Introduction:
I’ve always wanted to see a
sequel to Blade Runner or at least
an expansion of the world we see in the 1982 film. But I figured that was just
a daydream, even if I did hear rumors about it from time to time. In 2017 we
got a follow up that looked promising from all the trailers. Director Denis
Villeneuve was at the helm of this endeavour, and I’ve found his work to be
pretty interesting. Maybe we had a second excellent sci-fi film in store for us
during 2017 after the magnificent War for the Planet of the Apes.
Summary:
K (Ryan Gosling) is a Blade
Runner, an officer working for the LAPD that hunts down rogue Replicants.
Usually these artificial humanoids are older models with a tendency to rebel
against human masters. During his latest assignment K comes across some clues
that hint at the impossible: a Replicant giving birth to a child. K’s superior,
Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright), fears that if news of Replicants being able to
procreate got out, then there would be mass panic in the already unstable
world. K is tasked with finding and retiring this “miracle” child.
K starts his investigation, finding
and putting together clues. His girlfriend Joi (Ana de Armas) offers her take
on the case, as well as some moral support. He meets with the creator of stable
Replicants, Niander Wallace (Jered Leto) who keeps things close to his chest.
The case gets very dangerous, as it becomes apparent that others are looking
for this child, and will murder to get it. Eventually his search leads him to
seek out the old Blade Runner, Deckard (Harrison Ford) to find out his role in
these mysterious events. What revelation will be unearthed when K finally
discovers the answers, and will they change the world as he knows it?
Good Points:
- In nearly every way, expands
and evolves the world of the previous film
- Delves into the future noire
concept with both feet, and also twists it in interesting ways
- Excellent performances by
the entire cast
Bad Points:
- If you don’t like the original
film, than you won’t like this one
- Moves at a deliberate pace,
focusing on clues and characters over action
- Some of the music is so
overpowering and loud that it distracts
Overall:
This sequel takes everything
from the previous film and expands and builds on it. From a production point of
view it is startling, pulling us back into that world with ease. It has a
measured pace, that fits the tone and style of the movie. The themes it explores
are familiar. Even more impressive are all the layers to explore in this movie.
Some of the music overplays its hand, but other times it feels like a perfect continuation.
All told, this fan of the original film loved the sequel. I can’t wait to
revisit and explore it again.
Scores
(out of 5)
Visuals: 5
Sound: 5
Acting: 5
Script: 4
Music: 4
Direction: 5
Entertainment: 4
Total: 5
In Depth Review
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| More human, than human? You decide. |
I’m going to do my best to
keep this review spoiler free, and will either revisit or write some in depth posts
in another blog after the movie comes out for home viewing.
Blade Runner 2049 pulls off one of the trickiest issues for a sequel. It keeps things
familiar and yet expands and develops on what came before. The film is closely
tied to the previous film from a narrative and thematic sense. But it also acts
as a mirror or bookend of it. Some scenes, shots, dialogue and confrontations
are taken from the previous film and replicated (pun sorta kinda intended) in a
way that changes the meaning for the new film. In that way, to get the most out
of Blade Runner 2049 requires
intimate knowledge of the 1982 film.
But even if you’ve only seen
the original film a couple of times, Villeneuve makes sure that you can follow
this film from its main detective plot, as well as the side plots dealing with
Joi and Wallace’s role in the whole film. And just like the previous film, this
movie focuses more on K’s hunt, his character and the way the case changes him.
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| Rough day at the office for K. |
That search is what drives Blade Runner 2049 in many of its
production decisions. This is not an action film. This is a detective drama set
in the future. It moves at a measured pace, with a few action scenes to
punctuate moments. But this is not a thrill ride. It was never intended to be
one. But the film is pretty long, and I can understand why some folk may feel
it drags in places.
Villeneuve is a fan of
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and it
really shows. He is dedicated to bringing the world presented in that film back
to life in nearly all aspects. He advances some technology and design for the
2049 setting, but all those changes are based off of what was presented in the
1982 original. So you still have some very analogue technology in the film, but
pushed forward a bit in places. There are now holograms of various sizes
through out the city, something that actually was more inspired the cityscapes
of Akira.
