ATF : 'Blade Runner 2049' (2017)

(No Spoilers)

"I've never retired anything with a soul before"

With this quote towards the middle of the film we encounter the struggle that the protagonist faces during the story, but let's not get ahead of that. Because that is the key to the whole story and it's isn't at the same time.

This shouldn't have to be said, but one has to watch 'Blade Runner 2049' without thinking about the 1982 classic. Because, even though it's a follow-up movie from the original Ridley Scott film, it's a completely different world, a different age, and obviously it couldn't live up to the original masterpiece.

For a starters, Denis Villeneuve's new take on the dystopian story has an amazing, breath-taking photography. Cinematographer Roger Deakins not only provides beautiful and astonishing shots but also achieves to create the same environment and urban decay that the 80's classic provided and that's really a win. It blends that decay with modern times and advances in technology but in depth, it creates the same vibe. And it's about time that Deakins wins an Academy Award for his work as he has been snubbed before for his excellent work in 'The Shawshank Redemption' or 'Fargo'.

When it comes to the story, i actually enjoyed it. A lot. I really liked the first half of the movie better, when we get introduced to officer K's life (Ryan Gosling) and his job as a new blade runner in the Los Angeles Police Department. Despite having some similarities with virtual intelligence and love stories as it does in 'Her' -but let's be honest, that's something plausible in a near future, we get to see what Rick Deckard's (Harrison Ford) character would be like now, but this time as a new replicant, or was Deckard a replicant after all? We get answers to that and also this new take makes us wonder many other things but, even though the movie is an enjoyable experience, it doesn't come close to the perfection that the original movie is. And i don't think Villeneuve was attempting to exceed everyone's expectations, but at least he provided a decent sequel and that was no easy task. And maybe it won't make it onto the test of time and people will forget about the film, which has not done as well as it was expected in the box office, but neither did the Ridley Scott movie back then and look at how it's praised now. But if one thing is clear is that, despite its effort, the ending of 2049 is far away from the perfection that it's the ending of the 1982 film.

Anyone who appreciates 'Blade Runner' should watch without any prejudices or expectations this new film, if only for how pleasurable it is to watch it on the big screen. Not only because of the beautiful cinematography but also because it has a really awesome set of actresses (Robin Wright, Sylvia Hoeks, Mackenzie Davis and Ana de Armas) that are complete scene-stealers. Ryan Gosling nicely delivers his part and Harrison Ford is not bad but Jared Leto is totally unacceptable, especially after learning the news that the director originally wanted David Bowie for the role.

Anyway, after the cut you can see some of the shots that i really loved, so i hope you will enjoy it as much as i did if you get to watch it on the cinema.