By Travis Johnson
Jonah Nolan and JJ Abrams adapting and updating Michael Crichton’s 1973 techno-thriller about robots running amok in a Western-styled theme park? For HBO? That sounds like a slam dunk.
Apparently it wasn’t, though – production has been plagued by delays and costly reshoots, to the point where HBO really, really need this to be a hit.
And it very well could be! Westworld looks great. As has been the way of things for some time now, this iteration clearly draws more on the trippy, phenomenological “who am I?” ruminations of Philip K Dick than the drier airport-thriller stylings of Crichton, and that’s an area of investigation that Abrams has mapped well, although not exhaustively. The Western elements lean heavily towards the much-missed old HBO stablemate, Deadwood, which does raise some questions – namely, how many people would pay cash money to get inserted into a Cormac McCarthy novel?*
And that’s a hell of a cast: Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Jimmi Simpson, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Clifton Collins, Jr., and more. Ed Harris alone is worth the price of admission, all steely glares and lack of affect.
Of course, great first looks do not always lead to great final results, but there are plenty of reasons to remain hopeful here. Showtime has picked up the Australian rights to Westworld, which should air later in the year.
*Someone is already typing that they certainly would, without thinking it through properly.
