Review of Blade Runner 2049 (2017) by Mpagaduan — 11 Oct 2017

There are great films, then there are films that can change your life.

I am in no way a critic. I am just a fan and a lover of films. So allow me to indulge myself by writing why Blade Runner 2049 became one of my favorite films of all time.

Let me start by saying that I didn’t like the original Blade Runner. I know it sounds blasphemous considering it’s a cult classic and is highly regarded as one of the most influential sci-fi films of all time. But for me, it felt too dragging and predictable at times. So I went to see 2049 with tempered expectations. I mean, I could’ve just skipped it but seeing director Denis Villeneuve’s previous works (Enemy, Arrival) I had this gut feel that he would do something special. I’m glad I didn’t skip because my gut feel was damn right.

Rarely do you see a blockbuster filled with depth and so many layers. After the credits rolled all I could say was “What?” because it’s tough to digest everything at first. But after thinking about it, together with reading articles and watching videos about it, I started to understand the movie which eventually led to me loving it. I read comments about it saying that the film tried to say a lot of things which eventually resulted in it being messy. While I agree that the film tries to say a lot, I don’t think that it’s messy. For me, it actually depicted the mind of someone who’s asking what it means to be human. Asking that question will lead to more questions than answers. That is what happens to Ryan Gosling’s Officer K.

Officer K is somehow trying to find his place in the world. This resonates with me a lot because I’m at the point in my life where I feel lost and I can’t seem to figure out where I should be. The film also asks what it means to be alive and what it is that makes us special. K lived his entire life knowing that he’s just a replicant hunting other replicants. Nothing more, nothing less. So when he discovered something that showed him he might be more than just a Blade Runner, he believed it. He believed that he is special, that there is more to his life than just the routine. He believed that there is more to him that what people say. That was the first time he felt truly special. But it turns out (spoiler alert!) that he’s just a decoy. He wasn’t so special after all. In a way, I can connect with that as well. Sometimes I ask myself if there’s more to life than the routine and the norm. Like K, I want to be special. I want to feel like I’m important and I mean something. I grew up in an environment where people downplay this longing and tell me I shouldn’t go after what I want. It makes me think that I’m just a peg in a board game and someone else is playing it. I feel like a small piece in a grand scheme just like how the replicants are. It makes me feel irrelevant. Eventually, K accepted the fact that he’s just a piece and played his part knowing that there’s a bigger picture. I think he felt like that was his true purpose, being one of the catalysts of change. Unlike K though, I’ve yet to accept that I’m just a peg and I still haven’t discovered my true individual purpose.

These are just some of the realizations I had that prove Blade Runner 2049 is a very deep, philosophical film. Based on the articles I’ve read, people always got something different from it and that’s why I love it. The film is open to interpretation because of how layered it is. At the heart of Villeneuve’s films, you’ll always see humanity in them and 2049 is a prime example. My only gripe with the film is that it’s a tad too long. Maybe that’s one of the main reasons why other people are hesitant to watch it and might’ve contributed to it’s somewhat poor performance at the box office. Less people who watched means less people I can talk to and discuss about my feelings for it. But other than that, the film is really great. The cinematography by Roger Deakins is near-perfect. Almost every shot looks stunning. It’s gorgeous. If the philosophical story doesn’t pique your interest, then watch it only for the visuals. It’s worth your money. I really hope that it goes down as a sci-fi classic much like its predecessor.

I can’t wait to buy my own original DVD and watch it over and over again to discover more layers. But while it’s still in the cinemas, go watch it and experience one of the best movies ever made.