When a Blade Loses It's Edge.

Rating: 7/10 (14 October 2017)

Beautiful and empty Bladerunner 2049 is the needless squeal to the 1980s classic.
Set 30+ years after the events of the first film we meet Ryan Gosling continuing in the Bladerunner tradition of shooting robots. Along the way, he discovers a great secret that might change the social order of a world that is made up of humans and they're purpose built slaves.
All of that was covered in the first 20 minutes of the film by the way. Skip ahead to the 3rd act, grumpy Harrison Ford shows up and, well, that's about it.
Leaving the theatre my wife and I tried to decide just why Bladerunner left us both feeling so indifferent to it's existence. She had never seen the first film, I had, but our feelings were the same. Bladerunner is great to look at and I appreciated the nods to the original, but, it became quickly apparent our apathy stemmed from the fact nothing much happens in this movie.
Office K's (Gosling) investigation into a missing person moves at snails pace and none of the people we meet along the way are as interesting as the scenery around them. One example is Wallace (Jared Leto) the new Tyrell and the main villain of the film. His speeches are dull and only go to serve the plot, he leaves all of his serious evilness to his sidekick while he stays home sporting a handicap which must be a desired physical affectation considering how easily it could be treated in his time.
The main theme in both Bladerunner movies is one day the slaves will cast off their chains and be free. Sure, there's stuff about love and self-awareness but these are side issues that have been explored elsewhere to better effect. The main focus of 2049 is humanity needs an indentured underclass to do its heavy lifting and either you are for it or against it and that is a pretty thin premise for a movie this long.
Late in the film Officer K sits on a deck chair staring out over an irradiated city. He looks like a man lost, not knowing where to go next. This moment is the perfect metaphor for Bladerunner 2049. All of it's surprises are revealed too early on leaving both the audience and characters to mull over the same obvious of choices for the rest of the movie.
A wasted opportunity.