Even taken away from the original film, 2049 is surprising as a piece of art.

Rating: 10/10 (9 October 2017)

Watching this film, I couldn't help but feel disappointed that the general movie-going public wouldn't see this in droves. And unfortunately I was right; the film's $31.5 million US opening was a sign that there IS an audience for the film, but it's a NICHE crowd that won't attract the likes of Transformers fans or MARVEL buffs flocking to see it. Thankfully it made $50 million plus at the foreign box office and will surely make a fortune in Japan; the original Blade Runner is effectively the godfather of several dystopian franchises ranging from AKIRA, to Ghost in the Shell and even the likes of Cowboy Bebop. So how does 2049 hold up to that VAST legacy? It stands it's own two feet pretty firmly and proudly. And Denis Villenue was just the man to helm this sequel: and he's one of the 2010s' hottest rising film directors, an auteur who could become the next Christopher Nolan.
The story: this truly is a follow up to the original Blade Runner; it takes place 30 years after the 'tears in rain' spoken by Roy Batty, and Deckard has gone missing ever since the events of the first movie. What happened to him and what the hell has transpired in his absence? Replicants and humans hate each others' guts and there's racism on the streets and a new corporation has taken over Tyrell's job. And the line between replicants and humans is basically non-existent. Los Angeles is just as hostile as it was in 2019 and memories are either real or 'implanted' from someone else's conscious. Basically, what is real? It asks 'The Matrix' question pretty well, except 2049 shows that the fine line between humans and non-humans can become a blur. Is Ryan Gosling's character K (Joe) a replicant or is he human? That's something that drives the plot, that and his excellently well done confrontation of Rick Deckard himself. As things get more chaotic and nightmarish it's revealed that things aren't as black and white as Joe wants things to be. The concept of memories is crucial to 2049's message and experience. We're defined by the lives we've lived, and how is it right planting one's memories into an organic machine pretending that they lived it at all?
Bottom-line: ignore the press emphasising that's it's a premature 'flop'. They just want history to repeat and put people off from seeing it. SEE THIS MOVIE ASAP! It says a lot about human nature and unfortunately reflects the chaos of our present; the film has racism, corporate oversight of the public, and several unknowns about our world sitting right under our noses.
See Blade Runner: 2049 in IMAX; you'll thank yourself later for that. Hell; see it in regular cinemas if you want. Just spread the word: 2049 is amazing.