"Blade Runner 2049" Movie Review

By: James Southworth
Rating: 5/5 Stars

In 1982, the world was introduced to Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner". This movie was a box office bomb and went unnoticed for a long time. But, as years went by, so many people were starting to love the movie and see the value in it that it became a big cult classic. Even now it's recognized as a revolutionary film which uniquely combined the genres of sci-fi and noir together. Excitement was buzzing when a sequel so many years later in "Blade Runner 2049" was announced this year. However, the results of this movie were sadly the same: it was a big bomb in American box offices, making only a little over $30 million in its opening week. In my opinion, this movie is one of the most underrated movies of the year. I also think it, too, will probably become a cult classic. With superb performances from everyone, gorgeous memorable visuals, and compelling themes about humanity, "Blade Runner 2049" is easily the best film of the year.

In this movie we are introduced to the character of "K", played by Ryan Gosling. He is the newest generation of replicants, and is also a blade runner tasked to take down old replicants. When he discovers the possibility that there may be a replicant who is part human, part robot, this sets him on a mission to find the rogue ex-blade runner Rick Deckard. This seemingly simplistic plot really gives way to some surprisingly deep themes that make you think. In its long run time, the movie begs us to consider what exactly is human versus what isn't. K, despite being a robot, still seems to have more human emotion than any other actual human character on screen- and there are many human characters we're given for comparison. It's hard to not sympathize with him as he goes on this very hard journey throughout this film discovering who he really is- and the reveal may not exactly be what the audience was expecting. But that's the beauty of it: we don't get any easy answers in this film in considering our own humanity and what it entails. The film also makes us consider how dangerous it can be to practically become God with usage of our technology. Through Jared Leto's character, Niander Wallace, we get to see what a human who is practically a god can become like- delusional, mad, and evil. In this dystopian world, audiences get an uncomfortable reminder that it can be risky to let our technology control us. This idea has been done many times before, but in this movie it's done in a new way, and I loved it.

This film also excels in its visuals. I mean, wow, what a beautiful movie. This is the third movie I've seen this year where I'd have no objection if it were nominated for/won the Oscar for best visual effects. Seriously, there's not a single shot here that isn't still ingrained into my memory, even if it's several weeks after I've seen it. There are some beautiful wide shots of the world that K inhabits, and the several other parts of the world that K travels to- my favorite visuals come from Wallace's home; all of them give off this spiritually foreboding feel. Much like the original, this futuristic world does feel in many interesting ways tangible. For every unrecognizable thing shown, there are still certain things we can identify with, such as an old Jukebox or even an product placement. There's a really cool fight between Deckard and K which turns into a visual spectacle when they go into this theatre of sorts, and that area is really utilized creatively. Director Denis Villeneuve and producer Ridley Scott worked together on this film, and both of them have quite a knack for making very memorable visuals in their movies. Having them work together makes for a film where every shot looks so breathtaking yet also so realistic, like you could live there. If it sounds like I'm gushing over the look of this movie, it's because I am. This movie should be seen just for its look alone. No other movie this year looks anything like this movie. It has its own clear identity, and that works completely in its favor.

The performances in the film, both leading and supporting, are absolutely stellar. Ryan Gosling gives the clear best performance as K. His work here showed to me yet again why he's quickly becoming one of my top favorite actors. With every movie, he improves himself in his acting craft. Many people saw him as just a pretty face at the beginning of his career (myself included), but he has become so much more. Gosling has a hard job in this movie: making his character have clear robotic tendencies while also making him relatable and human. He traverses both of these aspects beautifully, as at the beginning of the movie we see him deadpan, monotoned, and indifferent. As the film goes on, though, just one look in his eyes and you can see that K is becoming more compassionate. The scenes between him and his "lover" Joi (who is really a hologram) are some of the best moments in the film, as it's just Gosling giving so much great development to his character. For me, this may be his best performance to date, comfortably rivaling his work in "La La Land" and "Drive". It's awesome to see Harrison Ford in a more tough action role again as Deckard. I loved seeing this character back, and even 35 years after the original movie, Ford still made Deckard seem like the same type of character, but with logical changes incorporated. Even though Ford was in a bit more of a supporting role than I was initially expecting, he still had some complex stuff to work with, especially in having to deal with fatherhood. He gave just as good of a performance as Gosling, and they had impeccable chemistry together. Perhaps the most surprising performance I liked was Jared Leto as Niander. I usually think Leto goes way too over the top in his work, but here he really nailed the character, giving him a vibe that was so frightening and off-putting. He did it in a very subtle way and gave me chills. For the brief time they were on, I also enjoyed both Dave Bautista and Robin Wright's respective turns as Sapper and Lieutenant Joshi.

After the credits of this movie rolled, I just sat there in speechless amazement, absolutely awed by what I had just seen. It's not very often that a movie like this comes around- one that deserves repeat viewings, and one that will stay in your memory for a long, long time to come. There's something about this movie that not many movies have done for me in the past few years: it has that feeling of a special classic to me, something that I would want to show to future generations just to see the looks on their faces when watching it. This movie has gone severely underrated this year, and I think it will continue to be overlooked. So, please, if you haven't, go see it NOW. Not only is this my favorite film of the year- this is also one of the highest 5/5s I will ever give to any movie. It is already becoming one of my favorite films of all time. I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually reaches my top 10! There are some films that objectively have no problems to them and you do like them, even love them. But then there are films that are on a totally different tier. "Blade Runner 2049" is one of those movies. What an absolute landmark achievement in film making.