"I have seen things you people wouldn't believe..."

Rating: 10/10 (6 October 2017)

Film is a medium that gets better with age. As a still picture is a form of reflection upon memory, a moving picture is a time capsule as well. While some shine only shortly within their moments of popularity, others grow in that popularity over the years even if they didn't have it upon first release. This circumstance is usually where the word "classic" tends to appear. While the term is usually revered in the filmmaking community, it often seems to scare critics. When age is usually a necessity in determining a classic it becomes difficult for a person who reviews the latest movies to use the term when describing something current. A fear of jumping the gun, and a fear I don't have. Blade Runner 2049 is a new classic. It will inspire countless young filmmakers as well as dazzle and delight fans of the original and those who have never seen it. I do not dare spoil this film. The plot is so well crafted and none of the points are forced upon the audience. It treats the viewer with respect and let's the audience put pieces together on their own. This is not to say that it is predictable. I think the biggest compliment I can give this film is that I didn't know where it was going. I was invested in the main characters struggles and that is mostly due to Ryan Gosling's superb performance. A performance that could not have been easy but because of that has now become my favorite of his. The amount of emotions he has to display through every scene is staggering and he pulls it off unbelievably. Aside from Gosling's performance we also have the star of the original Blade Runner; Harrison Ford returning as Rick Deckard. I have been a huge fan of Ford's career since I was a child and with that in mind I have to bring to light a fact that isn't easy to admit. Although he's great in the original as the disgruntled cop who learns to empathize with machines, he is very subtle with his emotions and doesn't often get into the really heavy, feely moments of a film. I am utterly amazed that this film brought out the sadness and pain in this character. Harrison Ford does things you never see him do here. I think it might be one of the best performances of his entire career. I often wonder where the new legends are. Spielberg, Kubrick, Scorsese, all the filmmaking giants that made their waves rise high above the heads of the industry and crash down with hit after hit and classic after classic. It appeared to me before I entered the theater that I had missed out on that era. Not to say that there aren't masters still out there today but they're just so hard to find. I now know that when the name "Denis Villeneuve" appears in the credits of a work, I will be blown away. Every film he has made thus far has been of exceptional quality and without a doubt, this is his finest work to date. I feel that he understood what made the original so revered, took it's DNA and crafted the finest specimen that he possibly could. There is another name that I must mention that I hope will soon become a household name just as the other legends that I mentioned previous. The man whose eye for angles and light have become legend to me. This man is Roger Deakins. Remember his name. This is just another passage in the great story that he's telling with his images. The world that has been created here feels so real, so lived in. The original gave us a glimpse into a future where machines were beginning to become more human than human, this film widens the keyhole and shows us the world where that is a full reality. And while I sat back in that IMAX theater, gazing at Deakins' vivid paintings, my ears were sucked in by the amazing soundtrack composed by Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer. The synth sounds delighted and excited me. The most intense moments of the film were given that much more life by the music that drove them. What I find to be the greatest thing about this new masterpiece is that, I had so little expectations for it. I walked through those doors with an indifference inside me. Why make a sequel to a film that relied on thought provoking questions that were never answered? A sequel exists to expand on the first, so will it ruin all of the best aspects of the first? What could this film possibly bring? I was so wrong. The questions that existed before are still there as well as new ones that still have me thinking even as I write this now. I can analyze this film for years just as so many have the original. I know that this film won't be loved by all. The runtime will most likely be too long for the average blockbuster viewer, the complex ideals presented will annoy those who came for action, the pace will most likely completely bore them. But I feel those that do have these problems will come to realize something as well...that's exactly what people thought of the original when it was released. Now it is a classic. When I got in my car and proceeded along the dark road to my home, I sat in silence as my mind raced faster than my vehicle could take me. Of all the things that I didn't expect, I certainly didn't expect to see one of the greatest films I've ever viewed in the year 2017. Film truly is an amazing medium. And as I pulled into my driveway and killed the engine, I fretted over the biggest question that I had that evening, a question that still haunts me now
Is it better than the original?