Visual Style Covers Poor Plotting

Rating: 6/10 (8 October 2017)

Let me start out by saying that the look and feel of Blade Runner 2049, from direction, lighting, visual, sound and atmosphere is completely stunning. With shot after lingering shot adding to the style and substance of the movie. Meaning the overall length of the piece can be somewhat forgiven. Yet, sitting in the cinema, it did simply feel a little too long.
The real problem I found with this movie were the vast plot holes which ran through the whole story, and these certainly impacted on my enjoyment of the film. As acting was good and characters were well defined.
What we have is K - a Blade Runner and replicant who is working on cleaning up the remaining Nexus 8 models and, during investigation coming across a buried crate, containing the remains of a replicant who had become pregnant. A 'miracle' for the other replicants. Blurring the line between replicant and human and establishing a better reason they have rights.
Why the replicants have buried the bones in such an obvious place, is never really addressed. Why they did not destroy the bones to make sure they were never discovered, is another problem. However, on finding these K is sent to track down the child and slowly comes to believe this may be him. Due to his memories and taking about 40 minutes of exposition.
Whilst this journey is interesting it actually causes a flat spot in the middle of the film where, as a viewer, I wondered what next. As the story struggles to develop on from here. Apart from the impacts of his discovery making him what he hunts - a rogue.
For some reason, his police chief then gives him time to go and settle down after this and the dialogue is mixed concerning whether he is being hunted or can return to duty. Her actions only explained by the fact he has been a good officer. The hunted K going back to his apartment to engage in sex with a meld of a replicant prostitute and his house hologram, which feels quite like filler but is meant us to feel more for the hologram, I suppose. As she risks her own 'life' to travel with him later.
K finds he isn't the child causing him to hunt down the true child and father, Deckard from the original, and then Deckard is kidnapped by the new controlling company - who clearly want to see if they can isolate how the pregnancy happened. Which pretty clearly makes Deckard a replicant as well - a fact which was left to the viewers' imaginations in the previous film.
This is all well and good, I can hear you say, where are the problems. The fact is it's the linking moments that really caused the downfall of the plot for me. The fact K's boss is killed in her office - is there really no surveillance? The fact you'd expect the child to be told to never mention its past, yet it is creating actually moments from its past in other replicants memories - a really clear breadcrumb trail. The fact that K isn't killed on numerous occasions and just 'left-for-dead'. The fact replicants can't breathe underwater - but were built to work in extreme environments. The vaguely described organisations and their intentions and the fact his boss in the police can still track him on her computers - so why haven't all the other Blade Runners found him? Notwithstanding the bees, who obviously eat sand.
What this results in is a story that feels half-baked, Jared Leto comes across like a bad Bond villain at the end and some scenes seem unnecessary.
While some may think I'm over-thinking this the director gives you time to think about every scene with the lavish interludes. So to best enjoy this movie switch your brain to neutral and turn your senses to the max.