Comparisons reveal the odious.

Rating: 1/10 (23 October 2017)

I'm sickened by the fawning over this spectacularly empty drivel.
So utterly characterless for something purporting to reflect on the nature of human consciousness. No character = no script, of course. The original revels subtly in the exploration of how identity and memory are intrinsic to one another. How the objects we surround ourselves persuade us of our identity. Gosling's apartment in contrast, characterless. Literally. There is no character that lives there.
Perhaps they feared that a character, with an actually believable life, in the film might detract from the computerised holographic eye candy companion? Did Harvey Weinstein have some say in this element? This avatar of desire has potential for commentary, but resolves as an astonishing endorsement of computerised companionship as a viable alternative to human relationship. In our dystopian future, as the capacity for community dissolves, this is our great hope; the post prostitute/hologram wife sex - "coffee?" - results in smiles all round. This element to the film made me a little physically sick and highly sympathetic to militant feminism.
The film's clumsy attempts at visual poetry pale into comparison with the original - proving the point that the soul of the work is what creates a spectacle with substance, not computing power.
Jared Leto's Kurtz impression might have fared better had their been any craft in the script. Perhaps if they'd gotten Rutger Hauer to improvise some lines there'd have been some semblance of originality, instead of memorable quotes such as "You do not know...pain."
The score to the movie was effective, but lacked the nuanced, cohesive beauty of Vangelis' offering in the original; of course it suffers from the hodge podge on screen. There can be no artistic combinatorial explosion when so many elements are lacking in subtlety, originality...spirit. This deficit being exemplified by the Power Rangers finale...PEOW PEOW - HIIIIYA!!!
And there is no spirit. This post-modern parable embodies and endorses the pseudo-scientific reductionist view of humanity as essentially worthless and doomed. It is an unrelentingly shallow and joyless indulgence with plot holes you could drive a bus through (it's a real memory... then it must be mine! *BOOOOM* - great work detective!).
To give the team the benefit of the doubt, let's say that some elements may be excused by the use of focus groups by the studios. It wouldn't take much to alter the attitude of Gosling to his 3D spouse to highlight to the viewer the 1D nature of his relationship. Maybe those takes are on the cutting room floor, maybe there'll be a superior director's cut. I doubt it'll be any the better, the changes needing to be radical; including shaving about an hour off the running time.
Perhaps the director's cut will appear before the sequel. Yes, thanks to the introduction of a rebellion, we can look forward to the Matrix style "Bladerunner reloaded", "Bladerunner revolutions"...I wonder whether Netflix or Amazon will make the series? #justanotherfranchise
In the year 2019, I believe this effort will suffer horribly from hindsight; unlike the majestic original...and we'll always have the original. A memory of exemplary filmic storytelling, indelibly etched in my mind forming part of my identity, available for generations to come...
1*