Who knew a bleak future could seem so entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (10 June 2018)

Coming 35 years after the events of its predecessor, Denis Villeneuve's futuristic law enforcement thriller 'Blade Runner 2049' picks up further down the road when the world of replicants has evolved for better or worse.
Instead of centering around the POV of Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard, we follow Ryan Gosling as he navigates the pitfalls and threats of greater Los Angeles to get to the bottom of a mysterious discovery that could jeopardize society's otherwise oblivious view of the human-like replicants' roles in their lives. This sets us up for an interesting ride full of mystery, confusion and winding roads. Gosling is well cast in this role, as his trademark poker face comes in handy given the serious nature of his character K's job as a blade runner. We also get to see Robin Wright give the kind of performance she's really been able to own of late, as the no-nonsense, deceptive Lieutenant Joshi.
Otherwise, the casting is more or less "meh," aside from Ford's (all too short) screen time. Jared Leto barely has a chance to make an impact as the psycho genius Niander Wallace, and the two female leads are a holographic assistant, Joi (Ana de Armas) and a ruthless Wallace confidant, Luv (Sylvia Hoeks). Neither have anything special to offer here, mostly due to poor character writing. But it's not the acting that makes '2049' what it is. Villeneuve is on a sci-fi hot streak, coming off the heels of 'Arrival,' and is developing a specific filming style that will likely become associated with the director in the coming years. '2049' is filmed beautiful, with haunting cinematography and a soundtrack (and in some cases, lack thereof) that translates to sensual overload in many scenes.
There's a healthy balance of typical "bad guy beat-up" action scenes and low-key dialogue-heavy ones that help '2049' drift into "boring" or "over the top" territory, and despite the fact that the plot seems to reveal itself in a formulaic way, there are a few twists in the film's third act that keep audiences from feeling like they've seen this all before.
'Blade Runner 2049' was not considered to be a monster hit with general moviegoing audiences, but it's clear the effort and investment that went into creating the movie has resulted in a quality final product.