BLADE RUNNER 2049
Out of context: Reply #59
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- dorfsman-1
I was cautious about disclosing too much above, as I'm aware many of you haven't seen it, but anyway, here goes.
Firstly I'd say the majority of the exterior shots are extraordinary, as the LWL review above mentions, I would have happily sat through two hours of just a narrative free roam of the landscape, taking it all in, it really is does look that good (apart from the interior shots which completely break the illusion with their stark lighting and sometimes cardboard set feel) however...
Shit, where to start? I guess at the most significant flaw, the plot. Avoiding spoilers as best I can, it is myopic, predictable, poorly paced and some of the core premises are just absurdly inept, very very daft. There's forced clunky parallels with the first movie and whereas, by accident or design, the original BR unfolded with liberal doses of ambiguity which, one could argue, really allowed some depth and interpretation to be added by the viewer, 2049 seems to suffer from the same problems as Prometheus where it just tries to explain and frame too much, and some pf this is to the detriment of the original BR which is just lamentable. Again, as some of the reviews coming out explain better than me, those main themes of humankind's relationship with technology, evolution, memory, what it is to be a sentinel being floating on a rock, existential angst tropes if you like, have been explored so effectively in other movies since BR such as Ex Machina, GITS 2: Innocence, Westworld etc; these works kind of took those ideas from the original BR and expanded and surpassed it, 2049 adds nothing to the mix.
Other frustrations...
The score. Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch's soundtrack lacks the nuance, subtlety and sheer beauty of the Vangelis original, the main motif being the belting, almost farting drone that sounds like listening to a Ducati superbike blasting past you in an underpass (the reality of hearing that in real life is probably pretty cool but here it just doesn't work).
The costumes just pale in comparison to the original BR designs with a total lack of imagination, weird juxtaposition and flair. Times now are very different to the early 80's of course (profoundly), but remember that the original BR had a huge, albeit gradual, influence of popular culture: film, literature, fashion, music, advertising; the original seemed to be crammed with visual ideas and inventiveness (not surprising when you look at the breath of talent involved) and I feel 2049 will be forgotten in months and its impact will be minimal.
I could go on and on (I love Gosling but his Batty/Deckard tortured character portrayal is really lacking, and Leto's Wallace is a poor substitute for Turkel's Tyrell etc) but I won't. I'm down, hugely disappointed. IMHO 2049 just didn't need to be made, it adds nothing to the original, adds no new ideas, adds nothing to the wider discourse around the moral quandary we're currently in in terms of our relationship with technology and where it is going. And lastly, it tells us nothing about ourselves, who we are, what it means to be alive, conscious, what it means to reminisce, to love, to live, the original BR seem to press all these buttons, to provoke, explore these themes, 2049 just doesn't come close.
Son i am disappoint: 3.5 out of 10
- looks spoiler heavy... !inteliboy
- Hmm, we could do with an edit button here, lol, I see this is full of typos. Soz.dorfsman
- Edit: BR had a huge, albeit gradual, influence ON popular culture (not OF)dorfsman
- I agree with you, but oddly think it was amazing. Need to digest though.inteliboy
- Interesting read and some good points in spite of the typos, I give this review 8.25/10yuekit
- yuekit I will give your side note a 10/10Ramanisky2
- While I agree on these points, I simply do not agree that each of these points is as impactful and detrimental to the degree you've presented them.monospaced
- In my opinion this is kind of a remake, and it hits all the same points as the original, but does them much better. I miss the ambiguity but also don't. Weird.monospaced