'Blade Runner 2049' A Review

Blade Runner 2049 is a scifi drama, a sequel to the 1982 cult classic. In the future bioengineered humans, replicants, have been integrated into society as servants and slaves. K(Ryan Gosling) has been purchased by the LAPD to work as a Blade Runner, a hunter of older model/rogue replicants. As a replicant pejoratively termed "skin job" he is reviled by most humans and has little to no life, finding his only solace in his holographic AI girlfriend Joi(Ana de Armas). During an investigation he uncovers a long buried secret that threatens to change the landscape for replicants and humans alike.

The cast, save for one exception, is exceptional. Gosling unencumbered by the necessity of his charm gets to do some real acting. Soulful but somewhat vacant, tortured but understated, he makes for a great personification of human engineered existentialism. The chemistry he has with Armas is shockingly potent and instant given the nature of their characters and the story in which the two inhabit. She creates a fully flushed out character despite her literal unreality. Harrison Ford, reprising his role from the original, puts in what may be one of the best performances of his career. Gruff but with little bluster. Quiet and subtle, two adjectives somewhat unthinkable when describing Ford's acting style. Rewatching the original Ford, at the time, was a bit out of his depth, out classed by the revelatory Ruger Hauer but here he is an evocative broken mystery. The calm steady center in this apocalyptic storm. Obviously the glaring issue is Jared Leto, his overly affected presentational take on Wallace the man who took over the manufacturing of replicants is distracting at its best and unwatchable at its worst. His performance is so pretentiously contrived, his exposition laden dialogue so stilted and overwrought he brings the film to the verge of derailment any time he's onscreen. Thankfully that's relatively rare.

All elements of the films production are stunning, breathtaking. From the sets to the lighting to the costumes to the resonant droning score the film launches from the first film into a richer more complex version of this future. Immersive and beautiful. Suffice it to say, story aside, the design in and of itself makes the film worth watching.

See It.