Movie Review
Review Blade Runner 2049
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
Much like the original, Blade Runner 2049 questions what makes us human, and why in the future we would attempt to differentiate ourselves from our creation, when they begin to adopt our traits. Though Gosling's K appears robotic in his movements at times, in his relationships, especially that with virtual intelligence Joi, we witness how human he truly is, their romance been as inventive as it is beautiful. The film takes itself very seriously when demonstrating the poignancy of machines sharing a connection, though the themes of slavery and child-labour, despite still been major topics today, are only briefly discussed.
This is not a happy film, let's get that straight. It is a dark, mysterious, grim, hopeless, sad and lonely film, set in a possible near future where the human race is hanging by their fingertips on the edge of doom. It is such a sad film, it's actually quite difficult to watch, but i went back and did it anyways.
BR2049 has some of the most gorgeous visuals i have ever seen. And there is literally no excuse to not give Roger Deakins the Oscar for best cinematography this time. This year he just knocked it out of the park, and is in his own league entirely. He has been nominated for 13 Oscars so far in his career.
After seeing the original film, I remembering wondering what the world outside of the dark LA nights in 2019 would be like? And that is just one of the ways 2049 has expanded that notion, leaving an open door to an even bigger world with deeper questions beyond it. Yes it is a long and relatively slow paced movie (by design), and so was 'Once Upon a Time in the West'. And yet just like that movie as well as the original Bladerunner, over time, this too will get more and more appreciation with age (and wisdom) for those who truly appreciate the art of film-making. It's not perfect, no movie ever will ever to everybody will it? But it is an amazing achievement and I look forward to my next viewing with different eyes, taking in what I may have missed because there is so much to see and overlook.
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