Great visuals, true to the original, but pacing is far too slow

Rating: 8/10 (16 October 2017)

#1. This movie stays true to the original in look and feel, in some ways it feels like an extension, not a sequel made 35 years later. The directors keep the BladeRunner world intact, with only a few embellishments, which all work well.
#2. The visuals are fantastic, especially the holograms. The holograms are so well done (including when they "glitch"), that the viewer immediately accepts them as real, not gimmicky. You will leave the theater wishing you could run to the store and buy an Emanator by Wallace Corporation! I especially loved the scenes in the holo-dome where the dream creator assembles the memories that get implanted into replicants.
#3. The plot twists are well-done, I am glad that I didn't know them before I saw the movie. Unlike the hack-job twists Ridley Scott has forced upon his Alien franchise, the BladeRunner 2049 twists fit well into the BladeRunner mythology and perfectly set up a 3rd movie, should they decide to do one.
#4. The pacing of the movie is far too slow. The director, understandably, wants the viewer to soak in the ambiance of the world he created... but too many shots linger. 30 seconds here, 60 seconds there, and it all adds up to a movie that is about 45 minutes too long.
#5. Jared Leto's character, unfortunately, is kind of a mess. Wallace obviously has a God complex, but his dialogue is barely intelligible, and his motivations are not expressed well. Plus, the senseless violence perpetrated by him and his assistant "Luv" appears to have no point, other than to paint the characters as "evil". The original BladeRunner did not draw such paint-by-numbers lines between good and evil, and I consider the Wallace and Luv characters to be the weakest part of the movie.