Villeneuve>Scott

Rating: 10/10 (13 October 2017)

In 1982, Ridley Scott gave us a film adaptation of the Philip K. Dick novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and titled it "Blade Runner." It escaped audiences, polarized critics, warranted multiple re-edits, and then eventually became a giant in the sci-fi world. It's flawed and confused (hence the multiple versions), yet undeniably engaging in its dark futuristic vision and mysterious story. However, with "2049," director Denis Villeneuve has turned in something timeless, brilliant and more assured. Perfectly matching the tone and aesthetics of the original, it still flies above it, and ultimately feels wholly its own. One difference is its tendencies. Where the original heavily leans into its film noir aspects, "2049" is more insistent on its heady sci-fi elements. We've got giant incestuous corporate corruption (creating products that buy other products), Siri/Alexa-like beings taken to the Nth degree, villainous powers-that-be lying to everyone about who and what they are. It's a dense and precise script, with dialogue good enough to chew on. Ryan Gosling is perfectly cast, Robin Wright is a national treasure, Jared Leto is a creepy beast, and the appearance of Harrison Ford as classic anti-hero Rick Deckard is a re-emergence for the ages. At this point, I'm convinced Villeneuve couldn't make a bad movie if he tried. The way he uses the actual art of filmmaking to get across his points almost seems second-nature. In one edit, the embers from a fire slowly fade into the lights of the city, indicating the futility of trying to contain something wild. It's a viscerally, aesthetically, emotionally and violently overwhelming film that not only builds on the original but surpasses it.