Blade Runner 2049 First Impressions

Blade Runner 2049

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Written by Philip K. Dick (Novel: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Hampton Fancher and Michael Green

Before reading the rest of this first impressions post, please know that I am intentionally being vague about this movie. I don't want to spoil anything that wasn't in the first couple of trailers. If you want to know if you should see it the answer is you should. This is one of the best movies of the year by far and I hope it's one that gains a large following. Please stay away from in depth reviews and spoilers because it's best to go in as blind as possible. Please note that this isn't a review of the movie, I need to watch it again before I can write one of those, but this is my first impression having finished it for the first time about three hours ago as of my writing this. I'm planning on structuring my first impressions a bit differently from my review format but until then this will have to do.

Before I sat down in the theatre to watch this film I was very worried. I am by no means a die hard fan of Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner but I enjoyed it a lot and respect it as a seminal classic of science fiction cinema. When I heard that they were making a sequel over thirty years since the original released I was very skeptical (I mean, how well did the Ghostbusters reboot pan out?). The fact that my favorite director in the industry right now was attached to it as was Sir Ridley himself didn't really make me any more confident. However I was blown away by this fantastic movie and I hope to impress upon you just how great a movie it is.

The film follows K (Ryan Gosling) an officer in the LAPD who is a replicant and a Blade Runner, a cop who specializes in hunting down rogue replicants. After an encounter at the beginning of the movie with Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), he learns that a long-buried secret that threatens to plunge the humans into war with the replicants. K's lieutenant (Robin Wright) sends him to hunt down the secret and end it before anyone gets hurt. Soon after Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), the CEO of the company that produces replicants, discovers this and sends an agent to stop K with no regard to who gets hurt along the way. Replicants are basically androids who look like humans but are much stronger and are used as slave labor for off world use. The story is complex and always leaves you engaged and guessing.

One of my favorite things about the original Blade Runner was it's world. The cyberpunk dystopia of future LA is such a dark and depressing yet visually striking place that it never fails to capture my imagination and Villeneuve hit it perfectly on the head. I loved every single section of the world and my jaw dropped at several different moments. It's a beautiful sight, with all the dirt, dust and grime somehow perfectly complementing the neon lights, fog and rain. My imagination flared while watching the film and it serves as some of the finest work of cinematographer Roger Deakins who is arguably the best cinematographer in the business today.

The Blade Runner universe would not be what it is without the music and these films are able to combine the moody and oppressive world and set design with some sweeping electronic-synth music for outstanding effect. Several scenes in LA are made even better by the phenomenal soundtrack scored by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch. Seriously, put the soundtrack on and just listen to the beautiful cyberpunk score, it's great stuff. I also have to mention a great use of score right at the end of this movie that serves as a callback to a very similar scene at the end of the original. It was my favorite scene and song from the original and it was great seeing it referenced in a tasteful and respectful way. I loved it.

The acting was across the board very good. I won't lie, I don't feel like this will win any of the cast an Oscar but everyone did fine. Ryan Gosling was a good lead but after seeing him in Nicolas Winding Refn's movie Drive I noticed a lot of similarities. I think Gosling likes to play the strong silent type of character, and to be fair he is very good at it, but there is a lot of shots where he has a look of stern observance and it isn't the most exciting. I think a lot of this is due to him being a replicant and it was still a strong performance regardless, you really feel for his character and he's a very likeable protagonist.

One of my favorite performances is from Ana de Armas who plays Joi, an AI companion who serves as K's virtual girlfriend. She was a very sweet and likeable character who compliments K and their relationship is genuinely sweet and heartfelt. She was a joy, no pun intended, to watch in every scene she was in.

The rest of the cast was pretty decent though Jared Leto felt a little off. Maybe I'm just a bit forgiving of him because I still haven't processed the entire movie but his performance wasn't as bad as I've heard others say it is; it's a hell of a lot better than it was in Suicide Squad I'll tell you that much at least. He seems very cartoonish compared to the rest of the cast who are more grounded. He is a cool character though and has a very cool design. Harrison Ford is also pretty good, though I think that's a given at this point in his career. If nothing else it's just great to see Deckard again, older and grumpier as he may be.

If I have one complaint about this film it is that it does feel like it drags a bit in the final third but it's been a bit of a rough weekend for me so that could very much be just my own fatigue. Even if it is a fault with the film it doesn't impede any enjoyment of the movie at all. It is a fairly slow movie but so is the original. It isn't an action movie, though there are a few action scenes, it focuses more on building an imaginative yet believable world and telling a complex and interesting story while asking deep questions about what it means to be human.

I hope I've imparted on you just how much I walked away liking this movie. It is a treat for your eyes, your ears and your mind. I am definitely going to see this film again and probably a few more times after that. Go see it in theatres if possible, the sound alone is worth the price in money and effort. Villeneuve hit it out of the park again and if you haven't been following his career yet, now is a great time to start.