If there is a series on which Netflix he had chosen to bet so much, this is science fiction Altered Carbontaken from the novel Bay City Of Richard C. Morgan set in a futuristic setting cyberpunk in which bodies become mere custody which host true human identities, which can be transferred elsewhere thanks to the so-called cortical stacks. We are talking about a series with very high potential, which aimed to propose philosophical themes while offering us spectacular scenarios and lots of action at the same time. As we know all too well though, after a second season that came too late to keep up with the first and far more buggy than the first, Altered Carbon was cancelled, as happened to many other serieswithout too much hesitation from Netflix. A real shame if you think about how the series started and the excellent scenes that made the viewers of the series marvel and exalt. To celebrate a series that could have given us so much more, let’s now retrace 5 of its most interesting and successful scenes. Enjoy the reading!
Warning, the following article contains detailed spoilers Altered Carbon. You are warned!
Torture
We’ve already said it: a large part of the charm of Altered Carbon derives from the great potential given by its peculiar setting, which plays with the concept of separation between soul and body and with technologies capable of prodigies and terrible acts that we see taking place in this very scene. When in the fourth episode is brought to a particular clinic to be questioned, our Takeshi Kovacs, played by a charismatic Joel Kinnaman, suffers the pains of hell. The cruel twillin fact, by connecting to man’s neural apparatus, it brings his conscience into a series of nightmarish scenarios which push him on several occasions to terrible deaths, such as when the protagonist is burned alive: because, even if the physical custody of man is not harmed, the pain felt is more real than ever. Shows Kinnaman perfect in his performance: his desperate screams as his limbs are severed and as he is burned alive are something not easily forgotten!
The awakening
Let’s now jump back to the episode 1×01, especially when our protagonist is presented to us in the case that he will occupy throughout the first season. Awakened after 250 years, after having apparently been killed, in a body that he does not recognize, Takeshi expresses all his confused iracondy against the employees of the “prison” in which man awakens. The tension is skyrocketing and can be cut with a knife: directed by Miguel Sapochnik, the soundtrack and the editing are aimed at making the viewer identify with an absolutely shocked protagonist in search of answers who resorts to violence. An absolutely perfect way to introduce Takeshi, who we had just seen being violently killed in his own apartment in the previous scene. To make everything even more impressive, in addition to the excellent performance of Joel Kinnamanwe find a fantastic scenography which, with its amniotic sacs, creates that sense of disturbance that will accompany us for a good part of the series.
Takeshi’s revenge in Altered Carbon 1×04
Now let’s go back to 1×04 and we witness what it is the best action scene of the whole series, that of revenge implemented by our protagonist against those who until recently were cruelly torturing him. Kovacs, after having managed to be reinserted into his custody, enters “hitman mode” and performs a real massacre. Let’s talk about a really well shot and choreographed scene in which our protagonist, with shoulder the iconic pink backpack, he shows off all his shooting and fighting skills. A scene that not surprisingly seems to be inspired by the style of the films John Wick. The white and clean environments of the clinic constitute the perfect scenario in which to place this one so spectacular when raw and without scene filters actiona shooting in which our protagonist does not spare even a shot and from the strong pulp shades. Probably the best scene from the Netflix show.
Let’s meet Poe
There is absolutely nothing to argue about it – the protagonist of the story of Altered Carbon will also be Takeshi Kovacsbut most of all the viewer’s heart was stolen without any shadow of a doubt by the fantastic character of Poe, an iconic artificial intelligence, inspired, needless to say, by the very famous nineteenth-century American author Edgar Allan Poe. The AI in question runs the hotel The Ravenwhich will become the refuge in which Takeshi settles as he proceeds with his investigations to find out who has “killed” il Mat Laurens Bancroft. In charge, among other things, of looking after the safety of any of his guests, Poe immediately demonstrates all its charisma defending Tak from Dimi’s aims, always maintaining all his class. The scene in question is really excellent and, in addition to presenting the most loved character of the series, manages to show us all his potential to the fullest.
The fight in the elevator
Note to her crudeness in staging death and violence, Altered Carbon with this scene he reaches a really high level both in terms of direction and fight choreography and in terms of the tension and anxiety transmitted to the viewer. Ortega and Samir they enter the elevator of the police district to escort a criminal elsewhere, but at the last minute the very famous and dangerous one also enters Ghostwalker. Kovacs, from the outside, notices this too late and cannot intervene. The fight that follows is brutal and violent, but very well managed. While Ortega fights for his life, until the end we really have no idea if the woman will survive. The sacrifice of Samir, who intercepts the blow intended for the woman’s cortical pile and who then collapses bleeding next to her is heartbreaking and really strikes deeply.