If you look at what made BLADE RUNNER a great movie, there are lots of elements that contributed to it iconic stature: story elements of the original novel of Philip K. Dick, although these have been loosely interpreted and placed into a new narrative, the creation of androids, replicants, that are made as slave labor force, for work in the hazardous and dirty jobs no human would want to take up, the grounding of a detective story with film noir elements combined with mysteriously interesting characters and a story that is less than black and white so it can easily be subverted, and the idea of killer robots on the run, to be portrayed with good actors. Dress it up with a sauce of VANGELIS music and you end up with an unforgettable classic in the field of science fiction as well as thriller/ adventure. Of course, if you know the film a number of years, it is easy to imagine that one would start thinking of making a sequel. Expectations however easily grow high when the sequel is indeed going to be made.
BLADE RUNNER 2049 shows the same world again a good 30 years after the original film. A number of things have happened that have great consequences for the story but its characteristics are followed in similar tones to the original film in order to maintain continuity (meaning the film moves slowly and takes its time to tell its story). A current Police Officer ( who no doubt about this, is a Replicant as he is practically introduced as one ) is put on a case that leads him to uncover a truth that may have dire consequences to human life on this planet, for whatever it is worth ( the weather is always awful, life on earth having turned into almost a nightmare). The story then leads to Deckart, our protagonist from the original film , who then brings us to the crux of the story. Although the story we are introduced into is very interesting ( I was astounded at the end of the film that more than 2 and a half hours had passed – I hadn’t noticed ), the narrative hints at the global consequences of the story McGuffin. ( It turns out that one Replicant in the past has given birth to a child. If this news goes out, the Replicants of this world may arise in a revolution, claiming their own rights and mankind would be out of its slave labor force and into a whole lot more trouble as these Replicants will also want improved quality of life !) Yet, when the story continues it only opts to follow the more personal storyline as it pertains to DECKART, which is a bit strange and maybe a little unsatisfying. Still , the story is very interesting and maybe even moving, even though it goes at less than a snail’s pace, one cannot deny that you do want to see what happens next, even at this pace.
The actors are very good in their role. Jared Leto plays one of the most interesting roles of his career. Ryan Gosling is also incredibly appealing as a good COP – Replicant and Dave Bautista and Ana de Armas (who wouldn’t want to have her naked hologram waltzing around in their bedroom? ) both have interesting parts. It is however in the music that this film strongly disappoints as the music is totally incoherent, does not develop any themes and does nothing but present digital farting sounds of varying loudness. The absence of VANGELIS ( who had been asked but wanted to have no part of it) is unmistakable as what goes for music now only hints at what we had in the original film. The camerawork of Roger Deakins is quite good on the other hand but with the bleek circumstances ( Poor weather, desperate settings and low visibility ) impacting this, who would take notice?
BLADE RUNNER 2049 is a long film at 163 minutes but the story retains its interest. Still it does not rise to the same level as its predecessor, which is a shame and a disappointment but still, it is a mighty interesting film to watch. Maybe in a few years’ time, this film will also have the same increased stature but so far, no, this one is not on my shortlist for the best films of 2017. I would like to add however that Denis Villeneuve is a good director, who might however be better off trying to express his own cinematic voice. (It seems he is working too much in Ridley Scott's imagination here and I would rather have seen Villeneuve bring more of himself to the picture.)
Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford
