Westworld

 

Take a walk into Westworld, a virtual reality theme park where you can drink, fight, shoot and whore like a real cowboy. Find out what sort of a person you really are when you have a gun in your hand and the freedom to do whatever you want.

This is foundation for the storyline of HBO’s newest sci-fi drama Westworld. In this perceived utopian future, technological advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence have allowed engineers to create the ultimate virtual reality theme park. In Westworld, the gamers can do as they please, they can slaughter or save as many characters as they please without fear of reprisals. Allowing the wealthiest in society to play a real life game of Red Dead Redemption.

But what happens when you create a robot that looks just like a real a person and transfer a human consciousness into it? Does it raise questions of the morality of what visitors do to these characters? Certainly. And are you running the risk of endangering guests if the machines malfunction? Absolutely.

This is where the creators of Westworld begin to ratchet up the tension. It’s clear from the first scene in the pilot that all is not well as one of the robots, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), has been taken out of the park for examination. As the episode progresses more of the machines begin to glitch and concern builds amongst their creators.

In typical HBO fashion nothing is held back. There are scenes of gratuitous violence as the guest’s dive two footed into this world. Ed Harris plays a mysterious character, known simply as the ‘The Man in Black’, who is particularly cruel. Somehow when HBO do this sort of thing they get away with it because the writing is a cut above their competitor’s.

The team who have collaborated on Westworld include: Jonathon Nolan (The Dark Knight series and Interstellar), Bryan Burk (Star Trek, Lost) and JJ Abrams who needs no introduction. You can see Abram’s influence clearly in the pilot. There is a sense of this could go anywhere just like there always was in Lost. The premise for the show is indicative of the type of projects Abrams likes to work on. While the writing from Nolan provides the type of precise dialogue we’ve come to expect from the English writer/director.

The cast could scarcely be stronger which has elevated Westworld to another level again. Actors playing the animatronic characters include the aforementioned Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton and James Marsden. While their human overlords are played by the likes of Jeffery Wright, Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins. There are also many supporting actors that are well known to audiences.

Two episodes in we know that there is plenty of bloodshed and drama to come. If you’re a fan of sci-fi or macabre drama then this is the one for you. HBO rarely disappoint and this show should be a big hit. The scenes with Anthony Hopkins are enough to make it worth a watch.