Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay by Hampton Fancher, Michael Green

Starring Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Jared Leto

Too many mixed and conflicting thoughts on Blade Runner 2049 to make any sort of full fledged review. It looks great and sounds great, but unfortunately I left the theater feeling as though the film doesn’t offer much past that. The pyrotechnics are all there, but the script, specifically the story and key scenes of dialogue are shockingly, unbelievably weak.

The movie is more or less emblematic of the greater problem here  with Hollywood and the studio machine and their insatiable need to reboot and remake and regrade and attach as many parts to a known franchise as possible. Too many times Blade Runner 2049 hearkens back to its 1982 predecessor. If only that were a good thing. I first watched the original Blade Runner in its Director’s Cut form back in high school and didn’t know what to make of it. Years later I saw it again but it was the theatrical cut. Please notice, there are SEVEN different versions of the 82 movie, and whatever you do, NEVER EVER EVERRRRR watch the theatrical cut. Harrison Ford’s narration will make your ears bleed, and it ends with a laughably sappy conclusion that was tacked on by the studio at the time. I’ve heard the Final Cut is the definitive version, so if you want to check it out that’s the one you should go see.

But anyway, watching 2049 I felt as though there was some forced need to make as many of its scenes specifically reference or even include direct images, moments, and characters from the first. Yes I’m aware this is a direct sequel to it, but I don’t feel it expands upon the first’s ideas and themes. I feel this is just too stretched out of a weak premise that we have seen time and time again in better and stronger sci fi done soley to cash in on a cult following of the original Blade Runner. Blade Runner 2049 is not its own film. In fact I grew apprehensive before walking in because it had been almost a decade since I had seen the first, and I panicked that I wouldn’t remember its themes and purpose as well, and that I wouldn’t be able to talk about the new one fairly. Gone are those fears now. You may as well just skip Blade Runner entirely if you plan on seeing this one. They just love pounding that audio of Deckard and Rachel into your brain so you’ll never forget who they were. And the imagery of the wasps, and the questioning of replicants. And oh man how I wish Robin Wright wasn’t in every freaking movie I see these days.

Good Science Fiction is supposed to leave you with unanswered questions, or at least make you think about the answers they do provide. 2049 really does neither. Every philosophical, theoretical question posed by the movie is done so aloud by at least one of the characters, and then is immediately answered by that same character in the same scene, speech, and sometimes the same breath. Where is the subtlety here? Consider the pivotal scene where Ryan Gosling’s K is informed of a crucial reveal late into the movie by a woman with shades. How is it done? Why, she just talks with him, or to him I should say. Or really to us, the audience, because she yammers on for minutes on end about pseudo-philosophical musings and the nature of their existence and man she just keeps answering her own questions. This is just such poor and lazy writing, I felt like I was watching a bad Gundam anime. I don’t know why I said bad. On its own, that scene ain’t the cringe, but Leto has one as well, as does another character…and another one…and do you see where I’m going with this?

It’s such a damn shame. Denis Villeneuve is a fantastic director, remember I have said he reminds me of David Fincher. He has a dark, great eye for the camera, and knows how to frame and compose his shots expertly. And of course Deakins the GOD DP rocking the cinematography here. The movie looks amazing, no doubt. And the music is pretty great too (Zimmer is one of the composers) and does well to add some tension while also being reminiscent of the first film’s soundtrack. But really there is where my positive remarks must end. I liked Gosling a whole lot too as the lead, he’s been made fun of for already lacking emotion but I thought he was a good choice. Some of the other actors are so horribly miscast however, including the villain of the story, and also a key female figure. Both of these actresses are pretty bad and just so plain wrong for their roles. I hesitate to blame them because that script just did not give them enough to work with. Really though, that key female figure with her key scene half way into the movie should NOT have bored and bothered me like it did. It left NO impression on me and of course the movie has a brief flashback to it later to have what it believes is some kind of epic reveal.

Man is it hard to talk about how weak this story is without spoiling anything. The reveals are all pretty straight forward and plainly presented, and again, just told to you from its weak script. There is a borderline great scene with a furnace but you know it’s coming miles away, but the execution with the music and Gosling and the lighting was nice. And you know, there’s a few great lines in there too, but spaced out over long bad dialogue telling the audience what they already know or could already have figured out.

I knew something was wrong when I saw SONY’s logo in the opening credits. I had no idea their hands were on this. And you can see their meddling. Early on a line by Robin Wright is thrown in over a shot of buildings and I cringed because it’s her character stating OUT LOUD what the audience just found out visually. YOU JUST KNOW Sony threw that in in post. Over and over in the film the moments that could be great are tampered with at the expense of exposition.

Actually Villeneuve films all suffer from the same problem. They’re usually great slow moving brooding works but lose themselves a bit too much and weaken their own pacing. We get great individual moments and feelings but lose out on the story. These same things happen in Sicario and Arrival. He hasn’t mastered how to close that gap yet like Fincer and Scorsese have yet, but he’ll get there soon I think.

This movie is guaranteed to fail with a mainstream audience. I guarantee you. And not because it is too smart or too brooding or “boring”. It’s because it’s ultimately empty, and almost kinda bad. Even with its almost 3 hour runtime and long stretches of characters not talking I was not really bored apart from one or two scenes. It’s just uneventful, and not in a good way. To the movie’s credit, about halfway in I forgot Harrison Ford was going to be in it. But then he showed up, and long overstayed his welcome. To me he became a major distraction rather than the legendary Deckard. He wasn’t a part of the story to me anymore. All I could see was old Harrison Ford swinging blows at young Ryan Gosling.

Aside from a cool opening with Bautista and a few great scenes I can’t bring myself to recommend it. This is the kind of movie people walk out saying, “Eh, I liked it” and then never talk about again. It’s sadly just more vapor at the movies. It’ll go through your head completely, and while your eyes may enjoy when it does, you won’t remember that they did.

One more thing actually, I must commend Ana de Armas for her role in this as Joi. Her performance and relationship with Gosling was probably the greatest consistent element in the entire experience. She’s got a bright future in the movies. I wish she had a bigger role. It’s been only a few hours since I finished 2049, and already I have forgotten so much of it. For all of the first Blade Runner’s flaws, people still always talk about it. And I REMEMBER things about it even though I saw it so long ago. It’s because 2049 talks down to its audience, it doesn’t expect us to understand any of its ideas. It tells after it has already shown. I wish I could have muted half the film and just soaked in the gorgeous visuals. This movie deserved a better script. The audience deserved more respect.