 1984-style society where the TV must be on at all times and citizens’ viewing times are recorded, to ensure they watch and listen to enough of the party propaganda. Chien is looking to rise up the ranks in the government when he is given a test of two papers, one a fake and one real, and the party values. This leads to him meeting a member of the resistance and then a later invitation to meet the party leader, but in the process he starts to question reality once again when he is told to take a drug to counteract drugs that are supposed in the water supply, keeping all citizens doped to a certain party level. The meeting of the party leader felt very surreal in this story and its ending felt very open and unfinished, which is why I gave it a lower score compared to other stories on this list.

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We Can Remember it for You Wholesale: 7/10

If you’ve seen the beginning of either Total Recalls, then you know the gist of this story. We Can Remember it for You Wholesale is about a man called Douglas Quail who wants to pay for a memory to be implanted in his brain of him having been a spy on Mars, in order to escape his boring life and because he can’t afford an actual trip to Mars. Except things start to go wrong when the implanting process is halted due to previous subconscious memories that indicate that he already went to Mars as a spy. This results in him trying to figure out what he is, as his previous employers race to find him and contain the threat of him learning too much about who he is and what the did. Unlike the movies, however, PKD takes this a couple more levels and then leaves it at that, which was a fun way to once again question reality as the reader is left trying to figure out what truly was real and what wasn’t in

So to review, here’s my aggregate rating of each short story:

  1. Minority Report: 8/10
  2. Imposter: 8.5/10
  3. Second Variety: 9/10
  4. War Game: 6/10
  5. What the Dead Men Say: 6.5/10
  6. Oh, to Be a Blobel!: 6.5/10
  7. The Electric Ant: 7.5/10
  8. Faith of Our Fathers: 6/10
  9. We Can Remember it For you Wholesale: 7.5/10

So that’s my list! Have you read any of the stories on this list? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below 🙂

Television

Altered Carbon: Season 2 Complete Review

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Altered Carbon Season 2 Review

Phew! I just finished Altered Carbon Season 2 and let me tell you, it was quite a ride. There are pros and cons to this season, just like any season, and there’s a lot I want to get out of my brain because I have so many thoughts on the series. So without further ado, here we go: my review of Season 2 of Altered Carbon.

General feeling:

The general feeling of the series is very toned down compared to last season, for better or for worse. It’s warmer and more family-friendly. There is less torture, less nudity, and less shocking gore and violence.

Source Material Bias

My experience of the series was probably biased, and shaped from my familiarity with the source material. I found myself often lighting up upon hearing references to characters and concepts from the books. This led me to enjoy the series more, as I often took a very conscious note of their choices to veer from or stick to the original content. Also, as a result, my review will be very much contrasting the book to the series.

General differences between book and series

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Quell & Vidaura

One of the biggest differences from the books in this season is the choice of Kalogridis and Schapke to create the love story between Quell and Takeshi. In the books, Takeshi’s trainer and the leader of the rebellion were two different people: Quell was the legendary leader of the rebellion, who inspired people to follow her own life philosophy called Quellism. The leader and trainer of the envoys, meanwhile, was someone called Virginia Vidaura. Kovacs has flings with both Vidaura and Sylvie, but not Quell.

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Source: theaquasarah, YouTube

Sex vs. Love

Kovacs has sex with Sylvie (Trepp in the series), but when they do, she switches to the AI copy of Quell. This passion is what triggers the switches in the books. There is no love between Kovacs and Vidaura, or between Kovacs and Sylvie—it’s purely sexual lust, and obviously a certain connection that comes with it.

Many people were turned off by the random, very explicit sex scenes in the books—in particular with Woken Furies. I remember when I read the book it felt like a jarring switch and I was never ready for it, which led me to skim or often just pass over the explicit sex scenes, which often rarely added anything to the actual story.

The complete lack of sex scenes in the second season, except for one very PG-13 one, is perhaps a strong flip to the other side of the coin. And the lack of gratuitous sex mirrors the new emphasis on love in the story, which was virtually non-existent in the books.

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Family Ties

There’s also a stronger emphasis on family ties than on the previous season. Season 1 had the mother and family ties from Kristin Ortega, who then tragically died and gave the story more weight. Season 2 is about Trepp doing all she can to find her brother, and then to protect her wife and her son, who ultimately are saved in the end by her actions. Everything she does is to protect her family. And while one of her family members tragically dies to protect her, none of this carries the same weight as Ortega’s family dying in the first season. It almost feels like going through the motions when she discovers her dead family member. I knew I was supposed to feel something, but because of how stiff and set up it all was, I felt little.

Now let’s look at the characters from Season 2.

