Blade Runner 2049 (October 6, 2017)

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I liked BR2049 but I did have a few issues with it. Not least of which was the run time. It felt like they bypassed the 2 hour, more concise, theatrical version and went straight to the extended self indulgent director's cut.
I'm not denying the film's like walking through an art gallery and every new scene gives you another gorgeous piece to gaze lovingly at for 5 minutes, but these days films this long tend to be a bit more action heavy to give things a jolt as the hours tick by. I know that makes me sound really dumb, but there's a limit to how much silent Ryan Gosling staring into the distance in a beautifully framed shot I can look at before starting to fidget. The film did work for me, and it's mesmerising to look at, it just seemed like every scene ran unnecessarily long and wouldn't have been hurt by trimming it down a bit. I know I'll warm up to it over the coming years, although it's not like I didn't like it because I did and I'm sure I'll do both films in a double feature at least a couple of times in the next 12 months.

I would have liked to have been moved in a similar way as I was when I first saw the original, although that's far too much to ask of anything at my age, I'm not a wide eyed kid who's literally never seen anything like this before any more. The original film laid the cornerstone for pretty much every dystopian future film that followed it, it stands to reason that the sequel should look like the same world. And it did an excellent job of visualizing that world, but it's still a variation of Bladerunner, it always had to be and I shouldn't hold that against it, but like every other sci-fi film there wasn't anything that I felt was truly groundbreaking like there was in the original. They took it about as far as they could, and it's me that's at fault in feeling like I wanted something more from it visually, but I'll definitely get over it.

I dunno. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Yet I found it frustrating at times. It managed to visually wow me while at the same time making me think it should have wowed me more and in some kind of different way. I admire the balls of making a 3 hour art house film with tentpole money and giving it a wide release on the biggest screens. I think it's a more than worthy sequel to the original. I think it's as cold, immersive, flawed, and beautiful to look at as that is.
Where Ridley just about kept his self indulgence in check Denis has gone all in and let his run free. I think this should have been the director's cut, I think you could take 30 minutes of dialogue-free beauty shots out of it (there must be hundreds of them) and have the same story told a bit quicker with no change to the script and story at all. That would have been my preferred introduction to this film and then I'd discover this version once I reached the point of genuinely wanting more. I'm just not quite there yet. But it'll be a grower, I'm sure of that.
I just think it was a bit too much. Kind of like the challenges in Man vs Food. Some moderation might have been better. For me, anyway. I guess I needed to wear an elasticated waist but didn't.
 
Loved the first one from Day 1.

The new one isn't terrible by any means, and I enjoyed it until the last half hour or so, when I felt the plot just tailed off. And the ending was daft. I'll elaborate in spoilers -

Wallace was a genius. And no doubt he was highly interested in the memory implants of replicants. So how on earth he couldn't put together in years, what K did in a few hours (that the memory technician was Deckard's daughter) is beyond daft.

Add to that the fact that the replicants had been hiding her there for years, but allowed her to occupy that space on her own, and under the employment of Wallace (on contract) is just silly. She was constantly in danger.

And then only moments after faking Deckard's death to hide him from the replicant order, K takes him to the one place they would likely be watching like a hawk - and he just walks in the front door!

I mean you can overlook some things, but for me personally, I can't get past it. Dragged right down, what was a very good 2 hours or so before it.

Well, on your point about Wallace:
You refer to K doing in hours what Wallace couldn't do in years, but K was the one ahead of the game. He was first to discover that there was a child of a replicant out there. Wallace knew nothing about it until then. So Wallace hadn't been searching for years as he didn't know it existed.

It also seems that the kid was pretty well hidden as even K had no idea who she was until the old lady told him.

I will agree it was a bit silly taking Deckard straight to see her. Whether they would be watching that place like a hawk or not, there had to be some sort of security linking back to head office and him turning up at that point in time would surely ring alarm bells.

For me, Blade Runner 2049 wasn't a film I wanted made, for 2 reasons. First I thought the first film was fine as a stand alone piece and didn't need a follow up at all. And second, because Ridley's output has been pretty crappy of late. However, I thought the film worked quite well as an extension to the original story and Villneuve stepping into the director's shoes worked well.

