Details: Released in 2017. Stars Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. About two hours and twenty-five minutes long.
Blade Runner 2049 is the sequel to the original Blade Runner released in 1982. Like its predecessor, Blade Runner 2049’s strongest points are its visuals and the tone and atmosphere that it seeks to create. No spoilers ahead.
Details: Originally released in 1982. Apparently there are many version of the original Blade Runner movie out there. I watched The Final Cut version which was released in 2007. Directed by Ridley Scott. Stars Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young. About two hours long.
Blade Runner is often revered for its influence on modern cinema and science fiction. This review isn’t going to deal with any of that. This is just going to be a standard review based on my enjoyment. I can say without a doubt… Blade Runner was okay.
Good movie, but not great.
If you’re thinking about whether to watch this movie there are just a few things to consider. If you don’t like science fiction, fantasy, or anything remotely nerdy, if romantic comedies and family dramas are the only thing you enjoy, then don’t watch this movie. It does not break genres, it is not unexpected.
With that said, it is a fun movie for anyone who does like thing like Lord of the Rings or the original Star Wars trilogy.
It’s a retread. J.J. Abrams seeks to walk the line between old and new in this movie and is mostly successful. He is no where near as successful as Coogler was in Creed, but he performs satisfactorily in trying to please all audiences.
And that’s what you — as a member of the audience — need to understand: this movie is a crowd pleaser. Abrams wanted to please old fans so he included the old cast. The story is also pretty analgous to the Star Wars: A New Hope. You can match it scene by scene if you really want to try. Major plot points are also the same.
But Abrams also wanted to please new movie goers, so there’s new actors. These are, in my opinion, the best parts of the film. The new cast is great and bring much needed life into the franchise.
Actually, everything I found lack luster about the film had to do with revisiting the old. What I would have liked to have seen is an entirely new cast revisiting the old Star Wars themes. Themes like right and wrong, family, inner conflict, adventure, and of course space ships.
Additional notes:
Love what they did with light sabers and the force. No more ninja stuff. One’s skill with a light saber reflects their strength with the force. If you’re strong in the force, you’re a bad-ass with a light saber.
Harrison Ford is a surprisingly good actor given his age. Carrie Fischer is not.
Most horrible, cringe worthy, badly written scene in the film is an exposition scene between Harrison Ford and Carrie Fischer. You’ll know it when you see it. They should have edited that crap out or something. Even a flashback would have been fine.
I found the above trailer to be much better than the actual movie haha.
Score: 7/10 Fun movie. Definitely some points that hit me with nostalgia. I don’t recommend this movie for people who didn’t like Star Wars before. Overall, could have been a lot better, but Abrams did his best. I’m sure everyone was throwing ideas at him about what he should do. Pretty good product considering that.
Muse Bank 