Westworld Review: 10 Non-Spoiler Reasons It's HBO's Next Big Thing

1. Ambitious, Intelligent, Thoughtful Sci-Fi

Westworld Review 2
HBO

There are many shows Westworld could've ended up being. It may have erred much closer to the movie, placing a heavy focus on humans vs robots. It could've been a lot more action-packed, an endless slew of gunfights and battles. It could've been a slow, talky mediation on artificial intelligence and humanity. It could've just been really dull, looked terrible, and fell completely flat.

That it's some combination of the first three, and more besides, is a testament to HBO, and a credit to Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, and everyone else involved in the show. The sheer scope of the series is impressive in its ambition; that it manages to pull it off, with such weight of expectation ready to weigh it down, is a considerable achievement.

The series doesn't dumb things down, but isn't too clever for its own good; it's thoughtful, and poses interesting questions about A.I. and our use of it, without being preachy. It the show can maintain that across the first season and long after (no easy task, but early signs are it's up to the job), then it really will be the worthy successor to Game of Thrones' HBO crown.

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Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.