Blade Runner is boring.
Nah, not really. I actually think it's great.
I just wanted to say that because to some people, that's very upsetting to hear.
The response is normally something like:
"It's a groundbreaking piece of cinema, pioneering both stylistically and in terms of tackling themes never attempted before in cinema."
Which, to be fair, y'know, I believe that's true.
It also a lot of long, lingering shots of cities that you could not get away with today
in a sci-fi film, simply because we've seen it a hundred times since 1982.
We've even seen it this very year in Ghost in the Shell
which is the poor man's Blade Runner and also the poor man's Ghost in the Shell.
I do, however, think if you came to the original Blade Runner, having watched all the knock-offs and homages
that have come since, then yeah -- I can see how one could consider it boring.
It's a bit meandering. Plus it also has that weird scene when Harrison Ford forces himself on a robot.
Also, if you've ever watched the original cut with Deckard's inner monologue...
[sigh] I mean, good grief.
"Skin-jobs. That's what Bryant called replicants."
"In history books, he's the kinda cop used to call black men [beep]."
That being said, the original Blade Runner, or the better cuts of the film
is difficult to top.
And in a sequel, you can't really just do the same thing -- because why rehash something that many people consider to be perfect?
But at the same time -- what direction do you take the film in?
Well, story-wise, I guess you do this:
Thirty years after the original, a new blade runner, Officer K, unwittingly unearths a secret
which sets him on a journey that has him intersect with a very familiar face from the past...
It's Harrison Ford. It's in the trailers.
WOMAN: "Hey, that's mine!" FORD: "Give me that!"
[Ford screaming]
However, that's all you really need to know going into this.
I'm reluctant to say anything else because Blade Runner 2049 is fantastic
and I'd hate to spoil the ride on what not only is a great and worthy sequel
but also one of the best films of 2017.
Blade Runner 2049 does something rare for a sequel
in that it expands upon the existing universe in a very organic way.
This isn't just in terms of the technological advancements in this alternative look at the future
where Atari is still riding high
but also in the way it takes what we know of the original lore and its characters
and builds upon them in a meaningful way.
You get the sense that this world has moved on and matured, and not always for the better
along with the characters within it.
And it again explores the idea of what it is that makes us human
in relation to when the lines between man and machine are blurred.
But it does this by taking the world in a different direction.
If you're looking for action in this film, like the original Blade Runner
these sequences are sparse.
But what is there is great.
There's high tension and high stakes, involving characters that you actually care about.
But the conflict isn't always just people punching each other.
There's a lot of incredibly tense moments just in the conversation between players.
I can't stress this enough, either: everyone in this film is fantastic.
Gosling; Wright; Batista; Ford -- all crushin' it.
But if I had a criticism of any of the performances it would be with Jared Leto.
He's sinister enough, but his Neander Wallace comes across, to me at least
like it's Jared Leto putting on his distant and calculated voice, and just chewing scenery.
It also goes without saying that if you've seen any of the trailers then you know that this film looks incredible.
It's a terrific blend of practical and CGI
which is again reminiscent of the live action and the modelwork from the first
but from a modern perspective.
If you're a fan of the original Blade Runner, I'd say you'll really enjoy this.
If you're not, I still think there's a very good chance that you'll like it
especially if you're a fan of hard sci-fi -- whatever that even means anymore.
And if you didn't enjoy that meandering pace of the first, that I mentioned earlier
this one is more purposeful in its storytelling.
It's a long one also, coming in at 2 hours and 43 minutes.
And it's definitely an exhausting ride but not in the negative sense.
For a sci-fi film, it's great. For a sequel, it's also great.
It might even be better than the first film.
That being said, it's so fresh in my mind that that's not something I'm willing to commit to just at this moment.
I give Blade Runner 2049 a good review
as in, this review that I just did. I don't do scores.
I used to do Best Movie Ever or Worst Movie Ever but that threw a lot of people through a loop.
So if you're deciding whether or not you wanna see it, just listen to the things I said before this
and maybe check out some other reviews and then just, y'know, make up your own mind.
What did you think of Blade Runner 2049?
Or if you haven't seen it yet, what are your thoughts on the original Blade Runner?
Does it hold up for you? It's okay to say yes or no. It's fine.
You can do whatever you want on the internet.
It's a bloody madhouse here. So many opinions.