A surprisingly excellent sequel -- I'm honestly shocked at how good this film is

Rating: 8/10 (29 April 2019)

Sadly, I did not see this film when it came out in theaters back in 2017. I rarely see films in theaters anymore, since half of them are garbage Marvel films or other comic books films that all essentially have the same plot and similar mind-numbingly dull action scenes. I did make the mistake of seeing Star Wars Force Awakens when it came out in theaters and was sorely disappointed. The Star Wars franchise is entirely dead to me. The prequels were like getting mugged and badly beaten, but Force Awakens was the coup de grace, a shotgun blast to the head!
What I'm trying to say is that my expectations for science fiction, or really just films in general, has gone dramatically downhill. There has been a lack of good films in the past decade, which explains why my theater attendance is now a rare thing. I stick to watching films on amazon prime or netflix, and occassionaly buy a blu-ray.
Last week, while ordering a book through amazon, I began browsing various movie titles and eventually came across Blade Runner 2049. I easily spent half an hour reading through reviews for the film, mostly positive, but with a significant negative minority as well.
I made a gut purchase and bought the blu-ray for $13.00. Thirteen dollars is about the cost of a meal at a low price chain restaurant. If I didn't like the film, then it wouldn't be much of a loss.
Finally last night I found the time to sit down and watch Blade Runner 2049. I was in for a pleasant surprise! The overall atmosphere and vibe of the film matched up perfectly with the original Blade Runner. The universe in 2049 still felt like the same universe that the original Blade Runner inhabited. The dystopian Los Angeles was as vibrant and futuristically abysmal as in the original film.
The main thing that resonated with me was how this film manages to compliment the original Blade Runner so well. These two films are like long-departed twins, different, but identical somehow. That is an incredible feat considering 2049 was released 35 years after Blade Runner!
The story in 2049 artfully connects us to the events from the previous film and expands upon it to a satisfying climax. The acting in the film was mostly excellent but I will admit that Harrison Ford's performance was a bit underwhelming and lackluster. The guy is really looking haggard and I felt like he was almost dragging himself though the second half of the film. But the acting from all the other characters was spot on.
The visuals and cinematography were top-knotch, about as close to perfection as can be, and the same can be said for the gloomy & booming soundtrack. Maybe one or two uplifting musical pieces could have added more variety to the soundtrack, it almost felt too gloomy.
The action scenes in 2049 were done very well and were definitely pleasing to the eye. The plot throughout the film remained consistent to the prior Blade Runner film, it doesn't contradict the original in anyways, thank god. The conclusion to the film, I won't give it away, was very satisfying. A nice humanistic touch at the very end.
Overall I was delightfully satisfied with this film because it compliments the original almost perfectly. It was executed extremely well and flows along perfectly with the plot set by the original film. I'm now a little disappointed with myself that I didn't get to see this in the theater.
This is definitely worth seeing and is a worthy sequel to Blade Runner.