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Reviews
The Undeclared War (2022)
Interesting Premise, Mixed Execution
There's so much of this I really love. The overarching plot, the different points of view and the multiple pressures on the lead character that *could* make for great drama. Everything is there but I was left feeling... meh.
Some excellent acting and some not so excellent acting, but to me the biggest issue was writing.
A love triangle that came out of nowhere and meant nothing, a Prime Minister who is seemingly set on causing WW3 and GCHQ who, in this portrayal, wouldn't be able to use a VPN. Amongst other things...
I'm no techie, so I can't comment on hacking realism, but the rest fell flat.
Utopia (2013)
A Masterstroke in Storytelling
I've gone over this many, many times. Rewatched. Rethought. But I still come to the same conclusion; I can't fault it. Rating something a 10 is probably thrown around far too much and as such, it loses its value. However, I just cannot see, for my own opinion, how to devalue this show from that number. The tone is set from the first episode. In fact, it's set from the first four minutes. It's shocking, and it's supposed to be. You immediately understand the stakes involved and the peril in this world. You have burning questions that demand to be answered, most notably, where is Jessica Hyde? (As well as who, but that adds to it right?) I don't think I've ever been drawn in so much from such a short period of time, but that just continues throughout the first episode. I don't want to spoil it, because I want someone to read this and be compelled to watch, but all I can say is that what follows the opening four minutes is such a well thought out, brutal, heartbreaking, frantic story that constantly makes you question the people and decisions involved and even makes you answer difficult questions yourself. You never know who is helping who, who will prevail and who is waiting around the corner. I think the main thing that sets this apart for me is the how the central theme is tackled, how relevant that central theme is (and always will be most likely) and how the different characters have multiple views on the central theme. Again, I don't want to mention what this theme is, but I've seen it addressed in a number of different shows and movies, but never in such a way that creates a dilemma such as this. It's these stakes that make the twists that occur that much more shocking and (particularly a certain twist late on) emphasise exactly what will be lost or gained. The issue itself is a major one and Utopia asks the question, what is worth sacrificing? I still don't know. The characters are superb, they're so diverse and each one feels incredibly fleshed out, even if they have very little screen time. Even the more unhinged of them have very real stories that make them who they are and we learn more and more as the show goes on. What develops is a cast each with deep backstory and feeling, even those we don't side with. It's through these characters we see this crazy world so without them, this amazing story would just fall flat as ultimately we wouldn't feel any connection to it. Some utterly phenomenal acting performances bring them to life. The soundtrack is talked about in high regard and rightly so. It's glorious. The perfect mix of playful, dark, intense, haunting and twisted. It's a perfect compliment to the cinematography, again, regularly mentioned as delightful and so it should be. The colour scheme fits so well, high contrast, high saturation, it's just like a comic book. I wanted to address the violence, as I've seen it mentioned a few times as a negative. Yes, it's incredibly graphic, gory and downright shocking. But don't we think it should be? We so often see gunshots and knife wounds being played down heavily in mainstream media, but the truth is these things are horrendous. The creators clearly wanted you to feel it whenever these things happened and you really do feel it. I got very uncomfortable sitting through some scenes, but I really think that only makes the show better. Not for gratuitous violence but for making the horrible things that occur feel real and not easy to stomach. Violence should never be easy to watch. Utopia will always be polarising, so as waxing poetic as I am about it I understand that it is a very challenging show. But if you like to be challenged by your TV and what I've described sounds intrigued, I cannot recommend it enough. For something this high concept it never fails to feel very, very real and as so you feel every twist, turn and gunshot. For all the questions that this show poses, it manages to answer all of them in satisfying ways. You never feel short-changed by the conclusions and even though the whole things ends on a cliffhanger (and season 3 sadly looking like a pipe dream) you still exit out the other side feeling like it's fully complete. There really is nothing like this out there, so please, challenge yourself and enjoy the rollercoaster.