“Utopia” review
By Ike Hajinazarian
Grade: D+
As a young, sexually confused preteen, I used to occasionally watch “The Real World” on MTV mainly because it had at least one hot guy every season, who often went shirtless, and I got to see that hot guy get into sexual escapades with other members of the house. It was exciting stuff.
The show was pretty bad, but at least it had that going for it, along with steamy drama played out by drunk 20-somethings.
Fox, in its infinite wisdom, decided to go for the same general idea but throw in some “Hunger Games,” “Survivor” and a dash of “Naked and Afraid.”
The premise of “Utopia” is that 14 strangers are left a piece of land with very limited resources, and we watch through “hidden cameras” what they choose to do within this lawless, uncivilized paradise.
The strangers have to choose what to do (or not do) with a limited amount of money. We also have the group performing maintenance, field work and general survival-esque stuff.
On paper, it’s really not a horrible concept.
It’s just that Fox overproduced it to the point that it’s no longer fun to watch.
There’s a girl that looks quite a bit like Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen , even using a bow and arrow.
There’s a scene in which the “pioneers” are sitting at a table being told of their task via hologram.
A hologram on the table. I’m sorry, is this “Star Trek” now?
Conflicts feel cheap and forced.
The main conflict of the episode revolves around one of the guys getting way too drunk the first night and sexually harassing a girl.
The other contestants then have to decide, as a sort of jury, whether or not they’re comfortable with him staying.
Not very interesting and very contrived.
None of the characters in the game are really very compelling. I didn’t really care about any of them.
Perhaps if Fox hadn’t picked stock, stereotypical weirdos, like the pastor who talks exclusively about the Bible, I’d be more interested.
A swing and a miss, Fox.
