Blade Runner 2049

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***Blade Runner 2049*** is a 2017 American neo-noir science-fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green. It is a sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 film, *Blade Runner*. It premiered in Los Angeles on October 3, 2017, and was released in the United States in 2D, 3D, and IMAX on October 6, 2017. A sequel series, Blade Runner 2099, is in development at Amazon Studios, with Scott set to return as executive producer.

## Plot

30 years after the events of the first film, Nexus-9 replicants have become commonplace on Earth, while earlier replicants, such as the Nexus-8 line, have become outlawed. While on a mission to hunt down Nexus-8 replicant Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), LAPD Blade Runner K (Ryan Gosling) finds a secret that could cause a war to break out between humanity and replicants. This same secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who's been missing for the last 30 years.

## Why It Rocks

1. The special effects that combine practical and CGI effects to awesome results, which were even better than the first film, it can be even considered to be one of the best CGI effects ever made.
2. Breathtaking and immersive cinematography courtesy of Roger Deakins.
3. Amazing storyline that plays off of the themes of the first movie successfully, while introducing its own themes.
4. Excellent directing of Denis Villeneuve.
5. It is awesome to see that Rick Deckard is finally back after 35 years and what's more about it that he is never killed in the movie, unlike Han Solo from *Star Wars*.
6. Very well done acting, especially for Ryan Gosling, and Harrison Ford as well.
7. Speaking of acting, Jared Leto’s performance as Niander Wallace is a big step up compared to his performance as the Joker in Suicide Squad released the previous year, although he would later give a much better performance as the Joker 4 years after this film in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
8. Lots of great action scenes, especially, the final battle as well.
9. Nice characterization, especially for K/Joe himself.
10. Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch's soundtrack is excellent, and succeeds at being a successor to Vangelis' own soundtrack to the first movie, also, some of the soundtrack has mixed with 8-bit static looking soundtrack throughout the movie.
	* A beautiful and tear-jerking reprise of "Tears in Rain" when K brings Deckard to his daughter and looks like he's about to die from his wounds. It is the only moment where Zimmer and Wallfisch used a Vangelis track.
	* In the original score we have the ominous 2049, the sweeping Mesa, and the thunderously climactic Sea Wall.
	* On the creepy side of things, there's the oppressive Flight to LAPD and the ghostly theme for Wallace.
11. A heartwarming ending where K/Joe dies when he lie down the stairs for the snow and Deckard meets his daughter.
12. This is an perfect example how to make long awaited sequel for more than ten or twenty years to the original classic done right.
13. Remarkable uses of 3D effects.
14. Gaff's cameo is very surprising and special, who had retired and was living in a care facility for thirty years after Deckard's disappearance.
15. Speaking of cameos, Rachael from the first film appears in a cameo and the CGI to recreate her original appearance is excellent and very convincing.

## Bad Qualities

1. Many people find the movie way too long, with the runtime being at 163 minutes. Even Ridley Scott, the director of the original film, feels that had he directed this sequel, he would have made it shorter to reduced the slow pacing.
2. Some product placement that can be seen in the movie (Coca-Cola, Atari, etc.). However the behind-the-scenes book, *The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049*, explained that this was necessary.
3. **False advertising:** The trailers for the film make it look as though Rick Deckard will once again be the main character, though in the actual film he doesn’t appear onscreen until one hour and 45 minutes into the film.
	* Despite being part of the main cast of the film and being listed on the poster, Dave Bautista only has one scene at the beginning of the film.

## Reception

### Critical response

*Blade Runner 2049* was praised by critics and audiences for its performances, direction, cinematography, musical score, production design, visual effects, and faithfulness to the original film, and was considered by many critics to be among the best films of 2017, although its near-three hour runtime are criticism. Critically, some critics considered it to be an improvement from the first film. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 442 reviews, with an average rating of 8.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Visually stunning and narratively satisfying, *Blade Runner 2049* deepens and expands its predecessor's story while standing as an impressive filmmaking achievement in its own right.". Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 54 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Critics who saw the film before its release were asked by Villeneuve not to reveal certain characters and plot points. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 78% overall positive score and a 60% "definite recommend".

### Box office

*Blade Runner 2049* grossed over $259 million against a budget of $150–185 million. In the U.S. and Canada, the movie is a commercial flop; Ridley Scott believed that the film's underperformance at the box office was because of its nearly 3-hour runtime.

### Accolades

The movie won two categories in both the Academy Awards, the British Academy Film Awards, and the Satellite Awards: Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins, and Best Visual Effects, for John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover.

## Trivia

* This was the first Academy Award win for Roger Deakins, after his previous 13 nominations at the time, with him winning his second Academy Award for *1917*.

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