Misjudged, far too long & feels more like a sequel to "Oblivion" than to "Blade Runner"

Rating: 6/10 (10 October 2017)

Denis Villeneuve is a good director, but none of his Hollywood films are masterpieces, because the screenplays somehow all lack. He has a style that's hard to define - it's a dry, serious and operatic realism with some added existential weight. After the acclaimed "Arrival", Villeneuve could do what he wanted, but if "Blade Runner 2049" is his pure vision, than he's even more overrated than I thought.
Why is this not nearly as good as Ridley Scott's work of genius "Blade Runner"(1982) ?
a) It's far too long for the rather minimal plot. I like slow movies usually, but Villeneuve goes beyond the breaking point here. I simply lost track of the causalities and motivations, because it was too static. Scenes with great potential - like the Las Vegas casino fight between the holograms - lose their power because they play like in slow motion. If they would have cut down every scene a little bit - without sacrificing one second of the fantastic city vistas - it could have been 20 minutes shorter easily. And more powerful. It feels too slow, self-important, bloated and empty like it is.
b) This is often science fantasy, not science fiction: The imagined forms don't follow any clear function or logic. The technologies and designs look operatic, but not believable sometimes. They are more like New Age eye candy, not a believable part of a future world. Compare this to Kubrick/Spielberg's "A.I." and the original "Blade Runner" and you'll know what I mean. For example the 'replicant woman birth scene': It looks artful, but it's not believable. These slimy high tech creatures just fall from the heaven ? Did the stork deliver them in one piece ? I would have liked to see, how they are made. But this looks comical in its simplicity.
c) It's too talky. Some critics called it "prose, not poetry" and that's pretty much it. They should have cut down some of the dialogue, especially of some supporting characters.
d) It looks and feels closer to Joseph Kosinski's "Oblivion" (2013) than "Blade Runner" (1982), because Villeneuve decided to go against the iconic constant-darkness-while-it's raining-environment of the original "Blade Runner" & he added vistas of the California and Nevada desert, just like in that Tom Cruise film. Drones and an 'underground army' appear here, too, similar too the Cruise flick. Roger Deakins' cinematography has not the poetic, mysterious and dark qualities that made Jordan Cronenweth's groundbreaking work so unique. Yes, it's beautiful, but it isn't really "Blade Runner" and some scenes - I hate to say it - don't look very interesting, while others are calling visually too much attention to itself. Sometimes you feel the studio and the sets, which destroys the suspension of disbelief. It still looks good, but it's not right for this film.
e) Ryan Gosling is a fine actor, but I'm afraid he wasn't a good choice for this, because there is something in his face that rather makes me smile than feel existential drama. I just couldn't take him seriously in this context. And the whole dynamic between Ford and Gosling doesn't feel right. It's like a theater work shop, where they improvise a little and crack up sometimes. Bradley Cooper would have been a better choice for the lead. And Ford's acting should have been more restrained, not in his usual 'action hero' mode.
f) The unforgettable score by Vangelis is repeated at the very end. And it's still moving in a way, that Hans Zimmer's electronics are not. The new score by Zimmer is nothing special and it doesn't improve the images like the operatic Vangelis score did. You will forget Zimmer's compositions when you are out of the cinema pretty quickly. Not his strongest work.
What I liked best about "Blade Runner 2049" is the love story sub plot with the 'hologram' of the beautiful Ana de Armas. That was very well done, had the most poetic cinematography and was kind of emotionally touching. But even this concept - falling in love with an artificial being - has been explored in "A.I." (Spielberg), "Her" (Spike Jonze) and other films before, so it can't claim to be original. But it's still a worthy addition. If the rest of the film would have been as good as all the scenes with Ana de Armas,it would have been great, but it's not even close to the quality of those few scenes.
"Blade Runner 2049" will probably get Academy Award noms for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Sound Mixing and maybe Best Visual Effects, but - to be honest - it doesn't deserve to win any of these against the superior "Dunkirk".
Maybe Villeneuve will create a masterpiece one day, if the material, screenplay, cast and edit is right, but this ain't it.
At least "Blade Runner 2049" confirms what too many people denied too long: Ridley Scott is a genius and his "Blade Runner"(1982) was a singular achievement, that can't be replicated.