Blazing new ground, despite the (now obligatory) dystopian vision

Rating: 8/10 (12 October 2017)

Well, Blade Runner 2049 certainly lives up to the hype, and did anyone mention the soundtrack? Wow. I should, however, expand a little on my recurring critique of dystopian science fiction, since it's about the only kind of scifi you can find at the movies, and Blade Runner 2049 falls into the genre like almost everything else in the scifi category these (unimaginative) days. Dystopian visions of the future abound, but overlook (1) that a lot --- if not most --- of our present problems will be solved --- even in the intermediate future a few decades hence, and (2) that the problems of the future (apart from human nature, which basically never changes) will most likely be substantially different than the problems of today. It's hard to see how a fusion-powered, robotics and biotech-enhanced future is going to be characterized by poverty and homelessness, just for example. Overcrowding? Yes. Few jobs for unskilled workers? Quite obviously. Human nature? The same as ever, as mentioned above. So, despite its slipping into the #dystopiaasusual category, Blade Runner 2049 may possibly be the greatest science fiction film ever produced. Surely there has never been another soundtrack quite like this one, and I'm ready to award the set designers every prize on the shelf. Ryan Gosling is talented enough to carry the lead, and he was very well- supported, including by a re-energized Harrison Ford, who has pulled himself back from the edge of the abyss. Denis Villeneuve has now established that he can do anything (he's now talking about revisiting the Dune narrative; and somebody should actually introduce him to Heinlein and Asimov if he's drifting towards the classics in the genre). So, despite some caveats, this production burns so much new ground that my call is 10/10.