{"id":6568,"date":"2024-10-23T13:14:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T17:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=6568"},"modified":"2024-10-23T13:14:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T17:14:50","slug":"blade-runner-2049","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/23\/blade-runner-2049\/","title":{"rendered":"Blade Runner 2049"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Blade Runner 2049 <\/strong>(2017)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Sci-Fi-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 163 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, some sexuality, nudity, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Denis Villeneuve\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Hampton Fancher and Michael Green\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Roger Deakins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 6, 2017 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto, David Dastmalchian, Barkhad Abdi, Hiam Abbass, Wood Harris.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $92.1M (US)\/$267.5M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0I was afraid this might happen. I was disappointed by Blade Runner 2049<\/strong>. Even with all the glowing reviews, I should have known that the sequel wouldn\u2019t measure up to the original which is my all-time favorite sci-fi movie (next to 2001: A Space Odyssey). Therein lies part of the problem. Since it\u2019s my favorite, almost anything would pale in comparison. I tried to keep an open mind. I tried to be optimistic. I thought if anybody (other than Ridley Scott that is) could pull off a sequel to Blade Runner (35 years after the fact, no less), it would be Denis Villeneuve, the director who redefined the alien invasion movie with last year\u2019s mind-blowing Arrival. He makes a valiant effort with Blade Runner 2049<\/strong> except this time it yields mixed results.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As per the directive sent out by the studio, there\u2019s only so much I can tell you about the plot. They don\u2019t want any spoilers getting out there at this time including one that\u2019s revealed in the first ten minutes. That one actually isn\u2019t very surprising but I\u2019m still keeping it to myself out of professional courtesy. Here\u2019s what I can tell you. Set 30 years after the first movie, there\u2019s still a lot of prejudice towards replicants even though newer, more obedient models have been integrated into society. Older models are still hunted down and \u201cretired\u201d by cops known as \u201cblade runners\u201d. The blade runner in this movie is K (Gosling, La La Land) who we first meet retiring an older model replicant (Bautista, Guardians of the Galaxy) working as a farmer. This assignment leads K to discover a secret that, if it got out, would change the way the world looks at replicants. Naturally, there are those that would prefer it remain a secret. K\u2019s investigation leads him to Rick Deckard (Ford) who\u2019s been in hiding all these years. That\u2019s all I can and will say about the plot.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Some are calling Blade Runner 2049<\/strong> the best sequel ever made. I hardly think so. There\u2019s much to admire about it; unfortunately, there\u2019s also much to criticize. It\u2019s an ambitious movie, perhaps too ambitious. At 163 minutes, it\u2019s bloated and overblown. The storyline is convoluted. It drags at several points. The first Blade Runner was also slow, but the awesome visuals really compensated for the lagging pace. There was always something to catch your eye. They still hold up. I find the visuals just as jaw-dropping now as I did when I was 14.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Villeneuve employs a different visual aesthetic for Blade Runner 2049<\/strong> and I\u2019m not that impressed. There are a few cool visuals, but a lot of time it\u2019s kind of drab. The cityscapes aren\u2019t as imposing. There isn\u2019t that mix of the past and the future like there was in the first movie. Villeneuve places a greater emphasis on sound. There are a lot of loud booming sounds in the movie. It has a jarring effect on the senses. The score by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch evokes Vangelis\u2019 synth-heavy score from the original. It adds a layer of dread to the proceedings.<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of the main things I don\u2019t like about Blade Runner 2049<\/strong> is that there aren\u2019t any cool characters on the level of Roy Batty or Tyrell. The villains in this one are Niander Wallace (Leto, Dallas Buyers Club), the replicant manufacturer who acquired Tyrell\u2019s company after the 2019 fiasco with the Nexus-6 models and his henchwoman Luv (Dutch actress Hoeks) who spends the movie trying to kill K so the big secret is never revealed. She\u2019s pretty kick-ass; Leto\u2019s character didn\u2019t make all that big an impression. The only other characters worth mentioning are K\u2019s boss Lt. Joshi (Wright, Wonder Woman) and his holographic girlfriend Joi (Armas, War Dogs). The acting is pretty good. About Gosling, I\u2019ll only say his performance is right for the character he plays. Ford is great as an older, grumpier Deckard. He lives in a high-rise in what used to be Las Vegas. I don\u2019t want to say much else about his character so I\u2019ll leave it at this.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The first Blade Runner was a deft blend of dystopian sci-fi, detective noir and Frankenstein. It was a real game-changer for the genre. It was a movie ahead of its time. Audiences didn\u2019t know what to make of it at the time and while it turned a small profit, it wasn\u2019t the hit the studio hoped it would be. I don\u2019t know if the same fate awaits Blade Runner 2049<\/strong>. It too mixes sci-fi and detective noir, but it\u2019s not as cool this time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What I do admire about the sequel, however, is that it\u2019s not a mere rehash of the first movie. It expands upon it by further exploring themes like memory and what it means to be human. If nothing else, Blade Runner 2049<\/strong> is intelligent. It also assumes intelligence on the part of the viewer. It doesn\u2019t pander to the moron demographic with a lot of explosions and CGI battles. It has so many good points that I really wished I liked it more than I do. It\u2019s a pretty good sequel, but it\u2019s not the classic a lot people seem to think it is. I\u2019m sticking to my opinion for now, but I\u2019m willing to see it a second time. You know, just in case.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Sci-Fi-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 163 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, some sexuality, nudity, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Denis Villeneuve\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Hampton Fancher and Michael Green\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Roger Deakins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 6, 2017 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sci-fi-fantasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Blade-Runner-2049-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6568"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6849,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6568\/revisions\/6849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}