Altered Carbon: Resleeved (2020)

Altered Carbon: Resleeved is the kind of sci-fi spin-off that understands the assignment: take a dense, neon-noir universe and translate it into animation that can move like lightning and hit like a fist. The film’s real pleasure is in its sleek designs and sharply staged choreography, where every blade swing and gunshot feels clean, weighty, and purpose-built for the “sleeves and stacks” mythology. It carries a cool, hardboiled vibe—part cyberpunk nightclub haze, part yakuza power play—while keeping the pace brisk enough that even newcomers can ride the wave. The story won’t rewrite your mind, and if you’re allergic to stylized violence or lore-heavy worlds it may not convert you, but if you want an adrenaline-forward dip back into Altered Carbon, it delivers with style to spare.

Altered Carbon: Resleeved is clearly trying to bottle the franchise’s slick cyberpunk vibe into a tight, anime-style crime thriller, with brutal action, yakuza politics, and plenty of body-swapping lore. The problem is the story feels more like a checklist of twists and shootouts than something driven by characters you’ll actually care about, so even big reveals can land with a thud and a whiff of predictability. The animation has moments of style and the fights are energetic, but the 3D look can be an acquired taste, and if you’re not on board with it, the thin writing won’t do much to compensate. If you want a sharp, emotionally engaging Altered Carbon story, this may frustrate you; if you just want fast sci-fi violence and neon-noir atmosphere for 70 minutes, it’ll do the job.