The age of the video game movie is over. The dawn of the adult-oriented video game animated series is here at last. Its herald is and has always been Adi Shankar. The producer, best known for kicking in the doors to massive IP holders and creating something new out of their old action figures with or without permission, has done it again withCaptain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix. It’s a mixed-media cyberpunk epic that promises a lot and delivers even more.
Shankar is fresh off the success of hisCastlevaniaseries and its masterful spin-off that debuted only three weeks ago. He’s attached to similar adaptations ofAssassin’s Creed,Hyper Light Drifter,andDevil May Cry,all currently in production.Lastmanwriter/director Yves “Balak” Bigerel stepped in asLaserhawk’s creative director.ArcaneandLove, Death & Robotsartist Mehdi Leffad made his directorial debut behind each episode of the season. Shockingly,Laserhawkis French animation studio Bobbypills' most tame production to date in many ways.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragonwas a standalone spin-off game that adapted the mechanics of Ubisoft’s excellent 2012 first-person shooter into an 80s-inspired cyberpunk epic.Laserhawktakes limited elements from the game, most notably a protagonist with a robotic arm and eye. It’s not an adaptation in any meaningful sense. It’s inspired byBlood Dragon, which is just as well because both works have pop-cultural references pumping through their veins. The titular Captain Dolph Laserhawk is a renegade cyber-soldier betrayed and abandoned by the man he loved. Laserhawk wakes up in a supermax prison, where the warden explains that he and his cellmates will be her new Suicide Squad. His cohorts include Jade and Pey’j fromBeyond Good and Eviland Bullfrog, an anthropomorphic amphibian trained as an assassinlike Ezio and Altaïrbefore him. The show seems primed for an Ubisoft answer toSuper Smash Bros.
Captain Laserhawktakes place in a familiar cyberpunk society called Eden. Netflix has quickly become the home of the venerable sci-fi subgenre asLaserhawkplayswell againstCyberpunk: Edgerunners. It’s a more comedic take on the concepts involved. The setting is the only element of the series that reads as somewhat generic. Shankar’s work is typically drenched in semi-ironic references. The constant cameos by various Ubisoft figures never overstay their welcome. Rayman, the company’s oft-mistreated relic of the mascot platformer era, enjoys a bizarrely in-depth subplot as a state-groomed propagandist that ends beautifully. The show isn’t simply throwing IP at the screen to draw applause. Shankar’s chaotic use of the cast is impressive.Laserhawkprovides Sam Fisher with the best showcase he’s received in a decade.Ubisoft is almost as abusiveto their characters as Konami, so it’s nice to see Shankar give another batch a chance.
Beyond dredging up the entire cast ofWatch Dogs,Laserhawkis drenched in a wild mish-mash of video game allusions. A character is tasked with seducing a guard in a brief dating sim segment. An early action scene sees Laserhawk jumping and shooting in a side-scroller like Samus Aran. Some scene transitions are accompanied by loading screens with brief, relevant animations.Laserhawkis less reminiscent ofCastlevaniaand more evocative of Shankar’s underrated 2022 series,The Guardians of Justice. That show, a subversive take on the Justice League, has the same chaotic smash-and-grab approach to every notable visual medium. It also has the same sort of twist-heavy story in which characters consistently switch sides and even more frequently die. Fans ofGuardianswill loveLaserhawk, as will anyone with a considerable tolerance for Shankar’s oeuvre.
Captain Laserhawk’s biggest problem is its inability to focus. Tremendous events occur in the first couple of episodes and are swiftly forgotten by the fourth or fifth. It’s a six-episode outing that packs an immense amount of fun into just over two hours. However, Shankar’s strange approach to storytelling rears its ugly head again. The first season ofCastlevaniatold a few short stories and delivered plenty of action, but it was unmistakable as a preview of things to come.Laserhawkis, sadly, in the same camp. Fans can enjoy the first season ofCaptain Laserhawk, but it ends on acliffhanger like its predecessors. Elements of the story are left hanging, and there’s no way of knowing whether they’ll be paid off until potential future seasons hit Netflix. Shankar seems to be one of the pillars of the franchise now, but nothing is safe.Laserhawkmakes it abundantly clear that more is on the horizon, but if Netflix decides to pull the plug, the show will be much weaker for it.
Despite its ending,Captain Laserhawkis an excellent cyberpunk series that demonstrates Shankar’s approach can work across genres. It’s colorful, anarchic, action-packed, and endlessly entertaining.Laserhawkannounces its intention to return for future seasons in its final moments, but the six-episode epic available now is fantastic. Fans looking for an adaptation of theirfavorite 2013 spin-off comedygame might be disappointed to see something else hit the screen but giveLaserhawka chance.Captain Laserhawkfeels like the show Rex “Power” Colt grew up watching on Saturday mornings, and it’s much better than that implies.
