Altered Carbon review: Daring sci-fi escapism but not much more

The visuals elevate this cyberpunk adaptation that genre fans will no doubt lap up

“Expect nothing - only then can you be prepared for anything,” the enigmatic voiceover speaks at the beginning of Altered Carbon which ironically debuts on Netflix today (2 February) on a wave of expectation.

Based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Richard K. Morgan, here is yet another a ready-made entry into the canon of cyberpunk dystopia projects that continue to be a bubbling presence in the minds of film and TV creatives. But with early buzz billing it as a Blade Runner-meets-Black Mirror hybrid, the only place Altered Carbon comes before those two is the alphabet.

The story is futuristic hokum in the purest sense: set in a time where people's consciousnesses are stashed in storage devices and their bodies are turned into disposable "sleeves," Japanese mercenary Takeshi Kovacs wakes up 250 years later in the body of a bulky American (Joel Kinnaman) enlisted by the deceased billionaire Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy) who wants Kovacs' help in solving his own murder.

Tasked with bringing the rain-soaked neo-noir mystery to life is Laeta Kalogridis whose screenwriting credits scale the extreme highs (Shutter Island) and deep lows (Terminator: Genisys). To say Altered Carbon flirts with the latter is not unfair, but the reality is by the end of hour one, the groove settles somewhere in the middle with the series' ostentatious world-building affirming the less convinced viewer that what they watched was worth the time.

The jewel in this series' crown is quite clearly the visuals, its depiction of dystopian landscapes capable of stripping air from the room you're watching it in. The opening hour takes Kinnaman's Kovacs from clueless "sleeve" to reckless dead man walking in a matter of scenes, the Swedish born Suicide Squad actor croaking his way through lines with evident relish he's getting to lead his own TV show. Aside from the visuals, his scenes with Detective Ortega (Martha Higareda) are the one discernible thing viewers can attach to, central mystery be damned.

Blade Runner may be its direct - at times almost unforgivably intentional - homage, and while Altered Carbon shoots for the spirit of that science-fiction game changer with its synths and holograms, it lands better as a throwaway Arnie romp with shades of Total Recall and The Sixth Day (only with a fraction of the one-liners). This is certifiably a show the action star would have been tapped to lead decades ago.

It's hard to disrespect escapism this daring, and Altered Carbon comes packed with an admirable number of specific rules, gadgets and locations that fans of the genre will invariably lap up. Watch it on the biggest screen you can find (iPhone be damned) but don't go expecting the cyberpunk gem that's been promised to you.

Altered Carbon season 1 is available to stream on Netflix now

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