A Visually Striking Sequel that is Well Worth Your Time

Rating: 7/10 (16 October 2017)

Visually the movie floored me. There's clearly so much intentionality and careful effort and planning that went into making that world. Villeneuve blended call backs to the original while still making this his own vision. I'll see anything he makes because I always feel like I'm in good hands with his movies, right from the opening scene.
The music had a similar feel to the visuals in that they blended old and new. The iconic "Tears in Rain" melody receives a much-deserved return in a delightfully appropriate moment. I'll give the movie serious props for providing a comforting level of nostalgia without ever feeling that it pandered.
Joi (Ana de Armas) and Luv (Sylvia Hoeks) were fantastic in their own very different ways. Joi, who plays Gosling's love interest of sorts, is essentially Samantha in Her, except she is a holographic projection instead of only a voice. Luv is Jared Leto's favorite replicant assistant and a total ice queen.
Gosling was cool and dutiful, though kind of lifeless, which I guess was on purpose since he plays a replicant (or does he?) Juxtaposing him with Harrison Ford really made the subtleties of Ford's performance stand out in a way that was absent for Gosling. But Gosling was still very handsome and that worked well with the rest of the movie, which is striking and beautiful.
Even though I didn't feel bored during any of the 164 minutes, I often felt like nothing was really happening. Even at the end I wondered what was the point. I know it was a character exploration of K (Gosling), like the first was of Deckard, and he clearly grew during the story. Still, the movie overall came across to me as heavy on striking visuals and light on substance.
Perhaps I'm demanding too much. While I enjoyed the heck out of the movie and would watch it again in a second, it fell slightly short of the profound best picture level movie that I hoped it would be. Somewhere in the two hour and 44 minute runtime is a great two hour movie trying to emerge.
All things considered, it's a pleasing complement to the original and is well worth a night in the theater.