Arthouse blockbuster tedium

Rating: 5/10 (15 September 2019)

Here's the long-awaited sequel to the Ridley Scott hit, but unfortunately it ended up in the hands of director Denis Villeneuve instead - a man I find criminally overrated after the threesome of PRISONERS, SICARIO and ARRIVAL all failed to impress me. BLADE RUNNER 2049 is similarly glacial in its construct, with the director seemingly unable to inject any warmth into his film whatsoever. As such, the performances feel artificial (maybe that was the intent) and you don't really care about any of what you see. Harrison Ford's the most interesting thing in this, and it's criminal to make the audience wait two hours to meet him again. Elsewhere, the endless CGI scenery is admittedly beautiful, but the plot is surprisingly slight - reminiscent of ANGEL HEART at times, but weaker. Watch it for the visuals if you must, but otherwise this is weak sauce compared to the first.