Review: Blade Runner 2049

"Every frame a painting." Never has the phrase been more appropriate that when talking about Blade Runner 2049. Director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins have clearly set a new bar for visual spectacle. As soon as the film finished, I wanted to watch it again so I could forget the plot and just bask in the glow of the neon acid trip sci-fi images the film has in abundance.

This review will likely focus a lot on the technical achievements of the film. This isn't because the plot is rubbish. In fact, Blade Runner 2049 has an excellent story to tell. One that enriches the world Ridley Scott created so many years ago while still staying true to many of the core elements and themes. The reason I will avoid talking about the plot is that the filmmakers have pleaded with critics to keep the experience preserved and I think it is best to experience the film knowing as little as possible.

In short, the film follows K(Ryan Gosling), a LAPD detective who hunts down replicants and stumbles across a mystery that could change the future. Los Angeles has gotten much worse in the 30 years since the original film. Social order seems to hang on a thread and Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) is a tech genius who has desires to change it. Wallace is building a new generation of replicants. Eventually Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) enters into the mystery.

Aside from the great performance Ford gives here, the whole cast is exceptional. Gosling embodies the search for connections, a theme so central to these films. K has a virtual female partner in the film and the scenes with them hum with a sense of longing and sadness. Sylvia Hoeks stands out as Luv in a searing performance full of passion and rage. Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer's score pays homage to the original Vangelis score but often feels like another Zimmer cacophony of rumbles and mechanic booms.

If the original Blade Runner was for the head, this one is more for the heart. This is particular evident in the soulful performance Ford gives. Deckard is a complex man who has been through a lot and screenwriters Hampton Fancher and Michael Green aim to give him a proper and emotional conclusion here. This makes Blade Runner 2049 its own film. Villeneuve succeeds in making a sequel that never feels like a grab at nostalgia or a retread of the original material.

Blade Runner 2049 has every right to enter the company of great sequels such as Aliens and Bride of Frankenstein. Like those films, this film manages to create its own feeling, style and story while still building upon the original. Perhaps the greatest weapon here though is Villenueve who seems incapable of making a cynical film. He inject the world of Blade Runner with an empathy that deepens the themes of this world.

4.5/5