Review of Blade Runner 2049 (2017) by Andrej S — 23 Oct 2017

It's an outstanding work of art on scale of Hollywood spectacle which is a contradiction in terms. Like the original, the movie may very well bomb at the box office, this time because of the prejudice of the people who liked the original but might not go to see 2049.

Before going to see it I was skeptical because 163 min. seems overly long, I thought that stunning visual aesthetic might just be emotionally too distant, and I just couldn't believe that sequel could have the magic of the original.

But the story of 2049 griped me from the very start and it just didn't let go. Engaging story, some fabulous acting and mesmerizing visual aesthetic are building the vision of post-apocalyptic dystopia even more persuasively than the original.

2049 is walking thin line in exploring troubling relation between humans and varieties of AI which is something that is already here. Will we become cyborgs in order to be able to control AI? The hero we identify with is a replicant, sort of.

How long will it take that we have implanted chips to enhance our mental abilities (imagine implanted smartphones on steroids), how long will it take that we find emotional safe haven in intelligent holograms (Alexa, virtual worlds)? But hey, it's poetic vision, it's a metaphore, don't take it too literary.

2049 is upgraded version even better than the original, on symbolic level it's an important cultural milestone for our Zeitgeist in the age of digital globalization.