Monday 9 October 2017

Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049
Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Blade Runner 2049 is set 30 years after the original Blade Runner film. This time, we follow Officer K, a new generation of Blade Runners. K finds himself unraveling a decades old mystery which leads him on a journey of self-discovery.

I know this is vague. In fact, no one really knew the plot of this film until the movie was released. And even then, to say what the plot actually is is a spoiler. Very neo-noir. However, I will tell you that Officer K is a replicant working as a Blade Runner. Despised by both humanity and by replicants, K leads a lonely life, save for the relationship he has with Joi, a very Samantha-in-Her-esque hologram AI. However, after retiring a replicant he finds a box buried under a tree with the bones of a dead replicant who has clearly given birth. K is tasked with hunting down this mysterious child and retiring them as well.

Blade Runner 2049 is probably one of the most beautiful films I've had the pleasure of seeing in theatres. Both visually, sound-wise, musically, and story-wise, this film is beautiful and thought-provoking. Please don't let the internet haters lead you to believe that this movie is "long and boring" and has "bad screenplay writing". Personally, I don't agree at all. While Blade Runner 2049 has a simple premise, it is given complexity. And yes, the movie is longer (2hrs and 44 minutes) and is slow-pacer, but it's not exactly like the original film was fast-paced either.

Denis Villeneuve does a mesmerizing job of having this film feel like it does belong in the Blade Runner world, but manages to make it a fantastic film in its own right. The film is able to explore much deeper some of the original ideas of the first film (what is humanity and what does it mean to be human?) and really gets to new existential depths. But if you've seen any of Villeneuves' other films, this also won't be a surprise. To be honest, I'm astounded this movie was given the funding it was and was released in the cut we got. Blade Runner 2049 is an arthouse sci-fi movie that is nearly 3 hours long. There aren't lots of explosions, chases, or action. Yes, we do get some of each but the film isn't littered with them. It's a film that asks us to think and process the things we are seeing and doesn't always spell everything out for us. And the way it ends is a beautiful yet somewhat ambiguous ending. Again, I'm astounded this film was made, but I couldn't be happier that this did.

As well, it was interesting to me how many female characters were included in this film. While many of them played programmable AIs, prostitutes or the 2nd in command for the films villain (though is really just the main villain) and come across as quite stereotypical female roles in this genre of film, it was still refreshing that the film had as many women as they did. Yes, the film still centres around our main protagonist (Ryan Gosling), the head of the new replicant-producing corporation (Jared Leto) and, eventually, the return of Deckard (Harrison Ford, obviously), the rest of the main roles seemed to be taken up by women. Yes, I know, this film doesn't really pass the Bechdel test and it revolved around the men in the movie, I'm just glad it was a bigger step up from the female representation in the original film.

And, of course, I couldn't end talking about this movie without mentioning Roger Deakins. I've been saying since the first teaser for this film landed that the narrative just may be here for Deakins to finally win an Oscar on his 14th nomination. And this movie surely delivered in the cinematography department. This is by far some of Deakins best work. The whole movie was basically just me starring up, mesmerized. About every ten to fifteen minutes I would be uttering "holy crap" from just how beautiful this film was. Seriously, I will be so pissed if Deakins loses the Oscar again. This is career-defining work.

Honestly, while the box office disappointment may not get it the Picture/Director nominations that seemed quite possible just a week ago, this film should really have no problem being up for (at the very least) Cinematography, Sound Mixing/Editing, Visual Effects and Production Design. And, really, it is possible a front runner for all of them. The Visual Effects really were incredible that I honestly kind of forget that this is a movie that was probably riddled with CGI. They were seamless.

And as for this box office "disappointment" I have to say, why were production companies giving this such high box office expectations? Blade Runner is a movie that came out over 30 years ago, didn't make very much money, and is a cult classic rather than a straight up, well-known classic. This is a movie directed by a well-respected but a more thoughtful and artistic director than is usually given a blockbuster film. It's almost 3 hours longer and the basic plot wasn't even revealed in reviews. For a movie that is 2 hours and 44 minutes, a slow-paced neo-noir arthouse scifi that is the sequel to a cult classic, $31.5 million opening and top of the box office is pretty good. While Villeneuve made fantastic use of the enormous budget, this is a film that probably shouldn't have been given as big a budget as it did. But because it did get a $150 million budget, we now expect it to perform like a Marvel sequel. And Blade Runner 2049 couldn't be a more different film.

Please go see Blade Runner 2049 in theatres. If you like visually stunning movies that don't dumb it down and don't feel like they need explosions every other second for you to be entertained, please go see it. It's a movie that needs to be seen on a large screen and, trust me, it'll be worth you time.

9/10