Bladerunner 2049 (2017)

 I'm not a huge fan of the original 'Bladerunner' from 1982, you could say that I "appricate it" more then I "like it". But when I first saw the previews for the much belated 2017 sequal, the visuals were so impressive that I wanted to see it. However the length of the movie, 2 hours and 43 minutes, was a turn off. I'll gladly sit through some very long movies, but something about this one made me not want to put down money for a theater ticket. I wanted to soak in all the visuals and not having to miss some to pee. I figured I'd probably only ever see this thing once, so why risk missing some of it. I think I made the right call. 

'Bladerunner 2049' looks great, wonderful visual sense to the thing. Set design, special effects, shot composition, all first rate. There are some really interesting ideas here to. Most people of means have left the Earth for colony worlds, Terre Firma is all but dead, most plants and animals gone. Major cities like Las Vegas abandoned, most of Los Angeles is empty buildings, with small populated corridors along what had been major roads. A new generation of replicants live longer and are more docile, but still long to be human. While new intellegent holograms long for the physicality even a replicant enjoys. There is a lot of neat stuff to 'Bladrunner 2049', so it's a real shame that it is such a slog to sit through. 

It's just way too long, and its slow. Harrison Ford's character from the first film dosen't even show up until about 2/3rds in. I was annoyed when he finally came because it meant there was still a bunch of movie left.

The films director Denis Villeneuve is a very talented guy, particularly in the realms of visuals and ideas. As far as creating engaging characters go I find him far less interesting. He is capable of eleciting passionate performances, his film 'Prisoners' is great in that regard. Characters in his sci-fi work tend to be far more muted. Now this can be approprate for the story, I thought it really added something to 'Dune', many of those aristocratic characters would seem detached. The same could logically hold for a replicant, but it also keeps you at a distance which is not engaging. Of course Ryan Gosling is that kind of actor anyway, but every character here seems emotionally wanting. Ana de Armas's sexy holographic girlfriend has more soul and substance then any of the physical characters bothered manifesting.

So '2049' is a mixed bag, but none of its good points could for me outweigh the weaknesses which made the viewing experince such a plodding one. I don't think I'll ever see this again. If your interested in the visuals and ideas it may be worth seeing, if you want story and character don't bother. **1/2