Skip to main content

Best of the decade: Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

A review by Brooks Rich

This is one film I understand if someone says, "man that film was too slow for me." I completely get that. Blade Runner was a deliberately paced science fiction film. It was released in 1982 but it was paced more like a science fiction film from the '70s. Fans of Blade Runner should immediately track down the 1972 film Silent Running.

If this blog had been around in 2017, Blade Runner 2049 would have been my favorite movie of the year. Honestly three out of the past four years have deliberately paced and heady science fiction films as my favorites for the year. Arrival in 2016, Blade Runner 2049 in 2017, and Ad Astra this past year. While Star Wars might be doing all it can to destroy the science fiction genre, there are directors out there doing all they can to keep it intelligent. Denis Villeneuve is my pick for director of the decade and while Arrival is in my opinion his best work, Blade Runner 2049 is right behind it. I think this film is a masterpiece.

Ryan Gosling plays K, a blade runner who hunts down the old replicants, which are essentially robots. K himself is a new model replicant and only lives to hunt down the old replicants. He soon uncovers a secret that can change the entire replicant mythos and also possibly destabilize civilization.

Full props to Ryan Gosling for his performance in this film. This film is two hours and forty-four minutes and Gosling is in almost every scene. I can't imagine that sort of shooting schedule. K is a fascinating character and probably my favorite character of the past decade, if we were to rank such a thing. I am fully invested in his story every time I watch it and I think the conclusion of the film is exactly how his story should end.

Villeneuve does not reboot Blade Runner to be this giant action packed science fiction adventure film.  He paces this film just like the original. This one probably moves a little faster even with the run time but it's so refreshing to see a film paced like this in today's world of quick cutting superhero and action movies.

This film is gorgeous. I can't put that any other way. Roger Deakins won the Academy Award for best cinematography for this film and I can't disagree with that at all. I think this is the best looking film of the decade and with Villeneuve doing Dune next, you at least know that film will be gorgeous too. Fans of high brow science fiction. If for some reason you skipped this film, for the love of God track it down.


Comments

  1. Jack MathewNovember 15, 2022 at 11:38 PM

    I literally watched this movie 4 to 5 time and still he wants to make me watch this movie one more time.

    Blade Runner 2049 Jacket

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forgotten Film Friday: Absolute Power

Clint Eastwood stars as Luther Whitney, a jewel thief who works in the Washington DC area. One night while he is stealing from a mansion he is forced to hide in a secret compartment with a two way mirror. From there he observes a sexual rezendevous with the wife of a powerful man and the President of the United States Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman) Suddenly the president gets aggressive and while defending herself the woman is shot to death by two Secret Service agents. Luther manages to get away with a letter opener the woman stabbed the president with. At first Luther plans to flee the country. But when he is disgusted by a statement the president makes, Luther decides to expose the crime. I miss these kind of films. The nineties was a great time for thrillers exactly like this. They are not the flashiest films but they are also not obsessed with big action scenes. It's all plot and character with them. Sure this plot might be a little out there but Eastwood makes it work. He's...
1 comment
Read more

Oscar Bait month: The Shipping News

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich Lasse Hallstrom is one of those directors I think is incredibly talented but his films normally don't do a thing for me. There just always that comes up short for me, whether its the story or how its shot or the acting or something. Most people will know Hallstrom as the director of What's Eating Gilbert Grape, the breakout role of Leonardo Dicaprio. That is probably my favorite of his films. I know everyone loves Chocolat. Great, enjoy, I think it's lame. But today let's discuss his follow up to The Cider House Rules, his film from 1999 which did very well come awards season, and Chocolat. Both of these films did very well, especially The Cider House Rules. The big reward it got was Best Supporting Actor for Michael Caine. It also won Best Adapted Screenplay for John Irving. This isn't fair to Cider House Rules but I think it's overrated as far as nominations go. 1999 is one of the greatest years in cinema and really? We nominate...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Travolta month: Saturday Night Fever

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich So this was not the big start of John Travolta's career. That would be the classic sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. But this did elevate Travolta to another level. For any of you going oh come on. This silly movie with a disco soundtrack? Come on, Brooks. Just wait. Have you ever actually seen this? This isn't about disco. Disco just happens to be the music of choice. This about the kind of people who are kings at the dance clubs and then losers the rest of the time. There is a lot of darkness and truth in this film. So if you've never seen it please. Do yourself a flavor and check it out. Just watch it and then come back to read this.  This is a movie about the different types of people we become between our real lives and our weekend lives. Tony Manero is a regular working class guy in a Brooklyn neighborhood, struggling to make ends meet and dealing with his loving but at times overbearing family. He lives in the shadow of his priest brother. ...
Post a Comment
Read more