Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix

I watched all the six episodes of this 2023 French-American adult animated television series on Netflix (UK and Ireland) yesterday (05-04-2025). It's a good mini TV series. We know it is inspired by the 2013 video game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, while amalgamating elements and characters from several other Ubisoft franchises such as Rayman, Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, Rabbids and Rainbow Six. It may be perfect for anyone who is sick of watching The Simpsons or soppy SpongeBob Squarepants (don't worry I still like those cartoons but not the modern ones).

I think Bullfrog and Rayman are my favourite characters.

If you're a fan of Ubisoft, you'll like this.

Just watched the whole "show" and really wish Netflix and other services would stop chopping what essentially could be a 2 hour movie into 6 episodes of 25 minutes (including 3-4 minutes of intro and credits). But I digress, I thought this was a fun watch, thought it was funny and cool to see characters and lore from Ubisoft games mixed into a story. I know people will call it woke and really I am so sick of that word, it has lost all meaning to me. I enjoyed the show, having played a lot of these Ubisoft games made it more enjoyable. Oh one more thing: Bullfrog and Rayman steal the show, they were awesome.

TLDR: Retro cyberpunk mixed with 'in-game' pixel animations. Definitely different, but if you liked Cyberpunk 2077 edge Runner, you might find that you enjoy this.

I had NO idea what to expect. Not only had I never heard of Captain laserhawk, im not very familiar with Ubisoft as a whole. So it was like going in blind, with my ears covered. The opening scene made it very obvious it was going to be cyberpunkish, and about 10 minutes in, it was very obvious it was a campy cyberpunk ish with videogame elements to it. It was definitely enjoyable though. The Animation style and story telling almost makes it feel like its part of the cyberpunk 2077 universe, and thats mostly a good thing, as I really enjoyed that show. I dont really have anything bad to say about it except the really push the whole 'gilted romance' narrative. I have no issues with sexuality in general, but its a major plot point to the show when it feels like something that they are focusing more on a lovers quarrel than any other plots in the show for the first half. Almost like the rest of the story doesnt matter.

All that said, interesting show, very different. 6 episodes isnt enough.

It feels like such a waste. Time and time again, Ubisoft has failed to deliver something truly memorable in their own gaming experiences due to trend surfing. Now that they have one of their best ideas to date, they (or Netflix) cut it down to mere bullet points.

Captain Laserhawk is 6 episodes long. You experience all of the twists and turns of a 2-season, 20 episode TV series in six 25-minute episodes. The show sprints through heartbreak and elation without a second to breathe. You see an entire world that could be explored, only to decide it's pointless by the next 2-3 scenes. You meet a main character, hear them say a few lines and watch them die. It was so easy to fall behind, that I had to rewind several times an episode.

I ended up not caring about any of the characters plights and achievements as a result (besides Rayman). How would I even care if they died? I have nothing to know about them beyond the fact that they're from an old game! Do I need to buy and play the videogame so I can feel sad when a character's life gets snubbed by another character from a different videogame??????

When it comes to themes, I do vibe incredibly well with the cyberpunk aesthetic. Blood Dragon the premier setting for the Ubisoft animated series. If anything, I wish the show wasn't as openly silly as Blood Dragon presented itself.

While I don't really have much to say about the animation quality, the decision of shifting animation styles to reflect a certain videogame aesthetic is cute (even though they don't usually reference Ubisoft games). I personally LOVE the show's brief use of mixed media and it's something I want to see in other animated shows and films. Seeing a real person in an animated environment with animated characters just tickles something in my ape brain.

I seriously wanted to like this project, and I do like a lot of what it has to offer. It's just so undercooked. I'm interested to see if this story goes anywhere in the future, but I can't help but expect Captain Laserhawk to be forgotten once another game publisher steps in with their own realized series.

This show felt so fresh and unique in its visuals, character design and action. I won't spoil anything but it will manage to catch you off-guard at least once every episode. Each legacy character is "remixed" in a way which makes them stand out but just have enough to resemble the original.

I really hope we do get a season 2 as this is exactly what adult animation needs, shows willing to take risks and be creative by using the power of animation as a medium.

The writing is great and the political ideology has never been more relevant than today's world. I could not think of a better time than this for the show to debut.

This is a great start and they can build on from here to make something that will be a treasure for the fans.