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Review: Blade Runner 2049 (2017) ★★★½

<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Though I’m not a diehard fan of the original <em>Blade Runner<&sol;em> &lpar;1982&rpar;&comma; there’s no denying that it has developed a cult status&comma; and for good reason&period; The neo-noir atmosphere&comma; coupled with the captivating dystopian world and superb effects not only influenced future films&comma; but established <em>Blade Runner<&sol;em> as a landmark achievement in the science fiction genre&period; Unfortunately&comma; the film suffers from a rather bizarre performance from Harrison Ford &lpar;in addition to his terribly executed narration&rpar;&comma; poor pacing&comma; and a confusing plot&period; It is a fascinating film nonetheless&comma; and Denis Villeneuve’s reboot of the series&comma; <em>Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em>&comma; strives to achieve the same level of complexity and ingenuity&period; While the film hits the mark more often than not&comma; it is not as groundbreaking as the original&comma; and also suffers from some of the same issues that plagued the 1982 film&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Thirty years after the events of <em>Blade Runner<&sol;em>&comma; a bioengineered human named K &lpar;Ryan Gosling&rpar; is tasked with hunting down and killing rogue androids&comma; known as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;replicants&period;” These replicants live and work in human society&comma; but are often relegated to subservient positions&comma; and are beholden to human interests&period; Himself a replicant&comma; K works for the LAPD and is designed to be completely obedient&period; When K discovers evidence of a deceased replicant who gave birth to a child &lpar;a theoretical impossibility&rpar;&comma; he is tasked with finding and killing the child before its discovery leads to a war between humans and replicants&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Much like the original film&comma; the plot grows increasingly complex in the second act&comma; and&comma; for better or worse&comma; the audience is given little in the way of useful exposition&period; Usually&comma; science fiction films over-explain their narrative universe ad nauseam&comma; but <em>Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em> is refreshingly vague&comma; leaving the viewer to piece together the intricate sociopolitical backdrop in which the characters exist&period; K is a character who&comma; much like the android protagonist in <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;2017&sol;04&sol;04&sol;review-ghost-in-the-shell-2017-&percnt;E2&percnt;98&percnt;85&percnt;E2&percnt;98&percnt;85&percnt;E2&percnt;98&percnt;85&sol;"><em>Ghost in the Shell<&sol;em><&sol;a> &lpar;2017&rpar;&comma; struggles with classifying memories as real or fabricated&comma; and suffers from an identity crisis as a result&period; Gosling plays a complex character&comma; and&comma; unlike Scarlett Johansson in <em>Ghost in the Shell<&sol;em>&comma; he was perfectly cast for the role&period; He straddles the line between human and nonhuman in his performance&comma; and never tries to oversell either dynamic&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1092" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1092" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-1092 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;11&sol;BladeRunner2049-1-1-1024x429&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Blade Runner 2049 giant hologram" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"335" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1092" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Blade Runner 2049 &lpar;2017&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Initially&comma; what is most striking about the film is its incredibly dark tone&period; From the opening scene&comma; in which K confronts a rogue replicant and violently &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;retires” him&comma; we are given a view of a harsh&comma; unforgiving universe&period; Unfortunately&comma; this tone is occasionally lifted&comma; so as not to depress audiences too much&comma; which actually works against the film&period; Rather than doubling down on the inherent darkness written into the story&comma; Villeneuve veers in a more predictable direction&comma; turning the latter half of <em>Blade Runner 2049&&num;8217&semi;s <&sol;em>script into a futuristic family soap opera&period; Once Harrison Ford’s character is introduced&comma; the film devolves into tired action movie cliches and traditional family values&period; Ford’s inclusion in the film&comma; though necessary for the larger story&comma; feels forced&comma; like a bone thrown to fans of the original&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">In addition to unnecessary tonal shifts&comma; <em>Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em> is also bogged down by inconsistent pacing&period; With a runtime that is just shy of three hours&comma; and large stretches of time with little to no dialogue&comma; the film begins to feel tedious about halfway through&period; Combine this with the complex plot&comma; and the entire viewing experience becomes a strain on the senses&period; Long stretches of inaction are suddenly interrupted by short bursts of action&comma; but there is not a satisfying buildup to the climax&period; The ending&comma; while superb&comma; does not fully make up for the slow&comma; dreary second act&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure style&equals;"width&colon; 960px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c&period;o0bg&period;com&sol;rf&sol;image&lowbar;960w&sol;Boston&sol;2011-2020&sol;2017&sol;10&sol;02&sol;BostonGlobe&period;com&sol;Arts&sol;Images&sol;BR-SINTL-87634-4919&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Blade Runner 2049 car" width&equals;"960" height&equals;"402" &sol;><figcaption class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Blade Runner 2049 &lpar;2017&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">The original <em>Blade Runner<&sol;em>’s lasting power was largely due to its incredible effects &lpar;for the time&rpar;&period; Though <em>Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em> has far better visual effects and photography&comma; in the sense that the technology has improved tenfold&comma; there is very little to prove in terms of stellar special effects these days&period; I’m not implying that there is no room for improvement in CGI&comma; there certainly is&comma; but quality effects can be seen in just about every new blockbuster released these days&period; So visually&comma; though it is very impressive&comma; <em>Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em> gets lots in the shuffle&comma; rather than paving the way for even greater improvements the way that <em>Blade Runner<&sol;em> did&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Ultimately&comma; despite its weaknesses&comma; <em>Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em> is a beautiful film that cannot be fully explained in words&period; The photography&comma; costumes&comma; soundtrack&comma; and effects in <em>Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em> are all incredible&comma; and it is clear that Denis Villeneuve put just as much effort into creating a living&comma; breathing dystopian world as Ridley Scott did with the original&period; Ryan Gosling is superb as K&comma; and although Harrison Ford’s performance is somewhat lackluster in comparison&comma; he helps tie in the story from the original film&period; Though <em>Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em> is not a perfect film by any means&comma; it is a very thought-provoking addition to the science fiction genre and a reboot that does not spoil the successes of its predecessor&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rating&colon; &starf;&starf;&starf;&half; out of 5<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you&&num;8217&semi;d like to watch<em> Blade Runner 2049<&sol;em>&comma; it is currently available for purchase <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;gp&sol;product&sol;B0765Q45NX&sol;ref&equals;as&lowbar;li&lowbar;qf&lowbar;sp&lowbar;asin&lowbar;il&lowbar;tl&quest;ie&equals;UTF8&amp&semi;tag&equals;mjones34880c-20&amp&semi;camp&equals;1789&amp&semi;creative&equals;9325&amp&semi;linkCode&equals;as2&amp&semi;creativeASIN&equals;B0765Q45NX&amp&semi;linkId&equals;dc775f03f9c2a753027f2e2476891848">via Amazon here<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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