BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)
DENIS VILLENEVUE
Plot
This is going to split the audience down the centre. I think you will either love this or you really won't - these maybe very few in the middle. This is science fiction at its best, thought provoking, challenging about the nature of what it means to be 'human' and with some of the best visuals I have seen in many years, it is simply beautiful to watch. The music score echos Vangelis's original creating a simliar atmosphere to the original. Many will say it is slow and overlong and I get that - in a movie world where fast moving space ships, lasers and quickly resolved, simplest plots abound this film demands your attention, you have to engage with it or to put it bluntly - you can't sit back and engage 'brain neutral' - you need to focus and think. I love Star Wars and Star Trek - for me these are cinema 'fast food' and thoroughly enjoyable but occasionally its great to sit down to a cinematic 'gourmet meal' and that is what this is. If there is a problem it is with the marketing - I suspect the studio felt that Blade Runner was a big enough draw that this wouldn't need serious backing - it would sell itself. Blade Runner is a classic and I have no doubt this will be but I am 62 and I was captivated and still am - by the original, but younger members of family found the original slow and dated and 'part of dads past that he raves about' - they certainly wouldn't have rushed to see this without my prompting. This is a genuine cinematic work of art and sadly in our wham bam popcorn movie world of 2017 that almost dooms it to lower box office returns - but that is okay - the original is timeless and after a very slow start remains one of the most influential sci-fi movies of the last century. I strongly suspect this one will have a 'slow burn' but be seen as one of the most influential of the early part of this one. See it with an open mind, don't expect a steady stream of explosions, fights and general mayhem - although there is action - instead see it for what it is - a strong, beautifully directed and demanding story intended to make you think - and please oh please let there still be an audience for that. - Nick B