Movie Review: Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Compared to the prequel this movie was lacking in the storytelling and philosophy department. It just didn’t have a thought-provoking dilemma to wrap your head around. Because unlike in the original this movie just rehashed already familiar concepts like the whole “why would you hunt your own kind?”-trope.

In the first movie it was unclear to the audience if Deckard was a replicant (at least in the beginning). In Blade Runner 2049 however we already know that K is a replicant because he had to immediately subject himself to Voight-Kampff test questions after his first mission (in which he also displayed superhuman strength; a dead giveaway).

Furthermore the pacing is totally off. The first hour is painstakingly slow and doesn’t really add much meat to the story as a whole. With that being said many things take twice as long as they should’ve in this movie. Like e.g. that freaky sex scene with K’s virtual girlfriend. It was weird enough as it was, but with the extended scene it felt weirder still.

As far as visuals go I can’t complain. It did look very nice. That is true. But the one thing that I can criticize was the movie’s lack of immersion. In the prequel everything felt authentic in the sense that the movie managed to created a perfect illusion. One where the audience felt as if they just got a glimpse at the not so distant future. With that being said I consider the original to be one of the most immersive movies ever made. Very few movies managed to exude such an aura of immersion. This one e.g. didn’t. It felt too incoherent; ever-changing locales did contribute a great deal to this deterioration of cohesiveness.

Storytelling-wise there are a bunch of inconsistencies. One of the things that didn’t make any sense were the antagonists. Literally everything from their portrayal to their execution didn’t add up. Let me elaborate;
the brutal display of violence during the capture mission was totally uncalled for and illogical. Especially if one considers that they needed Deckard alive to squeeze the information out of him. So why shoot rockets at him? If they actually hit and killed him with one of those they would’ve jeopardized the entire mission. The same logical inconsistencies pertain to their goals. Niander Wallace and replicant Luv were evil for the sake of being evil. Which is the ultimate mark of bad storytelling. Mr. Wallace claimed that his motives were benign and that he only tried to “build the perfect work force/slaves”. That can’t be true however. Considering how the human body and more specifically its limitations directly stifle such a pursuit one comes to realize that in order to truly adhere to Mr. Wallace’s goal one would have to improve upon it and not copy it. E.g. we as humans have only two arms because our genome dictates this limitation. It is therefore a “hard-coded” limitation. There is however nothing that would stop Mr. Wallace from creating replicants with let’s say 4 arms. I don’t know about you but I can get a lot more work done with 4 arms. Either way, what I’m trying to say is that Mr. Wallace’s goal is the product of a limited mind and/or a limited understanding of the problem (an inefficient work force). Once you realize that the entire premise of the movie becomes ridiculous. Oh, and don’t forget that “born” replicants have to grow up first/mature before they can be exploited as an efficient labor force. That alone is a serious design flaw. I digress.

As far as I can tell Joi (K’s virtual girlfriend) was the best-written character in the entire movie. The irony of this realization didn’t escape me. I know, it’s a little bit weird. The most “human” character is the one that’s actually the least human.

Final verdict: recommended for it’s visual appeal (but IMHO 1 hour too long)

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1856101/

Ontology: #movie #review #scifi #bladerunner #HarrisonFord #RyanGosling #DaveBautista #JaredLeto #sequel #future #futuristic #dystopian #technology #replicants #robots #androids