Blade Runner 2049 is the very highly anticipated sequel to the iconic 80's sci-fi classic 'Blade Runner'. The film is directed by one of the best directors currently working today, Denis Villeneuve and stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford and Jared Leto. It depicts the story of Officer K who lives in 2049 Los Angeles and is tasked with locating and destroying the child of a replicant. Before I go in depth, I just want to say that 2049 is a straight up masterpiece. Villeneuve is cementing himself as an absolute genius, especially with his other works such as Sicario, a fantastic crime thriller, and Arrival, which was an incredible sci-fi and was one of the best films of last year - and so now he has proved himself yet again with Blade Runner 2049, which is somehow his greatest film to date and one of the greatest science fiction stories ever put to screen and, in my opinion, excels the original in nearly every single way - and don't get me wrong, I adore the original film, but it's hard to argue that this wasn't a superior film. First off, 2049 is a visual masterpiece and is such an incredibly visceral experience. Some of the visuals are just simply gorgeous and makes the film amazingly stunning to look at, and it's near impossible to become bored whilst looking at the world that has been brought before your eyes which leaves you in awe has to how it came about. 2049 is also a perfect example of how to make a sequel; it doesn't shove fan service down the audience's throats (*cough* Jurassic World *cough*), but instead it gives us a fresh new story set in the same world, while also expanding upon the original movie in some form. Ryan Gosling gives one of the greatest performances of his entire career as Officer K and, in my opinion, should at least be considered for an Oscar nod. Harrison Ford is also on par with one of the best performances from him in a while, even though he was pretty solid in The Force Awakens he's definitely better in this. Jared Leto also gives a very menacing portrayal of the villainous character of Wallace, and is definitely an improvement from his last villain role from the astonishingly abysmal Suicide Squad. The narrative of 2049 is also full of twists and turns, and is very far from predictable - which is a criticism that could easily be made of the first film. The film has a total running time of 169 minutes, which is almost 3 hours, however it really doesn't feel like it - and the incredibly built world really helps to keep you engaged in the story despite the fact that it is very lengthy in retrospect. 2049 is almost completely void of flaws, however unfortunately no movie is completely perfect. Whilst the 169 minute run time doesn't necessarily become tiresome, it could very easily be reduced due to one or two unnecessary scenes. The film also uses several voice clips over and over again from earlier points in the film to remind the audience of what's happened and to give them audio clues to piece the puzzle together, however each mystery revealed itself pretty easily without these audio clips being required - and so I felt they could've and should've been removed. There's also some expository dialogue and heavy amounts of product placement, but these both make sense in terms of the narrative and the universe so they can be forgiven. In conclusion, Denis Villeneuve yet again proves himself to be one of the greatest working directors at this current point in time with Blade Runner 2049, which is a modern day masterpiece which expands upon its predecessor and tells a fresh and exciting narrative, instead of relying on it to please audience members. Blade Runner 2049 is one of the greatest science fiction movies and sequels of all time and is even greater than the original film, I cannot recommend it enough - please go and see Blade Runner 2049 as soon as possible and on the biggest screen you can find.
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December 2017
My Favourite Films:
The Breakfast Club (1989) Drive (2011) The Social Network (2010) The Dark Knight (2008) Empire Strikes Back (1980) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Taxi Driver (1976) Dr Strangelove (1964) Trainspotting (1996) |