Film Review Blade Runner 2049****

October 9, 2017 11:41 pm

The original Blade Runner was released in 1982 but its dystopian future is set in the year 2019, a mere 37 years later.

Blade Runner 2049 released in 2017 is set in 2049, a mere 32 years later.

Predicting the future is hard. The future in BR2049 is too far advanced to be only 30 years from from today. The future is almost the same –we still have Blade Runners working for the LAPD, it rains, it is smoggy, we have the synthesised street voice which had been in my head since 1982 encouraging me to “CROSS NOW, CROSS NOW, CROSS NOW….” endlessly.

When I write a review I don’t read other reviews – I don’t want cross contamination, I don’t want to be influenced by what others say. I avoided Rotten Tomatoes and stayed away from the papers. However I did accidentally spot that the Guardian had given BR2049 a 5 star review.

5 stars – that is the highest score – so they think it is perfect? I did not read the review so it could be a qualified 5 stars.

I am disappointed by BR2049.

Yes, it is visually stunning; it had to be visually stunning. It has to compete with a stunning original, but something is not right. The story is good but it plods along. It comes in at over 2 hours and 40 minutes. A great movie can be lengthy, but it will only be great if it does not seem to be lengthy. I also miss the Vangelis music score.

In the original Blade Runner there is a question of whether Deckard played by Harrison Ford is a replicant. In the original theatrical release I believe we don’t get a strong message that Deckard is a replicant. In the “Final Cut” version of the movie, which I saw in the Edinburgh Filmhouse in May 2016, Deckard dreams of a unicorn. The character of Edward James Olomos, Gaff, leaves a unicorn outside his door – is that the sign that he knows Deckard’s memories are implants – that he too is a replicant designed to kill replicants?

Coming away from the theatre in 1982 I remember the humour and great quotes from the movie: “Are you testing if I am a replicant or a lesbian Mr. Deckard?” “If only you had seen what I have seen with your eyes” “The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long…” and of course the “tears in the rain” monologue.

Stirring and thoughtful stuff.

I was listening closely for some thoughtful dialogue in BR2049, I did not hear it, perhaps that comes with a repeat viewing. Deckard’s “I did your job once – I was good at it” is my (only) stand out.

Ford and Gosling turn in workmanlike performances. The outstanding character in the movie in my opinion was the character of Lieutenant Joshi played by Robin Wright. I liked her understatement, style, attitude, control, her whisky drinking and her other flaws.

Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armin and Robin Wright is showing at VUE, Odeon, Cameo and Dominion cinemas around Edinburgh.