The original Blade Runner was a cult classic, so making a follow up to a movie like that is rather tricky. Going into the theater I was very worried the new movie would just be a soulless cash grab making use of the name with little to no real substance. Fortunately it definitely wasn’t that. After watching a fair amount of desperate cash grabs like Ghost in the Shell (2017) it gets pretty easy to tell the difference between those and movies like this that felt like the people that were working on it really loved what they were working on and wanted to give the original a worthy follow up.
Some of the marketing of this movie made it look like another generic action flick. Most likely to attract a wider audience, but I am very glad it was not. There was definitely some action in it and when there was it was pretty well done, but the majority of the movie was made up of more profound moments. All of those moments are sewed flawlessly into the overarching plot. Whether this overarching plot was more than the sum of its parts drew some criticism from viewers, however I found it overall pretty interesting and even if they weren’t those moments were great.
Even if someone wasn’t a fan of the themes or story of this movie there would be no denying the outstanding visuals and powerful soundtrack. When the original Blade Runner hit theaters 1982 if nothing else it was remembered for nothing else it was remembered for its beautiful city. Living up to that was probably one of the hardest challenges 2049 had to face, but somehow it managed to maintain the original’s aesthetic without losing any effect. The music was something else entirely, only taking a few important influences from the original movie. Even with the role it played in the original it managed to take from the sax filled original with quite a bit of piano and move onto an almost oppressive soundtrack and remain compelling. I’m not sure what it was like to see the original in theater since I wasn’t alive upon its release, but seeing this in theaters or at least with great surround sound a good subwoofer at least once I would have to say is essential to really appreciate all that went into the audio, music and otherwise. This was probably one of the loudest movies I’ve ever watched and at first I thought it was maybe even too loud, but later I felt it really added to the effect. The music almost felt like it was attacking my ears and that wasn’t a bad thing, since it added to the movie’s tense and serious atmosphere. Now, maybe you could just turn your T.V volume all the way up and accomplish the same effect, but you really understand the punch the guns pack when you can literally feel the gunshot as the entire ground shakes and even your looser clothes shake. This is only maybe comparable to watching 1998 Godzilla with surround sound.
This film really had a lot packed into it across its 164 minute run time and definitely lived up to the original, even earning a place among some of my favorite movies though I may be a little bias, because it has some of my favorite genres and covers my favorite topics.
Final Rating - Good, Good
Final Rating - Good, Good
Joe,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your thoughts Blade Runner 2049 was an outstanding masterpiece. I also agree the the original Blade Runner was classic and I feel that the new Blade Runner holds it's own as a sequel to one of the most revolutionary films I have ever seen. I may as well have some bias because I had been a huge fan the original but Blade Runner 2049 did an outstanding job at conveying that same type of gritty tone which was prevalent in the original. And you could tell every shot in the film was constructed perfectly the entire crew created a masterpiece of an environment which at times I got lost in. The lingering shots were flat out breath taking giving us these beautifully constructed atmosphere.I also agree that the marketing chose the show the more riveting moments in the trailers and movie-clips to attempt to attract more audiences. But when you actually saw those moments on screen they were pulse pounding. For me I saw this movie in the new Dolby theater at AMC which made the sound earth shattering. Every gunshot, scream, yell, and punch gave me the chills. As for the music I couldn't be more pleased, the originals music was unique in the sense of it's simplicity. The music in 2049 was nothing short of amazing with these amazing scores of synthesizers and loud bass drums which conveyed the seriousness of the tone. All in all Blade Runner 2049 has earned a place on my best movie list.