Blade Runner 2049 (Review)

Blade Runner is the third Harrison Ford franchise to be relaunched within the last 10 years and once again we ask ourselves if it’s really necessary. For Indiana Jones 4, it wasn’t and Star Wars sort of is but it’s hard to tell based on The Force Awakens alone. So how about Blade Runner? Well, simply put, it wasn’t needed.

Blade Runner picks up 30 years after original and Blade Runners are still around. This time it’s Ryan Gosling’s ‘Agent K’ doing the terminating. Instead of looking for the replicants (advance androids) he’s looking for a kid that was given birth by one. It’s hard to talk about the plot or even characters of this film without spoilers but I’ll try my best and I think the inciting incident is enough to get someone interested.

The original Blade Runner was more of an art-film-noir-sci-fi film but 2049 has ripped the film noir out entirely and its mysticism in terms of its ‘artiness’. A film noir detective is hard inside and out but Gosling’s character is constantly given backstory and a home life to get empathy from its audience. In contrast with Ford’s Decker from the original, who is given no back story which might be why the film wasn’t well receive compared with contemporary sci-fi films like Star Wars, however it was what made the film morally compelling. Questions of morals and ethics are strong in both Philip K. Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep’ and the original Blade Runner film but when taken out it lacks what good art does. Make you ask questions. It doesn’t help that the reason Leto’s character wants what he wants is to make money and for his shares to go up.

Another compelling part of the first film was its visuals and the trailers certainly did a lot to tease the eye candy on show. The film doesn’t disappoint but in terms of telling the audience something subconsciously through creative framing it lacks compared to Deakin’s other films. While I’m sure he put a lot of thought into this film the high contrast, monotone frames become a bore after a while. It’s also another area the film lacked it’s noir roots. Venetian blinds are synonymous with film noir and are present in Blade Runner and with creative futuristic replacements too. I can’t recall one set of blinds in this film at all. I know Deakins is capable of a noir look as he had done it in the Coen Brother’s ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’. Coverage in this film, especially in conversations, feels lackluster. All following the 180 degree line and use of several camera angles. Deakins should’ve won an Oscar long ago and he probably will for this one but I personally think Hoyte van Hoytema’s work in Dunkirk is more deserving winner. I’ll take comfort in the fact that Deakins has won an Oscar.

Replacing Ford’s Deckard was no easy task and Gosling does a good job in his role but deep down it was still Ryan Gosling. The world presented is not one I would picture a Ryan Gosling like person to be (except maybe in a reality TV show). Ford has obviously lost his youthfulness and he comes off as Harrison Ford playing Han Solo in Star Wars VII in Blade Runner 2049. Not much of his orginal performance is left and while I can understand while it changed (30 years is a long time) I don’t think it would flow if you watched both films back to back. Jared Leto was in this film because studio execs probably didn’t want a main female baddy. His assistant has more screentime and does more to disrupt K’s tasks directly than what Leto does.

Other characters in the film include K’s holographic friend who’s premise is trying to create empathy for K but it falls flat for reasons that would spoil part of the film. Robin Wright’s ‘Lt Joshi’ was where the film tried its hardest to remain in its noir roots with morally ambiguous characters. In the end we are given a character that only serves the plot. At one point she has a casual talk with K and by the end of the film it’s evident that this was only for plot. There is a character in the film that hasn’t been in any of promotion of the film but they try to put some emotional weight on them. Their limited screen time however prevents the character from being used to their fullest.

Director, Denis Villeneuve's direction is certainly his own but it’s also akin to Ridley Scott’s. The films pacing for example feels like it's copying not reinventing the first film. The first film is probably the closest Hollywood ever got to making an Andrei Tarkovsky film. It’s a film that lulls into a trance us but obviously done with an American mindset. A mindset that Tarkovsky obviously never had. Villeneuve's direction is an odd one, he tries to be different to Scott's but somehow brings it closer than intended with dire consequences to the tone of the film.

Johan Johansson was replaced as composer for the film in post production but I can’t think of the score without wanting to know what his compositions were like. Hans Zimmer does a fine job but it feels like another Hans Zimmer score and it fails to reach what Vangelis’s music from the original did. Hans Zimmer's scores work magic in other films for building suspense (mainly Christopher Nolan's films) but here it feels out of place for the universe that not only Scott and Vangelis built but Villeneuve's too.

Blade Runner 2049 is a film that's content/subtext that comes off as underdeveloped and at times put on the bench to give the spectacle room to shine. In fact it's the subtext that needed its moment of fame. The film lacks a real villain (but so does Arrival and Villenuve pulls it off there). The elements that have made the 1982 film iconic and timeless aren't present here.

Overall Score: 2/5 Stars

Have you seen this sequel yet? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments.

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Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writers: Hampton Francher and Michael Green

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks with Jared Leto and Harrison Ford

Cinematography: Roger Deakins

Editing: Joe Walker

Music: Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch