So I just saw Blade Runner 2049. Here are some immediate reactions (no
spoilers!):
· It’s very good. I give it a 9.7 out of 10.
· But…it’s not as good as the original (well, maybe as good as the
initial theatrical release, the one with cheesy voice-over and the tacked-on
happy ending, but not as good as either the ‘Director’s Cut’ or the ‘Final
Cut’).
· While not as good as the original, Blade Runner 2049 nonetheless builds interestingly on the original;
it does not detract from the power of the original by ‘ruining’ elements of the
world (so think ‘Aliens’ not ‘Highlander 2’).
· It’s visually stunning. In this respect, it is equal to the original
(though of course that’s not a fair comparison, given the greater budget and
technical power available for the sequel).
· The world-creation is amazing—just as it was in the original, but
the new film expands the world in interesting ways by going places
(geographically, intellectually, and visually) that the original did not.
· The acting is uniformly excellent.
· The story is compelling. Perhaps there are some holes, but nothing
leapt out at me while watching the film.
· The music is good, but not quite the equal of the original Vangelis
score. Towards the end of the film it became slightly distracting.
So overall it’s a great film. See it! As a
sequel, though, it doesn’t quite capture the ‘lightning in a bottle’ of the
original. But it is a very worthy follow-up. I certainly plan to watch it again
soon…
One reason why the original is superior is that the sequel does not include a singular scene like the death of Roy Batty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoAzpa1x7jU
ReplyDeleteBut then, there are no other movies that include a singular scene like the Death of Roy Batty.
ReplyDeleteThat's why the Death of Roy Batty will be long remembered in the post-apocalyptic world after many modern religions and philosophies will have turned to dust...
I almost completely agree, Blain. The film is far more nuanced than it appears, but there's one part that threatens to invalidate the premise of the original that I wish had been left on the cutting room floor. That said, there some other interactions that have an intensity that resonate only afterwards when you think back on the structure of the film.
ReplyDeleteI need to watch it again. Moreover, I need to watch it back to back with Blade Runner: The Director's Cut, on BluRay.
Got to see this last night, and I'd give it a 4 out of 5 as a sci-fi movie in general, a 3 out of 5 as a sequel... but it was a hard movie to follow up.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I found interesting was the juxtaposition of view. In the original, we were always caught, with Deckard, in the crush of humanity, whether in the street or even in the air... Deckerd was always hemmed in.
In 2049, K was almost always in the open, isolated, away from everything and everybody, literally and figuratively, and often above everything, in his police pod, giving us a view of the city we'd never seen before.
When Deckard was looking for clues, he was in a crowd, in the streets, in the shops, never alone, even in the deepest, darkest alleys. When K was looking for clues, he was in an almost sterile atmosphere, dealing with at best one person or two.
This was, I think, the director telling us that's K was very different from Deckard, from the get-go.
Oh, and what was with all the T&A in this one? Rather surprising.