I need to feel for the characters

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2018)

Please, no more 10/10 or 5/5 reviews for films that deliver something incredibly visual but forget the human factor. Blade runner of all films should not forget this.
Over the years, we have grappled with the idea that we could somehow evolve from the joining of man and woman to something else. Something made in a factory or on a computer. As technology evolves and life becomes quicker and smaller, so the lines blur between what is real and what is fake, and on this score, this film scores very high. The idea of a computer generated intelligent holographic image has been done before but not as well as in this film. In fact, Ana De Armas does such an amazing job that she was the only character I really cared about. Sure, I somehow liked K, but there was nothing to make me really root for him apart from being chased by boys.
So, as a story, and knowing H Ford was going to be appearing I waited. Sure enough, the fugitive appeared, rugged, unshaven and with a whisky loving dog! But, as much as I admire Harrison I felt I could have been watching Han Solo from 'The Force Awakens'. The writers didn't give him much to work with and I felt his character was wasted.
I want to commend the makers of the film for the pacing and the visual and audio effects. I really believe that there was an enormous amount of care taken to immerse the audience in a rain soaked Californian 2049. However, character arcs and plotting need to not be signposted. I wanted to be surprised, moved, and thrilled.
I felt nothing. Really, I didn't, but I cannot deny the detail in this film. The plot? Suspect. The script? Meh. The filmmaking. 10/10. Now go and snaffle Weiss and Benihof before they begin Star Wars and see if they can do any better?