WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first seven episodes of Blade Runner: Black Lotus, which airs on Adult Swim and is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
As the recording quality from home has improved, more and more of the industry's biggest names have joined animated casts. Actors are, after all, trying to find work that keeps them safe, employed and in the public consciousness, particularly during the pandemic. Blade Runner: Black Lotus is no exception to this current trend, as the cast is stacked with big-name talent.
The Adult Swim and Crunchyroll production is halfway through its first season and has proved to be an interesting addition to the neo-noir universe. But now that the story is nearing the home stretch, it's time to evaluate if this series deserves talent like Brian Cox, Jessica Henwick and Josh Duhamel. Would the series sustain itself without their contribution or does their involvement elevate what could have been a doomed property?
There are quite a few things that the animated Blade Runner series gets right. Both of the feature films did a stellar job with their visual storytelling and created an iconic, yet unsettling, vision of the future. The animation drops fans of the series right back into the fascinating world they know and explores places they have yet to see. By showing environments like replicant laboratories and techno-food trucks, Black Lotus explores the streets of 2032 Los Angeles in ways the films could not with a limited runtime, while simultaneously honoring the franchise's visual foundation.
Black Lotus also differentiates itself from its predecessors by how integral action is to the plot. While there are certainly fight scenes in the movies, they are nothing like the brutal martial arts combat put on display in the series. Elle, voiced by Jessica Henwick, is far different than any replicant fans of the Blade Runner universe have seen before as she sports a katana and is knowledgeable in martial arts, unlike K or Deckard. Each episode features at least one intensely brutal action sequence and is one of the highlights of the series.
However, not everything in the series works as well as fans and creators would hope. The plot is an extremely by the numbers revenge tale, which doesn't do much to change the well-tried formula. So much so that a very pivotal aspect of the revenge plot is Elle attempting to regain her memory while still remembering how to defend herself with masterful martial arts maneuvers. While the creators do attempt to ask tough questions about replicants and their relationships with memory, their ponderings are often shoved to the wayside to let Elle get on with crossing another name off her kill list.
With the series' pros and cons laid out, how does the stacked cast of Blade Runner: Black Lotus influence the audience's viewing experience? Thankfully, the vocal performances captured for this series only elevate the bland and basic storytelling. By casting skilled actors like Will Yun Lee and Samira Wiley, the repetitive and telegraphed dialogue is brought to life. Unlike many dubs, every performer tailors their delivery well enough to seamlessly fit the animation intended for the Japanese language.
This is best on display with Josh Duhamel's performance as a crooked Blade Runner named Marlow. Duhamel's delivery adds depth to the banal archetypal bad guy that was written on the page and gives audiences a replicant hunter they have yet to see. Marlow takes pleasure in his search for the replicants and is flashier than other Blade Runners in the franchise as he drives a tricked-out hot-rod hovercraft. Audiences can hear in Duhamel's voice how much fun he is having in creating a mean and relentless Blade Runner, far different from Ford and Gosling's take on the job.
By far the best part of this cast is that it has given iconic character actors like Stephen Root and Brian Cox the chance to share scenes together. These two performers have always been great, but have recently been giving the performances of their lifetimes in HBO series like Succession and Barry. These two actors, who are at the height of their careers, create a tense and memorable scene that in the hands of others would have fallen flat.
The series is certainly a fun watch, but sadly lacks the thematic intelligence and emotional dissection the films are known for. If it weren't for the intriguing vocal performances given by the cast of powerhouse actors, this series might not have worked at all. While its material certainly does not warrant the level of talent it received, it is certainly welcomed.
Blade Runner: Black Lotus airs on Adult Swim, and is available to stream on Crunchyroll.