Characters

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Poe

I really enjoyed Poe again in this season. Not only is his acting excellent, but he is very well written and is a fun, charming addition to add levity to the more somber moments of the season. His quests to help Takeshi, and to try to remember what he was forgetting, made him incredibly endearing. Even more than before. If that’s even possible.

'Altered Carbon' Season 2 Video Reveals New Cast and ...

Tanaseda Hideki

I really liked Tanaseda Hideki’s character. In the books he is simply a Yakuza leader with a shared past with Takeshi, but in this season he acts as a wise, respectful mentor figure for Takeshi. It was a refreshing take on the character.

Cemetaire

I also liked the fact that they put in Cemetaire! His character really bothered Takeshi in the books, because of his profession making money off the lost stacks of the dead–and he was a good addition here (even if his part was very small). I recognized one of his lines as being taken straight from the book: “I am a simple ferryman plucking souls from my ocean wide.”

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Trepp

I thought it was interesting that they chose to have the character of Trepp, who acts like a Sylvie with her head coils, yet chose Falconer’s mind as the one with the second personality in her stack instead of in Trepp’s mind. I thought having the second mind/personality downloaded through the coils really made sense in the books, and I would have preferred them doing the same thing with Trepp instead of with Falconer. Still, I really enjoyed the mystery of figuring out who was in Quell’s stack, since it obviously couldn’t be Quell as it was in the books. The way that we were introduced to Takeshi in a completely different sleeve than expected made us believe the second personality could really be anybody, and in my view was quite well done.

Joshua Kemp

I also liked that they included Kemp, but his role was so diminished here. I understand that Kemp had his uses in season 2,  but in the books Kemp was a legitimate rebellion leader and very brutal. When you know who he was in the books, his diminished role here really feels a bit like a waste. At least they put in the ascertainment trial, but if you didn’t read the books, know that in the books the trial took hours, but was obviously condensed for the sake of editing.

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Stronghold Takeshi

Another big difference was how they changed Takeshi Kovacs’ double-sleeved clone from an earlier period of his life.

In the books his clone slaughtered the entire team Takeshi was working with in the past. Takeshi was incredibly afraid of his brutal clone, because of the regrets he carried from his past choices in life. The books made it feel like his past mistakes were literally hunting him in the present day.

This version of Takeshi, however, is simply a new person. Almost like a long-time brother, one who wasn’t up to speed with what had happened in the world. It felt incredibly different, and while I loved Will Yun Lee’s performance, I think his character was a bit of a wasted opportunity here. There’s so much more they could have done with him. I will admit that Stronghold Takeshi is a little ruthless in the beginning, but by the end all that is quickly erased as his character does a complete 180.

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Col. Ivan Carrera

Having Carrera as originally the dogged hunter-soldier made him a force to be reckoned with—especially in the scenes where he is brutally interrogating his prisoners. I wasn’t expecting it to then turn into something where Carrera was an old father figure to Takeshi, and go into their complicated history. It gave a more nuanced side to the character, which I actually liked. In the books he’s simply the leader of the Wedge, a military group instead of a small task force, and he does little more than fight one on one with Takeshi.

Additional mentions: Dig 301 and Danica Harlan

Both Dig 301 and Danica Harlan were technically in the books, but they had almost no part worth mentioning whatsoever. And regarding their roles, I thought they were…fine. Dig 301 simply doesn’t have the charm that Poe does, and I personally didn’t find her very interesting at all. I was happily surprised that Danica Harlan was plenty cunning, very much more than she leads on, and in that way I liked her character.

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Angel Fire

Although Sylvie/Quell was able to briefly summon Angel fire, in the books it was unexpected and not understood until afterwards. Similarly to this season, I was incredibly surprised when it happened, as there was no warning this time either. It was incredibly cool to watch Angel Fire on the screen.

Archaeologues

I was also glad they put in a little bit about the archaeologues and deciphering the symbols, like in book 2, even though it was a very small part of the story. It was interesting to see how they changed the portal from the books into the new alien ruin that it is in the season.

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Final Thoughts

If I had to compare this season to the previous season, I would say that it’s not as good as the first half of season 1, but much better than the second half of season 1. The countless naked Reileens attacking an armed Ortega just seemed too over the top and unnecessary, and then the overly dramatic scenes with Lizzie and the confrontations in the end were all new and different from the novel. Reileen, in fact, was never even mentioned in the books—it was all for the TV series. The first season was pure, classic film noir cyberpunk.

Season 2 has none of the bloat or over-dramatic scenes from the first season. It’s all very tight, self-contained narrative with a decent plot and pacing. But barring a few exceptions, nothing really shocks the viewer in this season.

