Blade Runner 2049 (SPOILERS)

Blade Runner is a highly beloved, if slightly overlooked, classic of Science-Fiction filmography. With the news of a sequel being released this year, there was buzz over whether it was worth it or not. In this post, I will go over why I think this was not only a worthy successor to its predecessor, but also one of the finest movies to come out this year.

UPS

1. Ryan Gosling turns in a fine performance as Officer K. He brings a lot of depth to a rather simple character and the story provided to him in the movie allows him to really show off his abilities in a truly superb way. He carries the movie well, but at least he doesn't have to do all the work by himself...
2. Harrison Ford delivers one of his greatest performances in years as Rick Deckard. While he obviously obtained most of his fame from his roles as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his performance as Deckard may be his most underrated, especially in this film, where he really brings a lot of emotional weight to the character. He also shares a fantastic chemistry with Gosling, and the scene where the two meet for the first time is truly the movie's greatest scene. 
3. Dennis Villeneuve's direction and the film's visuals in general. They really capture the film's sci-fi noir feeling just as much as the first one's did and are just gorgeous to look at, making this movie one of the most visually impressive of the year as well.
4. The twist is quite the brilliant one indeed. For most of the movie, I will admit that I was genuinely convinced that K was indeed Deckard's son, so to find out he was not and to discover that Deckard and Rachel actually had a daughter was a true surprise to me, especially since I haven't received a surprise like this in so long. 
5. The romance plot was actually sweet and touching, which is extremely impressive due to how, quite frankly, bizarre it is. Most of this is due to the fact that both K and Joi seem to genuinely love each other despite their circumstances and Ryan Gosling shares just as strong a chemistry with Ana de Armas as he does with Harrison Ford. Overall, I was truly moved by their relationship and incredibly saddened by when Joi died.

DOWNS

1. It is definitely way too long, which is ironic in the fact that I found the original Blade Runner too short. There definitely could have been some trimming down in parts so that things could run a little more smoothly, but alas, it felt like a bit of a slog at times. 

OVERALL

Blade Runner 2049 was a great movie and a superb sequel to the original. Definitely one of the finest movies of the year, and for that I give it a 4/5. Now time to close this out with the song selected for that scene with K and Deckard; one that had a hand in making this scene truly stand out, and one that fits this tribute video I found so well :)