#74-B: BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

8

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

No

BEST SEQUENCE

The meeting of the blade runners in Las Vegas

BEST LINE

“Mightn’t happen to have a piece of cheese about you, now, would you boy?”

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

88%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Visually stunning and narratively satisfying, Blade Runner 2049 deepens and expands its predecessor's story while standing as an impressive filmmaking achievement in its own right." 

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"Young Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years."

THOUGHTS

• Yep, I liked the sequel better than the original
• The world was just as fully realized, the visuals and special effects were equally stunning (if not more so), and the action and plot were more engrossing
• For the majority of the movie I thought I knew exactly where it was going, only to eventually realize I was just expecting exactly what the movie wanted me to expect and that I was being played like a fiddle. If you've seen the movie, you can probably guess what my assumptions were. Now, in hindsight what I thought was going to happen was being so clearly telegraphed by the movie that I was definitely the gullible one, and I should have known that the movie was smarter than that. But then eventually you'd get into some Princess Bride-style circular logic about who's smarter than whom ("I am not a great fool, so clearly I know what's going to happen in this movie. But the movie knows I am not a great fool, so clearly what I expect to happen will not come to pass. But I..."). But ultimately, yes, I was the great fool for thinking I had it all figured out. Definitely a pleasant surprise as it made for a more interesting movie
• As mentioned above, stunning visuals, and I especially liked all the scenes set in Vegas as a feast for the eyes
• Jared Leto had a lot less screen time than I expected, but I think this was a good choice. When he's onscreen he's extremely creepy and effectively enigmatic
• Finally, I really liked all the scenes between K and Joi (K's AI companion), and they really reminded me of Her, a movie that came out 4 years before this one and which has ended up being one of my favourite sci-fi movies ever made

Up next: Laura, from 1944, a movie I know nothing about