Visually Stunning Art Film with Threadbare Plot

Rating: 7/10 (6 October 2017)

No spoilers promise. Others have commented on the excellent direction and stunning cinematography so I won't repeat all of that. I will say that this movie seems inspired by Children of Men, Her, film noir, even Citizen Kane and of course the original Bladerunner. This film does stands on its own. And it's worth your time. The sets are gorgeous and I'm sorry but green screen CGI sucks when it's overused (looking at you George Lucas). Villeneuve understands that you have to give actors a context in which to interact with their environment. Gosling's K is so central to the film that you wish some of the supporting actors were given more time to develop. But you're not going to get too much warmth here. It's a bleak landscape populated by people full of existential angst. Like the original much of the dystopia centers around societal collapse. But unlike the original you don't get the sense that the rich are leaving in droves "off world" to Eden planets while the poor remain to cope with a hellish Earth. It's implied of course but there's so much more claustrophobia here and the sense that everyone â€“ rich and poor alike â€“ are all trapped in perpetual shadow and rain. For me the film is at its best when it shows us how technology can isolate us from ourselves and each other. The big weakness here is the plot. A central plot point, revealed relatively early in the movie, is supposed to be so game-changing if word got out humankind would revolt. This plot point drives the antagonist. But it just didn't seem like such a big deal for me. In a world that feels on the edge of collapse the complications revealed in the plot wouldn't seem like much of a game changer were I to live in that world.