After the "second coming" they will no longer even suspect that they are "replicants", since they have become PSDO's (Psychically Defunct Organisms)

Rating: 1/10 (31 October 2017)

The first Bladerunner slowly but surely became recognized as a masterpiece in motion picture art, not merely because of the excellent visual art and music that created a unique kind of mood in the audience that built itself over time, but more so because of the deeply thought provoking story on which it was based: Philip K Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?". The screenplay or the script and dialogues developed by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples builds on that to become the fulcrum and central art of story telling around which the other arts are supportive but peripheral. Sadly, most fans of the movie merely go wow on the peripherals like acting, visuals and the action scenes. Ironically, one of the pointers in the story is about the degeneracy in humanity as a result of the "Celebrity Culture" of postmodern societies that completely miss the "Real" stuff that makes us human and go only for the "Hyper-Real" or the superficial to hang on to in silent despair which is not even acknowledged as despair, since the mass of humans are too dazzled by technology and the imagery, the entertainment and the sensations generated by it. What remains as a result is a strange nostalgia for a "real life" or deeper human emotions like love that become increasingly rare and elusive.
This sequel, after a very long gap, has been clearly made for the fans and by a fan, and not for the connoisseur of intellectual art or that artist/intellectual who is acutely conscious of the tension between "nature" and technology, and specifically between the "natural organism" versus the genetically modified organisms (GMO), called "replicants" in these movies that are looked down upon by "humans" in the movies. Unlike in the movies in "real life" the GMO is much sought after by the Scientistic community for its "potential yields" and particularly for the corporate scientist who eyes the likely profits from these GMO's, and the rest of the masses keenly wait for the technology of "designer babies" and super-intelligent off springs that will colonize the universe. The "natural" has become almost completely subservient to the technological - the prime symptom of the Postmodern culture in which Scientism is the ultimate religion.
The horrors unleashed by these technologies, particularly the devastating effect on the human psyche, is felt by very few in this globalized culture, mainly the artist-writer who agonizes over how to pour it into a powerful story. This "ecstasy of communication" was reflected in the story by Philip K Dick, and wonderfully articulated in the first movie. The essence (or "soul") of the story started falling apart a few years later when Ridley Scott decided that Deckard was a replicant. All the fans took that as a gospel truth, and therefore I am beginning to suspect that Scott himself is a replicant! Such are the times. The only thing I can say with certainty is that Philip was definitely not a replicant!
I join those critics that say that the "second coming" is all style and no substance. All the money has been blown up in visuals, no money and energy seems to have been spent on the story. The script and dialogues are nothing compared to the first, and a pathetic attempt to dabble in metaphysics by casually throwing in the word "soul", also falls flat. Ford looks totally burned out, and has been thrown in just for the fans, in the hope that such cosmetics will improve the profits. ("Show me the money" he says). The other lead actors have done well and do lift up the other-wise dreary story line, to inject some emotional "masala", especially for the fans.
The time and money spent by me in watching this movie is recovered by the provocation it generates to write this review, even if this only highlights what is missing. I won't go as far as to say that this movie is a wasted effort since it was inspired by the brilliance of the first, and even a failed attempt to copy a work of art is a small but significant struggle to remain human in such times when the downwards spiral of humanity is accelerating. As they say "nothing ventured, nothing gained".