Utopia: Amazon Prime Video TV Review

Dennis Kelly's Utopia was a bonafide cult classic in the UK.

Launching in 2013, the conspiracy theory drama followed a group of misfits who believed the comic they adored, Utopia, was a document that predicted all manner of diseases and illnesses. Dismissed as conspiracy nuts, the show took a turn when it proved the ragtag bunch right, and that everything they feared was real.

In all honesty, it's hard to match the two season mystery which was both apocalyptic and exceptionally well-crafted.

And for fans of the UK original, the Amazon Prime Video version, which launches today, will feel like a pale comparison to what's transpired before, with some parts feeling weirdly like cosplay do-overs.

Gone Girl's Gillian Flynn has crafted the remake and the producers have craftily thrown on a "Based on" line to ensure there's a bit of distance from the original.

However, the story is still the same, and based on the two episodes previewed for the purposes of this review, some of the story beats and even sequences are exactly the same.

A bunch of young adults are obsessed with underground graphic novel, Dystopia, which appeared to predict several world diseases. When word gets out of a sequel, Utopia, found by accident and auctioned off at a comic con, the group, who's never met before, join forces to buy the book. 

But without any warning, two hitmen arrive on the scene and quietly and meticulously begin trying to find the book, wiping out anyone who's seen it, and searching for the graphic novel's mythical protagonist, Jessica Hyde....

It's fair to say the US remake of Utopia is a polished vehicle, that has some degree of timing - a series about a viral outbreak and a global conspiracy being released in the middle of a pandemic couldn't be more timely if it tried.

However, Gillian Flynn's writing doesn't quite cut as loose from the original as it wants - and certainly some of the characters feel like basic elements have been thrown onto mannequins that lack a degree of charisma. 

It's a tough proposition to match the original, and maybe non-fans of Dennis Kelly's trail-blazer will get a reasonable buzz from this stylish dive down the rabbit hole.

However, the main leads in the series lack the necessary sparkle to kick the series off - two of them appear to be star-crossed lovers who have been ripped from the pages of a young adult novel, and who have little outstanding moments during the first 2 hours of the show.

Thankfully Happy Death Day's Jessica Rothe as Sam, the go-getter of the group, the and Desmin Borges' Wilson Wilson, a Utopia paranoia case make great viewing companions and give the series the relatable edges it needs. 

Unfortunately Christopher Denham's hitman Arby feels like a straight impression of Neil Maskell's monotoned menace - and lacks the horror of the original.

It's emblematic of the minor problem with the US remake of Utopia - the menace simply isn't there.

The original series opened with the hitmen quietly and calmly gassing their targets before killing them - a shocking sequence that set the tone of unease that never let up during the UK's two seasons. Here, the Utopia of America is a little too sanitised by comparison and definitely in the first episode never delivers any of the same chills or sense of anxiety that got viewers sitting bolt upright.

Some of that comes to the fore in the second episode (which has an incredible ending that commands an urgent viewing of the third), but again these are broad brush strokes that are repeated from the original. Introducing more characters and widening the conspiracy edges helps a little, but it feels like the horror and meta edges of a current day situation, pandemics and viral diseases haven't been fully formed or narratively fleshed out.

While the US version of Utopia is a big budget affair, it certainly does offer some thrills. It's just that said thrills pale into comparison with the UK original, and which doesn't feel like it's got the strength of direction to pull into something as compelling and sickening as it could be.

Utopia launches on Amazon Prime Video on Friday September 25. For the purposes of this review, Amazon Prime Video provided screeners.