There is finally an unwitting explanation for why I chose my username.

Rating: 10/10 (25 November 2017)

I've haven't read other users' reviews, I may be repeating things others have already mentioned. There are spoilers throughout I think. I loved the original Blade Runner. But, I feel for this film the way people felt about the original Star Wars, even if I don't articulate that sentiment. It CAN BE a heady film. But it's not difficult.
I should say I saw "2049" 13 times in theaters. 13 times. I am a slow learner. The double feature in RPX, IMAX 5x (2x in a row), 3D, Standard. I did fall asleep at two viewings. I also didn't really like it 2x. I might go see "2049" once more before they pull it from nearby theaters, else i'll be traveling 30-40 miles to see it. Really just unbelievable amounts of detail to sift through. The first time I watched it, I thought there was a pretense, a magic trick - the director trying to pull the wool over my eyes in light of non-existent story line. I did not "get it" until the third time, and by that point I saw it for the epic scope of what the story was trying to accomplish. And I saw something new on film every single time since.
So we got some film about science, and the future, robot looking humans, and humans being stupid humans. And there's some guy looking for some kid, because it's important, and other people focused on world dominance, and freedom and stuff. There are cities, and poop cities, and "Liquid Karma" poop rivers, and deserts, and explosions(!), and rust, and lots of silence, and some cool looking technology. And it's all very organic.
That's the movie in a nutshell.
That being said, I loved the pace of the film - deliberate, methodical, and thoughtful - as such is the journey from the viewpoint of the main character, K. Beneath all that intense stoicism lay wrinkles, nonverbals and nuances of a condescending being on their way towards sentient enlightenment, like every other character - with intense strengths and weaknesses. Nobility, arrogance, cunning, wisdom, naivetyit's all here. It's mostly all subtlety and nuances we're looking at, and I think most characters get there window of opportunity to be important.
I loved the metaphors, the symbolism, and all the small details: the Boi billboard, rainwater rolling off iron beams, whittled-off foreheads of wood carvings, where dirty despondent heads might rest contemplating existence after work, Harrison Ford being genuinely surprised by Ryan Gosling, and liberal snowflakes!
To address the sexism and violence against women thing I've read on a couple sites (or poorly address) I don't really see it, I mean I do, but not really. What kind of female characters we got? A murdered "New" replicant. There's at least three females who are plotting sociopaths. Lt. Joshi, a strong-willed feminine character. Joi, an autonomous being, in a real relationship. She, along with K grow to transcend the limitations of somethingcommon about being human, and they truly become "more human than human" which many of us don't get to live. Oh then there's Dr Anna Stelline, I should mention her role. Eyes people.
There is the "nipple dilemma".
In terms of Joi's nipples, I'll admit they were distracting, but they weren't the point of the film. Most of all they weren't what K was paying attention to, which I thought that was the point. And furthermore, Vegas nipples. The statues of these women are "objectified" but at the same time not. I mean, we have lots of Egyptian Obelisks that represent ________, and we also have lots of broke-down statues of lustified women (immediately brought to mind the scene in "Neverending Story", and chess pieces too). We see honey bees. We make the correlation they make something sweet to suck on, like lust - it's not real nourishment, not love, not wisejust a woman's way to control "powerful" men that think with their little heads. It's Vegas! On that note, honey bees need to eat their own honey, so potentially, a women can give too much of her sex awayuhbut in the end "powerful" men and goldiggers can't withstand dirty bombs. That's the moral of the story. Semi-bad metaphor. Ah! Found another one, gatekeepers.
Other things you might see:
God, and the... DEVIL! Master plans and chess pieces. The Trinity. Fate, coincidence and free will. Power, manipulation, suggestion. Kindness, evil. False prophets. Eyes. Rebirth. Lust. Love. Maternity, paternity. The panopticon. What cities mean, who builds them, who owns them, and who profits from living in them. Neo-Egyptian architecture. Love, mercy, and hanging mean fish out of water.
And last but not least, I have to say the character growth and continuity of both Gaff and Deckard was justly written.
And I'm upset Wood Harris wasn't in the film more. And the writers in Antman should have rolled the stepfather and partner into one, and he shoulda played it.