I still can’t believeAltered Carbonhappened.
It’s a neon-grim cyberpunk noir, a subgenre we could just call “Blade Runner-ish.”
Oh, and there’s a body-swapping premise.
Credit: Netflix
But did I mention the martial arts setpieces?
And did I mention the full-frontal nudity?
Kinnaman’s butt is almost a co-lead.
The aforementioned derriere belongs to Takeshi Kovacs, an interstellar badass trying to solve a murder.
And we see flashes from stillanotherpast life, where Takeshi is played byWill Yun Lee(The Wolverine).
He’s also haunted by a mystery woman, played byHamilton’s Tony-winningRenee Elise Goldsberry.
And there’s a detective (Martha Higareda) on Takeshi’s trail.
There are eye-popping sequenceszero-gravity fight scene!but the mystery runs on the grimdark fumes.
You know: Strip clubs, whorehouses, dead hookers, sexual assault grotesquerie.
The objectification feels campyandclinical, like someone asked the makers ofThe Girlfriend Experienceto rebootWild Things.
This show tackles race, gender, and class with all the subtlety of a blowtorch.
(Also: There is a blowtorch.)
