Perhaps Too Many Re-Writes as the film Wanders

Rating: 6/10 (30 August 2018)

There is lot to like about this film IF you are a fan of the original film. If not, there may be a few places where you might be checking the clock on your phone. This film has been handled with care every step of the process, recruiting Roger Deakins being the most important. The direction is fine, the production design is apropos, the music works well, the characters are OK. But nothing really yells masterpiece other than the cinematography. Fittingly so, our protagonist Ryan Gosling slowly explores many interesting sets.
Warning - many spoilers ahead.
Gosling works well as a new Blade Runner that is also a replicant. He accepts that his memories are implants and dutifully goes about his life. His partner is a hologram, who shares some self-aware moments, perhaps feeling like a variation of the film "Her". Exploring this hologram's desires at times felt like a side-trip that kept us away from the main story. It is a foregone conclusion that this film exists primarily to answer questions from the first film. Knowing this, the script at times teases the audience that we will get to that destination, but then steer us into another rewrite. What may have been originally a hint at other goings on, feels fleshed out into many subplots.
Our antagonist, the heir apparent to Tyrell, suffers from being overshadowed by other supporting characters and their own storylines. This includes a female Terminator of sorts. She enforces the other replicants, and a few humans too. Buried in these many storylines is Deckard, and the film waits until the third act to even acknowledge his existence in this sequel. In the fourth act, we see a CGI young Rachel. Quite appropriate as the plastic look of an animated human face gives her an unreal quality.
I found the extra screen time to Gosling's holo-girlfriend as an idea that sounds more impressive on paper than in reality. She synchronises her movements to a prostitute, so that they can physically interact. It's an effect that wanted to be poetic, but I found it to be only mildly interesting. Again, somewhat familiar territory covered in "Her".
The storytellers also wanted to be poetic, only to duplicate similar Harrison Ford storylines in recent years. Old Indy runs into his son. Old Han Solo confronts his misbehaving son. Now Old Deckard has to come to terms with his offspring. It leaves the answer to who that offspring may be until the end of the film. It probably was yet another rewrite that changed who that person is. I walked out of the theatre feeling OK about the experience. Maybe I need another showing to get a proper perspective on how effective the characters are in getting me to care about them.
But in the meantime, another revelation came upon me as I was watching a film I worshiped pretty much since it was released. I saw the original film when it came out in 1982, and went to a revival theatre to see it anytime it was playing. Including the more recent "Final Cut" showing in the mid 2000s (and at a special showing yesterday). It occurred to me that the sequel's production design didn't really have to update their vision of the future, because the original production design was such a heavy influence on style into our actual future. Our actual world pretty much resembles what the Blade Runner's world looks like. I noticed that leaving the theatre and driving home past a police car with a string of lights with different colours. Previous to the original film, police cars had the standard two cherries on top (think Blues Brothers). Now it is commonplace to see a spread of lights along the top. Then there are the self-driving cars, something that current technology has caught up with. When Gosling strolls through a gothic-like industrial structure, we are reminded that the original Blade Runner invented this dark look, "Tech Noir". Fusing new technology into old buildings is something that is commonplace in every hip warehouse district from San Francisco to all other parts of the country. Then there are the mesmerising cityscapes that now exist for real in China and Arab countries. We are living in the world defined in the first film, and the new film need only toss in a drone or such to stay caught up.
The music and sound design from the first film also became a timeless keepsake, preserved and revered over the decades since the film came out. I was not so immersed in the auditory universe of the sequel. No new themes stood out, although the instrumentation was faithful to the original by Vangelis. I could tell the late addition of Hans Zimmer was a desire to add some 'punch' to the soundtrack. This happens by way of loud tribal drumming that we heard a bit of in "The Dark Knight Rises". Again, another viewing (and listening) session is needed to get a deeper impression of the effectiveness of the sound.
As much as I am a nut about the technical and social impact of the original film, it is hard for me to feel the same about this one. On the other hand I am always glad to revisit the Blade Runner universe if it is handled with care.