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| And you thought Vegas couldn't get gaudier. |
The film does move outside
of Los Angeles into some of the battered landscapes near San Diego and into Las
Vegas. Seeing these new locations adds a bit of spice to the familiar locations
of the previous film, and reduces some of the claustrophobia you feel. But
visually it is a twist on the original film. Deckard was a man lost in the mire
and filth of the crowds of Los Angeles. K is a man lost in the desolation and
loneliness of the vast world. There are many shots of K standing in stark
relief to these deserted locations, offering an interesting visual contrast.
The visual effects are truly
impressive. You get a great mix of miniatures, computer images and fully
fleshed out sets that are full of detail. It is a tribute to the original
film’s dense production design, and it gives Blade Runner 2049 the same realistic feeling. This world feels
lived in, it feels beaten up, it feels like it may be on the very edge of collapsing.
I was never pulled out of the film because of some incongruous visuals.
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| I'm not touching you. Does this bother you? |
Instead Villeneuve is uses
unreality of visual effects to his advantage. Holograms play a key role in the
story and themes of this film. At times they can appear realistic, at other
times they look incomplete and unresolved. That imperfection against the reality
of the sets and human characters makes them stand out on purpose. Sometimes that
flickering gives them a forlorn feeling. Other times they feel uncanny, and not
to be trusted.
The sound effects in Blade Runner 2049 build on what we
heard in the original film. Most of this is real world sound effects with only
some unique sci-fi sounds added in for the vehicles or some of the technology
used.
Both Blade Runner films build thier unique sonic world with the scores.
The original was composed by Vangelis, and is a score that is immediately feels
like part of city. Nothing else really sounds like Vangelis’ score, not even
other Vangelis albums from the period. There is a darkness to the score that
really comes through.
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| It is still raining in L.A. even in 2049. |
For the sequel Villeneuve
ended up dropping his regular composer Johann Johannsson and went with the duo
of Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer. These two composers do a fine job of
using Vangelis’ style and tone and expanding it in a more modern way. They use
many of the same vintage keyboards and synth sounds that Vangelis utilized, and
they even carry over his Tears in Rain
theme from the previous film. But what fans of the older score will notice is
that the tone and atmosphere feels almost perfect.
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| I think he is attempting to use his Scanner powers! |
There are two changes here.
The first is that the score for 2049
lacks some of the blues/jazz influences that Vangelis utilized in key scenes.
It doesn’t hurt the film, but it does make the listening experience of the
album feel a bit too samey at times. I know, film score fan first world
problems. What I’m not a fan of is the HORN OF DOOM effect that is used in the
score. You get those long sustained portentous whole note blasts of sound in
this score. We first heard this in Inception
and it was ridiculous there (at least in my opinion), but by the time we hit
2017 this effect is so tired and stale. Nearly three quarters of all trailers
use that ridiculous HORN OF DOOM effect. To hear it invade the Blade Runner world is a disappointment.
The problem also becomes troubling in the sound mix of the film, because these
blasts are so invasive they draw attention to themselves and pull the viewer
out of the film.
Now to be clear this kind of
thing appeared in the original score and mix to the earlier film. But, it seems
like the new composers picked up on the single track that this did occur in and
proceeded to sprinkle it a bit more in this film. I found it distracting, and
there were a few moments where it seemed dreadfully out of place. Why the music
was blasting away at a few characters walking toward K, I’ll never know. Just
an odd bit of scoring. In some ways it may work better as a listening
experience as part of a Blade Runner
concept album.
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| I hear no body walks in L.A. |
It is a bit tricky to talk
too much about the acting without spoiling some of the plot revelations, so I’m
going to keep this a bit more surface than I normally would. The entire cast
does a really great job in their roles. Each character is a shade of grey in
this film, and that keeps everything slightly off balance. It can be a tough
role for an actor, but everyone steps up to the challenge. Gosling in particular
has some very tricky balancing to pull off. His performance feels restrained,
but always with something simmering underneath. When things get brought to a
boil, the emotion feels earned because we’ve seen him holding it in for a good
chunk of the film. It is one of those performances that may seem a bit dry when
the movie starts, but it really seemed to evolve for me over the course of the
film.