Overall Verdict: 7.5/10

Although a fun and interesting season, after the first couple episodes the season started losing a lot of the Cyberpunk visuals that help make it great. There were no flying cars, or mega-cities, and there were less neon lights as the series moved inside and then into the trees outside. Its excessive violence and gore is toned down, which is great, but so is everything else—less sexuality and greater focus on family, which feels like a more PG-13 kind of season. Nonetheless, the action’s pacing, exciting plot and solid acting performances create an all-around great second season that is well worth watching.

 

Television

Altered Carbon: Season 2 Episode 1 Review (mostly spoiler-free)

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Altered Carbon Season 2 finally released, and knowing that I’m quite busy during the week, as much as I’d like to binge watch the entire season in one sitting, I’m not the young person with tons of free time that I used to be. As such, I’ll be writing my initial thoughts on the first episode of the season (some spoilers!) and provide my review, and then I’ll write another review for the entire season as a whole.

Season 2: Taking cues from books 2 and 3

After the first season I have already caught some similarities or inspirations taken from the novels, but there’s a lot that is different as well, which is fun and refreshing in its own right.

Music Credits

I’ve always been very attentive to the music in the show, so this time I took special notice of musical composer Jeff Russo. He wasn’t credited during the title credits at the beginning of each episode in season 1 (I went back and checked) so it’s nice to see him front and center in Season 2. The music is slightly different, but still mostly the same.

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Jumping right in: Quick exposition and setup

The episode jumps right in with Poe standing in the middle of a dive bar. Without explanation. He also wasted no time explaining to a random bounty hunter (who of course is none too random) that Kovacs’ new goal is to find his long-lost love Quellcrist Falconer.

This is already very different from the books, where the love aspect is almost non-existent. Sure there is some physical chemistry in book 3, but it never goes further than that. So it’s interesting to see this new direction Kalogridis has decided to take.

I really loved the set-up where we don’t know who Kovacs is, thinking it’s Mackie hiding in the shadows somewhere, before the shocking reveal. This was a lovely surprise and even when he revealed who he was, I was still dubious in believing it. This kind of playing-with-the-potential of the stacks universe is exactly what we need in the series.

Poe: Kovacs’ new constant companion

Poe’s survival is then explained away in an off-hand remark that he survived a “vicious attack on his personality” and that while he survived, he was left glitching as a result. This becomes quickly apparent that he will now be the comic relief for the series, which works surprisingly well in my opinion. There’s a reason why everyone loved Poe from the first season.

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Spinning up into a new sleeve, one more time

I really liked the premise that Kovacs was brought back to protect a meth again, in return for being delivered to Quell. Which was why I was really disappointed when the meth was killed anyways right off the bat. What a waste! There was a lot of potential there.

I also found it surprising how hard it was for Kovacs to adapt to his new military-grade sleeve, considering as an envoy he’s supposed to be good at that. The way he summoned his handguns to his hands was a lot of fun to see, however, and is promising for more badass action to come.

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Danica Harlan: Just not the same as the old meths

Unlike the books, the Quellcrist Rebellion is still active in this version of Harlan’s world. It was interesting to be introduced to Danica through her hologram and announcement about a cease-fire with the rebels. It paints quite a stark contrast to the wealthier-looking meths from Season 1 with their heads literally in the clouds. Danica seems a lot more active in governing the people of Harlan’s world, which makes sense. She just doesn’t have the gravitas as the Season 1 Meths.

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Introducing the Yakuza: Classic Grade-A Cyberpunk Material

I really enjoyed our introduction to the Yakuza and their code of respect and conduct. Tanaseda and his grandson Yukito feature in book 3 and although the manner in which we meet them is different, Kalogridis kept true to how their characters were written, and it pays off with a really cool action scene and subsequent meeting between Taneda and Takeshi as they talk about their mutual past.

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The Gore is back, too, if you’re into that

Just like Season 1, the end of the first episode hits you with body trauma in the form of Kovacs stabbing himself in the chest in order to make his sleeve remember where Quellcrist was and help him find a lead. “State-dependent memory,” his hallucination of Quellcrist tells him. This seems like a plot device to me and honestly an unnecessary way to continue the story, but then again, Morgan was pretty gory in his books too, so I guess this isn’t exactly new.

Final Verdict: 8/10

I’d give this first episode a solid 8/10. Because of its neon-rich visuals, solid characters, fun action and a few surprising twists, it’s a great first episode. There’s nothing too deep to dig into here, however, and at times things happen that feel more like plot devices to set up the story, rather than more plausible occurrences. Nonetheless, this doesn’t detract from an otherwise very enjoyable episode, and while Poe’s discussions with Kovacs provide unnecessary exposition for the viewer, he’s still the same charming Poe as the previous season, except even better as his glitches provide a fun comic relief to the series.