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Blade Runner 2049. Discuss. (Spoilers? Maybe...)

PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:55 am
by Thorthoth
Saw Blade Runner 2049, in XD, 3D, all that jazz.

The best part of the film is the emotional & philosophical tension that builds in the first half of the film. The complexities of a society transitioning from human to ai, through various shades of replicant, robot, and cyborg makes for some thought-provoking moments. Conceptually, the most original and intriguing character is Joi, the surprisingly sophisticated and empathic virtual computer girlfriend of Gosling's lonely blade runner, K.

However, the actual plot, per se is a bit thin and over-explained, as well as hinging on an unlikely blind spot in replicant bio-technology.

Gosling carries the film. Ford is mostly just there for necessary historicity. Sean Young's cameo is quite nice.
CGI facelifts now mean actresses need never grow old,.... unless they want to make a live appearance.

Overall, the film's misc-en-scene and SFX are quite good, giving a suitable bleak view of our/their dystopian future, especially when the imagery is allowed to remain starkly minimalist.

The newness of most futurist sci-fi is now long gone and I entered the theater with only moderate expectations that allowing me to be pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed.
Though not groundbreaking in itself, this is is an intriguing and well-made sequel to a truly great film that blazed a trail for much of the better science-fiction cinema of the last 35 years.

Re: Blade Runner 2049. Discuss. (Spoilers? Maybe...)

PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:15 am
by Thorthoth
A few more points.

The film flowed well, it's three hour length never seemed to drag.

Also I like the heavy use of homage from the original film. Much of the imagery and atmosphere of Blade Runner '2019' (1982) has been sliced, diced and poured back into the new film. Some might find the references too obvious, but in this case it works, 30 years is long enough to make it fresh again. The three short prequel (interquel?) films available online also use this method to good effect.)

Still, the original is the original... and the best: