Not The Visual Masterpiece I Was Hoping For...

Rating: 6/10 (23 October 2017)

I saw Blade Runner 2049 last night. I had high hopes, high hopes coupled with a little sense of concern.
When I first heard that they would be making a sequel, I was apprehensive. I loved the original Blade Runner. It was flawless. It was Ridley Scott at his finest.
I wasn't sure how I felt about a potential sequel. When I heard it would be a continuation of Deckards story, I was even more concerned. To me, Deckards story came to an end in the original when those elevator doors shut or that highway scene on the road, depending on what cut of the film you've seen. There was no need to elaborate further on it.
So now we have Blade Runner 2049, which will probably not be the last outing for Deckard, as hints are already being dropped for a potential another one if 2049 is a commercial success. It's not looking like it will be...
So when I left the cinema, I felt tired... I shouldn't feel that coming out of having just seen a sequel to one of my favorite films of all time. By god was it slow.
Original Blade Runner never outstayed its welcome. The editing was fantastic, the pace felt just right. The scenes did not go on for as long as they needed to be, and the film was all the more better for it.
2049 is 2 hours and 44 minutes long... The original was 1 hour and 57 minutes long. There is nothing wrong with those numbers, but if your going to have a very long film, you want to get the pacing right. The longer you go, the greater the risk that your story is going to wear thin.
And sure enough, it did. 2049 has great visuals, decent enough music although I felt they didn't do as great a job on that front and overall the performances were good. The story, plot and writing was pretty bad and there is a jarring difference between this and the original. Which could have been avoided if they avoided bringing a conclusion to Deckards story. One could say it's about K's story as much as it is about Deckard. That is true in a sense, but the overall theme revolves around K's pursuit of Deckard, a theme that gets enforced not long into the film.
Denis Villeneuve did a good enough job, and fair deuce for doing it. Cause trying to live up to the original can't be easy. I think with a better script, a better story they could have truly gone places. But they restricted themselves into doing this story, and that's a damn shame.
And I think Blade Runner 2049 gets it all wrong as well when it comes to 'themes' of the original movie. This isn't a standalone film. It is a sequel, so comparisons have to be made to the first film. In the first film, you didn't have any major villains. Even the replicants were not 'villains' themselves, but simply survivors trying to live out their life.
One could argue that Tyrell corp is the real villain, but is it? That was never the sense I got in the film - they are morally questionable, sure. But dastardly villainous? No... certainly not. That's what made Blade Runner great.
Unfortunately, Jared Letho's character, Wallace, is every bit as traditional villain you can get. And that makes me sad. Hampton Fancher didn't do a great job on the script. It is definitely missing the wonderful influence of David Webb Peoples.
Blade Runner is not the visual masterpiece I was hoping for. It doesn't live up to its potential, but its there. It exists.
Whether or not to be grateful for it existing is up to you.