Released: October 2017
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Rated R
Run Time: 164 Minutes
Dstributor: Warner Bros/Sony Pictures
Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller
Cast:
Ryan Gosling: ‘K’
Harrison Ford: Deckard
Dave Bautista: Sapper Morton
Jared Leto: Niander Wallace
Robin Wright: Lieutenant Joshi
When Blade Runner was released back in 1982, it was not widely accepted by audiences or critics. In fact, the movie flat out bombed at the box-office. Why? There were a number of reasons. One: The infamous production problems that the film had prior to release had something to do with it. Two: It was very unconventional for a science fiction film. It didn’t play out like your typical Star Wars or Star Trek film. In fact, the film didn’t have very much in terms of action. I think that when people saw that Harrison Ford was in it, that it was going to be an action movie. The fact is, is that Blade Runner had more in common with the detective noir films of the 30s and 40s than it did with the modern day action flick. The film was deliberately paced to be a slow-moving detective movie set in a dystopian future. It was based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep story. Over the years, the film would develop a cult following, and with Ridley Scott releasing no less than 5 different of the film, Blade Runner is considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. So….35 years later, we have a new Blade Runner film: Blade Runner 2049. Does it stack up well against it’s predecessor? The short answer is yes. Very much so, as a matter of fact.
30 years after the events of the first film, Blade Runner 2049 is set in a world where all the ecosystems have failed entirely, leaving many folks to leave the planet they used to call home. However, thanks to the genius of one Niander Wallace, synthetic forms of vegetation and meat were created to sustain human life. Also, since the fall of the Tyrell Corporation, who used to build humanoid machines known as Replicants, Wallace also took over that industry. Used for mostly slave labor, the Replicants were mostly outlawed, with the exception of some who were allowed to remain employed by the police force as Blade Runners. A Blade Runner is a special unit tasked with hunting down and eliminating rogue Replicants. ‘K’, a Replicant Blade Runner is sent to find a particular rogue unit by the name of Sapper Morton. What he discovers at Morton’s farm will change everything that he knows. I’m not going to divulge anymore of the story at this point. Why? A mystery once solved is not quite as interesting. The stuff that happens in this film will challenge you in ways that you never expect. There are twists and turns that you will not see coming. Just when you think you have a bead on something, the movie yanks the rug out from under you. It’s never blatant, even though you are given subtle clues and hints about what you see and what it means. Like the original film, there is a purpose to everything that you see. It’s absolutely wonderful and surprisingly heartfelt at the same time. It’s a fantastic story that expands upon what we already know from the original Blade Runner.
I want to stress that like the original Blade Runner, 2049 is not an action movie. It has action in it, but that is not the focus of the film. The focus of the film, like any good mystery and detective story, is about piecing together clues and following the bread crumbs to a particular resolution. I love that aspect of the film, because it doesn’t hold your hand or spoon-feed you information. Like the original film, this one requires you to pay attention and to put the pieces together yourself. It answers certain questions left by the original film, but again, I won’t spoil it for you. The action that we do get is surprisingly brutal, but it doesn’t last for very long. It’s not without purpose, as I have said before, but you have to set your expectations properly.
From a visual standpoint, this movie just kills it. It’s one of the most beautiful films that I’ve seen put on screen. Whereas the original Blade Runner kept the visuals restrained to one city, 2049 opens up into a much larger world, so we can see the damage that was done by years of warfare and various other disasters. From Los Angeles to Las Vegas, each location has its own unique identity. Even the smaller sets like Wallace’s main room is incredibly detailed. Morton’s farm feels like a real place that could actually exist. It doesn’t hurt that a lot of these sets were built. CGI is used for specific purposes in certain scenes, but reduced to a minimum during character scenes. It’s an absolutely stunning film to behold.
The acting in the film is superb. Everybody who is a part of this project really should be commended for delivering some incredibly powerful performances here. Of note is Ryan Gosling as ‘K’. I will fully admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Gosling’s. But his performance in this film is extraordinarily nuanced and straight-forward. Harrison Ford returns as Deckard, and…well….it’s Harrison Ford playing one of his most iconic characters. Of course, he’s awesome. The events of the past 30 years in the film have left the character somewhat broken and withdrawn. When ‘K’ finally meets up with Deckard, it’s astonishing. Robin Wright, who plays the police lieutenant, is hard to read at first. She’s someone who is harsh, and yet is someone that actually cares about what happens to the world around her, and doesn’t want to see things collapse. Jared Leto’s character of Niander Wallace, is an unusual one. The character, and as a result, Leto, don’t show up in the film very often, but when they do, there is a surprising amount of gravitas being thrown around. Jared’s really good at playing psychotic characters, but this is definitely one of his more restrained, yet, eccentric roles. The character is absolutely mysterious. We don’t know much about him or what he really wants, and the movie never really answers that question. That’s a good thing.
If there’s truly one glaring negative about the film that I can point out, it’s with the inclusion of Edward James Olmos’ Gaff. This guy was mysterious in the original film and surprisingly creepy. Here, he’s relegated to a retirement home and doesn’t offer very much, not even information on where Deckard may be hiding. You could cut out that character entirely and nothing would have been lost, save for a few minutes of exposition. Aside from that, though, the rest of the film is absolutely phenomenal. Denis Villeneuve has proven YET again that he is a master film-maker. With the films he’s made, I would put Denis up there with the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. He has an incredible amount of respect for the source material and it shows in every single frame.
Now, I saw this after the film opened in theaters, and the film bombed at the box-office. I honestly wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not. Movies like this have a very hard time finding an audience on release. It really takes time for movies like Blade Runner to find a footing. I expect the film will actually do better on home video than in theaters. Again, it’s a very unconventional science fiction film. I find that these kinds of science fiction movies are the best. They’re the best, because they actually demand something of the audience. Patience and a willingness to pay attention to details are required for films of this sort. If you don’t have much of an attention span or just want something quick and easy like Star Wars, Blade Runner isn’t for you. The Blade Runner films are much smarter than people give them credit for and really deserve all the praise that they have been getting. I can’t say enough about this film, except that it’s quite possibly the movie of the year in my current estimation. Do I recommend this film? Yes. Yes. Hell, yes.
My Final Recommendation: This is a movie for smart and patient people only. 9.5/10.