Blade Runner 2049: a review

Rating: 9/10 (7 October 2017)

This film is brilliant and is one of the best film experiences I've ever had at the theater. I am a fan of Denis Villeneuve's work, specifically Arrival. He can so expertly craft a film world's tone, atmosphere, and mood that the film demands your attention. This film makes me excited to see what he'll do with Dune. I loved this film and will see it several more times before it comes to blu- ray.
I will get more in depth if you wish to say around, but I give this a 9/10 for being a science fiction that demands your attention, patience and your focus, and that is what is turning a lot of people off to it.
There are a few things I want to address, specifically the sound design, the cinematography, and the "legacy" of Blade Runner.
First, the sound design. Most negative reviews point out that there was just "random loud noises," but this is far from the case. There is often an absence of music in dialogue scenes so all of the weight is carried by the actors and the framing of the scene. Whenever there is music it is all very carefully added. For example, the first shots of L.A. are full of dark, bombastic droning that is very staccato and reminiscent of an industrial factory. These loud moments are juxtaposed to the almost silent interior scenes between characters. The movie is clearly showing a delineation between different parts of the world. Yes, it is jarring, but not without purpose. The music is unfamiliar and robotic causing us to feel alienated from the world; we are asked not to be absorbed and let the world wash over, but to focus and pay attention to the sound and visual design of the film.
This brings me to the cinematography and framing of Blade Runner 2049. Every shot of the film is a carefully laid out and composed shot, from the eye opening immediately after the opening title card to the final, brightly lit shot of K (Ryan Gosling) laying on the stone steps. Color and framing is considered so meticulously throughout the film. This movie is composed in a manner similar to a film noir, as was the first Blade Runner. The interweaving of deep, long landscape shots to the carefully crafted interior sets make every moment a spectacle to the eyes, if you are focusing and giving your attention over to this film.
This brings me to my final point; the legacy of Blade Runner. The two times I watched this film in the theater I was enraptured, but I'd often notice other people around me zoning out, talking, taking out cell phones, or straight up falling asleep. I feel like people forgot what happened in the first Blade Runner. It wasn't a sci-fi movie like Star Wars or Star Trek, but a film noir set in the future. Most of the original Blade Runner has Deckard (Harrison Ford) performing the role of a detective more than the role of a bounty hunter. I contend that Harrison Ford isn't the best actor of the Blade Runner, but Rutger Hauer who carries the emotional weight for someone who is not suppose to be technically human. If people are put off by Ryan Gosling appearing dead-eyed or lacking, they forget he's playing a replicant who has to keep emotions in check unless he wants to lose his job and life. It is only during the third act of the film that K (Ryan Gosling) beings to find his own humanity in a mirrored way that Deckard found his at the end of the first Blade Runner.
This film demands, and deserves your attentions and care. Actors in this film don't feel like big stars, but as characters. Even Jared Leto, who I can't stand, puts in a solid performance all because you have a director who understands film and how the visual communication of film and reach and audience, but only if we give it our care and attention and trust it. Because that first shot of the eye opening in the beginning is meant to be a call to the audience; open your eyes and trust in a movie that doesn't take it's audience for granted both intellectually and emotionally.