It is great to see Ford
playing Deckard again, and he does a very good job. That bitterness that we saw
in the previous film seems to be amplified by his life after the first film
ended. Ford plays a key role, but don’t expect him to have a lot of screen
time, just enough for it count. And he gets a great scene with Jered Leto (who
balances mysterious and disturbing perfectly) that puts Deckard through the
ringer.
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| She looks nice and helpful now... but just wait. |
But my favorite performance
in Blade Runner 2049 has to go to
Sylvia Hoeks as Luv. She’s the femme fatale of this future noire, and man does
she play it to the hilt. This is one replicant you don’t want to get on the
wrong side of, and of course K finds himself on the wrong side of Luv. Without
giving too much away, I will say that she does a good job of keeping you
feeling off center. When she’s on the screen early in the film, you are uneasy.
But when she starts showing up in the final half, you get tense – because you
know she is willing and able to do just about anything. She makes for a great
antagonist.
Now the challenging part,
the writing and direction. It is really hard to cover these without any
spoilers, but I really think that if you are interested in the film you should
check it out first. I’ll cover what I like about these elements, but avoid
diving into the themes and plot points too much.
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| Deckard has seen some Dangerous Days indeed. |
Blade Runner 2049 was made by fans for fans. You can tell that everyone involved in the
film wanted to make a sequel worthy of the previous film, one they hold in high
esteem. It starts with the plot. You could have gone so many different ways
with a follow up, and they could have taken a quick and easy action packed movie
set in the world fashioned in the previous film. But instead, they decided to
carry over the detective noire concept as well. In fact I would say the case at
the heart of this film is more engaging than the one in the previous film
(which was really an extended bounty hunt). In 2049 we get more investigation and personal links that act as
clues. K must engage and understand each person he encounters if he is to solve
this mystery. These plot points are intriguing and carry the viewer along with
him. As K closes in on the truth it starts to impact his view on the world and
how he sees himself. But like everything in this universe, the writers keep it
all in shades of grey. Truth is a tricky thing, and just like the previous
film, when the case closes some questions are still left unanswered, not just
for K, but also for the viewer.
What is great about the
script is that it really does work as a standalone film, with K acting as an
excellent protagonist. But the writers know Blade Runner very well, and use the new story and characters to
impact how we view the original film. It really does take themes from that film
and shape and twist them in new ways. Not an easy task to pull off, but the
script manages it. This film feels like it needs to exist, not like it was
thrown together just to get another movie based on 80s nostalgia.
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| Replicant prostitutes... of the FUTURE! |
Villeneuve handles the
entire production with amazing skill. He gets great performances out of the
cast. He keeps the production feeling true to the original film. But he also
takes a very good script and makes it even more impressive in the way he lays
out scenes and constructs the movie. I sound like a broken record here, but I’m
really impressed with the way the new film, in all of its aspects, enhances the
previous film and pushes things forward. It takes someone with an eye for
details (and in the older film Ridley Scott’s obsessive fascination with production
design make it even more challenging) to craft a film like this. It can be
watched by casual fans and enjoyed. But if you are one of those more obsessive
fans (which I admit, I’m one) you’ll find so many layers and levels in this
film. It is a remarkable achievement.
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| "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain." |
Is it a milestone in science
fiction, or one of the greatest movies of the century? I wouldn’t go that far.
In fact, I think this movie has a very specific audience. You have to have
enjoyed the original film, and there are plenty of people out there who don’t
like it at all. You have to be willing to watch a film that is slow paced and
just as concerned about visual storytelling and letting the atmosphere soak in,
as it is about moving the plot along. I’ve seen some people call it a super
expensive art film, and yeah I think that is a good description. It is not a
summer blockbuster. I’m frankly surprised the film got made the way it was. But
I’m very happy that it was. I can heartily recommend seeing it (and on a big
screen to soak in that atmosphere), but only if you meet those caveats. Blade Runner 2049 is a journey well
worth taking and revisiting.
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| I warned you. Don't get on the wrong side of Luv. |
