Captain Laserhawk: A Whimsical Journey Through Ubisoft's Universe
Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix on Netflix is like a vibrant rollercoaster ride through Ubisoft's extensive collection of classic video game intellectual property. While both of Netflix's Castlevania series have received immense critical acclaim, you might expect the streaming platform's latest video game adaptation, brought to life by executive producer Adi Shankar, to follow a similar path of translating iconic intellectual properties into new mediums. However, rather than adhering strictly to its source material or simply updating characters, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix takes a daring and unconventional approach, dissecting its source material and crafting a postmodern multimedia experiment, a gamble that undeniably pays off.
Loosely inspired by Far Cry 3's standalone expansion, Blood Dragon from 2013, Netflix's Captain Laserhawk draws from the lore of various Ubisoft video games, including Watch Dogs, Rayman, and Rainbow Six Siege, to weave a narrative about heroes uniting against an authoritarian regime.
The series unfolds in a dystopian cyberpunk world where the United States has transformed into a totalitarian technocracy named Eden. At its core, the story revolves around Dolph Laserhawk, portrayed by Nathaniel Curtis, a disgraced supersoldier turned outlaw whose explosive heists turn him into one of the world's most wanted criminals. Captain Laserhawk's premiere boasts an impressively wild action sequence that illustrates the immense creativity brought to the project by animation studio Bobbypills and director Mehdi Leffad. Yet, what truly sets the series apart is its exploration of oppressive societies and their methods of control, as well as the possibilities for dismantling such systems of power.
The show cleverly injects humor when characters like Rayman make appearances as the secretly depressed face of Eden's nightly news, or when Laserhawk finds himself working alongside an anthropomorphic bullfrog inspired by Assassin's Creed. Nevertheless, what will likely leave a lasting impression on viewers are the visually ambitious moments that unfold in the final few episodes of the first season. While witnessing Captain Laserhawk's inventive visual language firsthand is highly recommended, hints of its bold creative direction can be seen throughout the season in various gags that both contribute to worldbuilding and pay homage to Ubisoft's expansive IP universe.
