Blade Runner 2049 3D
(2017)Ryan Gosling stars in the sequel to the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel to Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic. Returning are Harrison Ford who reprises his role as Rick Deckard and Scott who co-produces.... More
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.Hide
-
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Starring Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Jared Leto, Barkhad Abdi
Written by Hampton Fancher, Michael Green (Based on characters from the novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' by Philip K. Dick)
Flicks Review
BY Tony Stamp Flicks Writer
Denis Villeneuve is some kind of cinematic magician. He bounces between genres, masters them all, and has now resurrected a 35-year-old classic and made it his own. It’s like he soaked in the essence of Blade Runner and channelled it into this new story, which continues the original’s themes regarding sentience, expands on them, then adds new shades of grey.... More
Villeneuve is also a master of tone, recreating Ridley Scott’s trick of making everything feel like a puzzle to be solved. Blade Runner 2049 is enigmatic, continually intriguing, and at its heart, a noir film. One of the first shots of Ryan Gosling has him in silhouette, and throughout characters are shrouded in darkness as we try to parse their motivations.
Each scene feels like a window into a place worth exploring. It’s full of fascinating characters, some of whom we only meet fleetingly. Future L.A. may be a blasted hell-scape, but it’s an exhilarating place to spend some time, and one that’s realised with huge attention to detail.
Gosling is great, bringing the stoicism of his work with Nicolas Winding Refn but allowing some warmth to creep through. And Harrison Ford keeps proving that he can actually still act, getting some of the most moving moments in a story that deals with tragedy and redemption.
Blade Runner 2049 honours its predecessor by using it as inspiration for a crop of new ideas. It’s a bold, bleak dose of sci-fi miserabilism that occasionally reveals its beating human heart.Hide
The Peoples' Reviews
Reviewed & Rated by
Your rating & review
Rate / Review this movieRate and/or review
Blade Runner 2049 3D
BY adamatdramatrain superstar
That’s largely due to the stunning visuals of cinematographer Roger Deakins, who quite literally paints with light, creating a multi-coloured canvas. Deakins has been nominated 13 times for an Academy Award and incredibly never won, but that has to change with... More ‘Blade Runner 2049’, which surpasses even his masterful work on the likes of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, ‘No Country for Old Men’, ‘Skyfall’ and director Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Sicario.’
Villeneuve (director of ‘Arrival’ and ‘Prisoners’) takes Ridley Scott’s vision of ‘Blade Runner’ from 1982 and runs with it, expanding and refreshing that dystopian future vision, till it seems as vast as Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ and unrelenting as Coppola’s acid-trip nightmare hallucination of Vietnam in ‘Apocalypse Now.’
With Villeneuve’s vision and Deakins’ eye, ‘2049’ delivers some of the most haunting, beautiful, epic and jaw-dropping vistas ever splashed on the silver screen.
The plot, like Scott’s first film, is a tightly-wound detective thriller. Neo-noir in look and pretty straightforward in terms of narrative structure, but like its predecessor, it’s in the telling that ‘2049’ really earns its place amongst the greats.
The old themes are all here, joined by new ideas, new nightmares and new conundrums for sci-fi fans to discuss, argue and dissect. At what point is Artificial Intelligence considered life? Can a machine possess feelings, emotions, a soul? Yup even asking, as Philip K Dick’s story on which this is based has it: ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’
The soundtrack, by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch may not be as iconic as Vangelis’ original, but it pulses, pounds and pulsates with enough power and subtlety that it blends into the world on screen, wrapping you up in a visual and auditory dreamscape of a dystopian future.
The script, by Michael Green, and ‘Blade Runner’ scribe Hampton Fancher, is sleek and simple, yet densely packed. Better yet, it’s slow. Deliciously so. Like a true, old school film noir, the story takes its time, and the result is a long, satisfying 163-minute submersion into the world of ‘2049.’
Sure, there are action-packed sci-fi blockbuster scenes worthy of the best of the big Summer movies, but an all-in action film ‘2049’ ain’t. Instead it’s a cerebral journey into an adult sci-fi literary world of philosophical thought experiments and evocative sensory delights.
The cast are uniformly superb, although don’t let those trailers fool you into thinking Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard will be around for too much of the time. But when he’s on-screen, Ford’s grizzled ex-Blade Runner is as moody and charismatic as ever.
Ryan Gosling brings his A-game to the character of K, giving him the resolute toughness of his ‘Drive’ lead, coupled with the sparks of humanity and warmth he brought to his ‘La La Land’ and ‘The Nice Guys’ roles.
The supporting cast are impressive, with Robin Wright formidable, Dave Bautista getting better by the movie, a stand out performance by Ana de Armas, and a role for Jared Leto that reminds you he’s actually way better than ‘Suicide Squad’ gave him credit.
You know, it’s rare we get to see a bonafide cinematic masterpiece these days, but technically, artistically and in terms of ambition realised and world building, ‘2049’ both honours the first ‘Blade Runner’ and lives up to its promise.
Oh, and in Imax 3D? “Wow” – my jaw’s still on the floor.
Colour me impressed. Heck, colour me blown away, mesmerised and delighted. Now excuse me, while I buy another ticket and go see it again.Hide
The Press Reviews
It just has to be experienced on the biggest screen possible. Blade Runner 2049 is a narcotic spectacle of eerie and pitiless vastness, by turns satirical, tragic and romantic. Full Review
Villeneuve's film is a direct continuation in every respect; it's difficult to imagine anyone - even Ridley Scott - making a better Blade Runner sequel. Full Review
Visually immaculate, swirling with themes as heart-rending as they are mind-twisting, 2049 is, without doubt, a good year. And one of 2017's best. Full Review
A voluptuous mood bath that's impressively sustained from beginning to end. Full Review
A visually breathtaking, long-fuse action movie whose unconventional thrills could be described as many things - from tantalising to tedious - but never "artificially intelligent." Full Review
Immersing you in a complete wow, Blade Runner 2049 is the thinking person's sci-fi event of the year. Full Review
I imagine most audiences will like the film ... I thought it was okay. Full Review
Despite its blockbuster trappings, this Blade Runner is as much an art movie as the first one: slow, idea-driven, and often emotionally remote. Full Review
Villeneuve has taken the double-edged sword of the update and created a Blade Runner 2049 worthy of honouring its ancestor, while bringing it appropriately into the mid-21st Century. Full Review
An immersive masterpiece that may even surpass the original. Full Review
My brain still hasn't stopped whirring, neither has my heart. Full Review
An artform of suspense and enigma that's as compelling and fascinating as it is emotionally distant. Full Review
Care to comment?