Review of Blade Runner 2049 (2017) by Lewis C — 11 Apr 2018

Blade Runner 2049 is a visually stunning film and a very worthy sequel to the its predecessor 30 years earlier. The film stars Ryan Gosling as K, a replicant whose job it is to hunt down and kill other replicants.

K finds the remains of a female replicant, which ends up being Rachel, which proves replicants can reproduce. K's task for the rest of the film then is to track down this child and kill them to hide the truth.

The Walter Corporation finds out about this secret too and want to use the child to advance interstellar colonization. Jared Leto plays the head of this corporation, Niander Wallace. Although his screen time is limited, it is effective.

The same can be said about Robin Wright's Lt. Joshi, who serves as K's boss for the operation. Sylvia Hoeks plays the main villain, Luv, who works for Wallace. Hoeks puts in a great performance too, and is very intimidating and strong as the main antagonist.

The world is visually stunning and the run time allows the audience to get familiar with it. Considerable amounts of time are spent within Los Angeles and the outskirts, highlighting the differences in what the world has become in this future.

We learn about K's lonely life as a blade runner, and his only companion is a virtual being named Joi. Ana de Armas serves as his virtual companion and the two have good chemistry, as Joi is the only "person" K has gotten close to.

K's loneliness and mystery surrounding his past serves as an interesting premise alongiside his journey to find Rachel's child. This conflict adds to K's character arc, and he is very connectable in this regard, as considerable time is spent understanding his life, struggles, and surrounding world.

It takes a while to introduce Harrison Ford's Deckard, but Ford's presence does not disappoint. The few action sequences are great too and can often be humorous, rather than dramatic. Although, the final sequence has the intensity it needs.

The sounds of the film are also great, adding to the mood of the scene no matter what the situation. The run time clocks in at 163 minutes, which is much longer than a traditional film. However, this run time is effective in establishing the world and setting up the characters.

There are not too many gripes with the film. The run time may put some people off and some might find the pacing too slow at times, but both worked for me. Overall, Denis Villeneuve has created an amazing sequel to the original Blade Runner.

The story is well established and builds off the first film, the characters all do their parts well, and visually the world looks absolutely amazing and breathtaking at times. This is certainly one of the most underrated yet greatest films of 2017.