I did enjoy it, not as much as some on here though. I think that's probably down to Ryan Goslin, I just don't like his blank faced delivery that he does in every film. I couldn't work out if he was deliberately acting 'blank' or doing his usual staring blankly schtick. Everyone around him, though, was great. Ford, in particular.
 
That's a fair point about Wallace, but it doesn't really change anything.

As soon as Wallace would have
discovered there was a child, he would surely have pieced it together very quickly. And the replicant rebels didn't seem concerned at all that the truth was out.

It's just very sloppy writing the way it was concluded, and having thought about it some more, it was actually a bit of a schmaltzy ending, out of touch with the previous 2 hours and the original film.

It's definitely garnered more love because Villeneuve is enjoying a honeymoon period right now. He's the flavour of the month and riding high.
 
Not its garnering love because its a ****ing good film in all aspects and one of the very few sequels that equals (and for some of us even surpasses) its original. I was fine with the conclusion. The first film was about life, and this one is about love.
Deckard reuniting with his daughter was the ultimate goal of the film and one K was prepared to sacrifice his life for
. I thought it was quite beautiful.
 
That's a fair point about Wallace, but it doesn't really change anything.

As soon as Wallace would have
discovered there was a child, he would surely have pieced it together very quickly. And the replicant rebels didn't seem concerned at all that the truth was out.

It's just very sloppy writing the way it was concluded, and having thought about it some more, it was actually a bit of a schmaltzy ending, out of touch with the previous 2 hours and the original film.

It's definitely garnered more love because Villeneuve is enjoying a honeymoon period right now. He's the flavour of the month and riding high.

He is the flavour because he delivers thought provoking films that still entertain . He could of just made a Blade Runner 2 clone similar to our old favouite from RS. He did not though as this goes deeper and ups the anti of the original in every aspect .

Guess some peeps just don't like change , or are uncomfortable with it .
 
He is the flavour because he delivers thought provoking films that still entertain . He could of just made a Blade Runner 2 clone similar to our old favouite from RS. He did not though as this goes deeper and ups the anti of the original in every aspect .

Guess some peeps just don't like change , or are uncomfortable with it .
I love change, and am very comfortable with it.

I just don't rate this film very highly. It's still a cut above a lot of other sci-fi, but nowhere near the quality of the original. But it was never going to be, I realise that now. No matter who was at the helm - even Ridley himself couldn't have managed it.
 
I love change, and am very comfortable with it.

I just don't rate this film very highly. It's still a cut above a lot of other sci-fi, but nowhere near the quality of the original. But it was never going to be, I realise that now. No matter who was at the helm - even Ridley himself couldn't have managed it.

In many respects I'm so glad RS didn't go back to this universe , especially after the poor returns to the Alien universe. I personally find 2049 as good, if not better than the original film because it expands on that fantastic vision and story. Always gonna be a hard sell though and on a hiding to nothing , especially from fans.
 
I don't doubt it's been a hard sell, and there will always be those that can't look past an original.

However I would hope that from all my posts in the film watching thread and elsewhere, people will realise that I try to be as objective as possible with my thoughts.

This is a good film, and I scored it 7 or 7.5, but as objective as I can be, I can't score it any higher. I just don't think it's a great piece of film-making. It is in certain areas - Cinematography for example - where Deakins fully deserved the recent BAFTA.

But narratively speaking I think it falls somewhat short of the original. And Gosling was good but not great. And I don't think Ford's role was expanded on efficiently enough. He took too long to appear for starters. And it was a sloppily written ending.

I will no doubt give it several rewatches over time, but I doubt my feelings will change much.
 
I never agree with everything in these videos, but they do sometimes correctly highlight plotholes and some examples of bad writing. This film is certainly not exempt unfortunately.

Wallace I think is actually a poor antagonist, Deckard is too far removed from the Deckard of the original, and K is actually not the greatest of protagonists.

Likely to remain one of my biggest disappointments of 2017. I'm probably in a minority that loves the first film, but not this one so much.
 
I sure hope they don't milk the 1 great and 1 brilliant films for all they're worth!!
 
Has anyone bought the new hmv release with posh packing?

now owned thanks to sales.... very nice
 
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What is Bladerunner without Vangelis?
 

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