1. Do we need a Blade Runner sequel? Oh God, no. After all these years, can't us fans have this little bit of perfection. Do they have to go whoring out our lone shining star to squeeze some last drops of profit from her old bones? Of course they do. That's what the machine does, takes what you love, and ruins it. When I heard they were going ahead with a Blade Runner 2, and Harrison Ford signed on, with Ridley Scott (at the time) directing, my reaction was...
... but they didn't listen to my Facebook cover photo, and they went about their filthy business.
2. I'm so glad they did! Mostly. I am mostly, like 70% glad they did. In fact, I was so giddy during the first 30 minutes that all my angst was forgotten and I was swimming in sci-fi heaven. I'll try to keep this all spoiler free and focus on the positive.
3. So great to be back in Blade Runner land, and to see that world opened up and moved around in, seen from new angles and expanded. Who makes the memories for the replicants? What do other parts outside of Los Angeles look like? This movie digs in and gives you primo, fully licensed, authentic Blade Runner, crafted with care, love, and attention. The details are all here: the rain streaks on the windshields, the back lit misty miniatures, Off World Advertisements, big empty abandoned buildings. You are back in that world, and it feels so good.
4. The sound track. Been listening to it since I left the theater. Moody and synthy. In the theater, hearing those synths bounce around in 5.1 full dynamic perfection, with those amazing visuals, worth the price of admission.
5. Harrison Ford in his 70s and finally used as he should be. He's not dressing up like his 20 year old self. He reminded me of a Frank Miller creation. Old Bruce Wayne. He was right in this. Got to hold the old blade runner gun and be grumpy old man. Throw some punches. Finish up some unfinished business.
6. Ryan Gosling was really good in this too. His character goes on a crazy ride, and lots of twists and turns. When he finally looses it, and flips out, I was totally on his side.
7. This movie is like Prometheus in that it gives you the stuff that you wanted, but not in the exact way you were expecting it. A lot of Blade Runner is revisited in this, but flipped, so your expectations are being met and diverted. We have Pris images, but it is not just Pris done over. It's just the same world, so there are echos of the first one. We have a zoom in, enhance scene, but it's not the SAME scene done again with better effects. It's not Tron Legacy. There is a different story being told here.
8. I love these late sequels. Kinda like Psycho 2. It makes them special. Give a movie 20 - 30 years to rumble around in your head and then give me something new to chew on. Like Fury Road, did I think Fury Road was needed, no. But Miller killed it. Denis Villeneuve killed it here. Blade Runner has been in our heads so long. The years give weight and connection to these movies. Your relationship becomes more complicated, and then to go back and visit them, to see what they've been up to, it's more of a life event then just another movie. It's like a reunion. But do I want Fury Road 2? NO! Do I want Blade Runner 3? NO! You guys got lucky. Do I want a new Blade Runner movie every year now, and a tv series, and 20 podcasts rambling on and on about it until I die. No I do not. Can't somethings be special, as in rare.
9. So here is the big problem with Blade Runner 2049. With all it's world building, it is trying to set up a story that is too big for one movie. We can't just have one self contained thing now. it has to be part of a bigger monster. It's the dark side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It makes for great movies moments, but bad stories. This lays the ground work for a bigger sequel, but in doing so leaves out the ending, the point, the feeling that I saw not a movie, but an ad for the main event. Give me some feeling of closure. Ryan G's story is great, and I felt a good wrap up with him, but the fact that good and evil never really come to clash. That the big villain is never challenged in any real way. Is never given his comeuppance, or even humiliated or cut down an inch was very frustrating. Don't worry, he'll get his in the sequel. The sequel!?! I want to see him slapped around now! I want some catharsis! Leto is so creepy in this, and has a sick scene of cruel evil, but nothing comes of it. We are planting seeds here for a 3 picture cycle, one every three years, I guess. And the whole question of is Deckard a replicant himself, still ambivalent. Wait for the sequel, maybe we'll get around to that.
10. So this was like watching a pro gymnast perform an amazing three bar routine, with spins and flips and everything you could want, and then, at the last minute, the gymnast lands funny and snaps their legs with two terrible compound fractures. They scream in pain and the audience winces and the medics rush them off the stage. This movie, so awesome, and then in the last 15 minutes, I got really antsy, about the time when Harrison Ford is tied to a chair and rendered helpless. Did I wait 30 years to see Harrison Ford tied to a chair!?! How are they going to end this? How does this story payoff. It doesn't really. No, it isn't No Country For Old Men frustrating, but the same ballpark. There isn't a "To Be Continued" card, but I felt they pulled some punches to save the conclusion for some future movie that may or may not happen. Boo!!! But up to that point, a great time.
FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog
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