A Near Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (6 October 2017)

What a difference thirty years makes. When we last saw Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) in Ridley Scott's film noir 1982 classic, Blade Runner, he was "retiring" replicants - synthetic and genetically engineered androids that look like human beings – in Los Angeles 2019, before running off with Rachel, a replicant herself, implanted with childhood memories, believing she's human. In Blade Runner 2049, Los Angeles is still a dark, depressing and an urban decay of a congested dystopia. A young new blade runner on the LAPD payroll named Officer K (Ryan Gosling) is now hunting these new, sophisticated replicants created by a new company led by Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) after the Tyrell Corporation went bankrupt. But during this lawful retiring of replicants, Officer K stumbles onto a long-buried secret that could literally change the way society functions, thereby throwing the blade runner program into turmoil.
French-Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve has created a near masterpiece with Blade Runner 2049. He has continued Ridley Scott's vision of a dark and depressing Los Angeles, however visually spectacular. Gosling is the perfect blade runner for this world somber, emotionless and does what he's told by his superiors (Robin Wright). Ford, coming into the second half of the film, is as good as ever. What were most impressive in Blade Runner 2049 were its impeccable production design and its stunning cinematography. While L.A. is a crowded, black and rainy metropolis, the entire city of San Diego in 2049 has become a junkyard wasteland made up of ship parts and building debris. And Las Vegas is now a dissolute, sand covered megacity. The visual effects, as expected, are amazing. Blade Runner 2049 is definitely one of the finest science-fiction films I've ever seen and most definitely, one of the best movies of the year. At nearly three hours, it is a little long. But it is that rare sequel that surpasses its predecessor.